in the 1920s Preface Cambridge is renowned as: an ancient university - PDF document

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge Time-lapse transformation of an industrial skyline. Construction of a gasholder at the Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company in the 1920s Preface Cambridge is renowned as: an ancient university town, an even older market town and a modern centre of high-technology. Cambridge’s industrial history tends to be less well known, since much of the physical evidence disappeared from the city’s landscape and skyline during the late-20th and early-21st centuries. S lide 1 captures the “industrial quarter” of east Cambridge in the 1930s , which at that time comprised: • a sewage-pumping station (now Cambridge Museum of Technology) • brick-kilns • quarries: The purpose of Cambridge Industrial Archaeology Society is to study and record the industrial history and artefacts of the area. The society is hosted at Cambridge Museum of Technology, which enables people to explore, enjoy and learn about Cambridge’s ind ustrial heritage. This BALH Ten Minute Talk is an extract from a Cambridge Industrial Archaeology Society lecture, “ Town, Gown (and Clergy) in Cambridge’s First Industrial Revolut ion ” presented by Dr. Gordon Davies, originally broadcast on 20 April 2020 as part of Cambridge Museum of Technology’s volunteer - produced webinar series during lockdown. 1

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge Introduction: Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company ’s origins in the 19 th century A town-gas works had operated at River Lane in east Cambridge since the late 1820s ( slide 2 ): gas- manufacturing had been relocated there by one of the pioneers of commercial gas: John Grafton. 1 The company was incorporated in 1834 and from 1867 was known as “The University & Town Gas - Light Company”. 2 Nearby wharves, which have been attested as far back the (re)construction of Ely Cathedral ’s Octagon in the 14 th century, 3 supplied raw material (coal) by barge from Kings Lynn (prior to the arrival of the railway in Cambridge). By-products of gas manufacture (such as ammoniacal liquor for farmers in East Anglia) were returned by barge, downstream. The company was spurred to (re)build its operations on several occasions throughout the Victorian era due to: • population growth, which led to the expansion of street gas-lighting and increased demand for domestic appliances • competition in the 1860’s from a rival gas company • a hurricane (!) in 1870, which blew over a gasholder erected three years’ previously . 4 1 Allan Brigham (2004) Grafton & Gas: new technology comes to Cambridge. Cambridgeshire Local History Review . 2 Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company records, Cambridgeshire Archives. 3 L.F. Salzman (1948) The Victoria History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely, Vol. II . 4 On the Cambridgeshire “hurricane” of January 1870, Enid Porter (1975) Victorian Cambridge: Josiah Chater’s Diaries, cites Chater’s diary of 6 February 1870: “We saw the result of the accident to the great gasometer.” 2

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge New century: new development in 20 th -century industrial Cambridge During the first three decades of the 20 th century, a comprehensive redevelopment and expansion of the gas works was overseen by the Engineer and Manager, J.W. Auchterlonie ( slide 3 ). 5 Auchterlonie had the foresight to commission regular photographs at the site during this redevelopment: the result is a ”before -and- after” time-lapse sequence of photography (now stored in the National Grid Gas Archive and Cambridgeshire Collection), which provides insight into the early- 20 th -century industrial-landscape of Cambridge. 6 The most substantial structural addition to the gas works (in over 140 years of continuous operation) was the construction of a 3-million-cubic-feet gas holder, erected between 1925 and 1927. Not only did this gasholder more than double the gas-works' storage capacity, the structure also transformed the River Cam skyline of Cambridge’s industrial quarter ( slide 1 ). Time-lapse photography: How to build a 3-million cubic-feet gasholder Initial site clearance, creation of a raised embankment and laying of foundations for the gasholder began in the summer of 1925 (when seasonal demand for gas was at its lowest). The sewage-pumping station, which adjoined the property boundary of the gas works, is clearly visible in background of the first photograph in the sequence, which was taken from the coke hoppers in the direction of the River Cam to the north-east ( slide 4 ): 5 Gas Journal , October 1927. 6 National Grid Gas Archive: https://extranet.nationalgrid.com/GasArchive/ 3

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge During the remainder of 1925 and early 1926, workers sunk foundations and laid a crane track around the perimeter ( slide 5 ): The crane inserted concrete plinths vertically to create guide channels for the lift-frame. The location of the new gasholder – in relation to the property boundary of the gas works and the adjacent sewage- pumping station – was a very tight squeeze! Slide 6 juxtaposes the architect’s original site -elevation plan side-by-side with a site photo, to show how each tier of the gas holder had external grips that held each level of the gas lift in place as it expanded with gas: 4

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge The three-tier inner lift of the gas holder was known by workers and local residents as the “dumpling” ( slide 7 ): By early 1927, the structure was already starting to dominate the rural riverscape as “king - post” had been added to the top of the lift, enabling the next stage of construction. This photographic sequence freeze-frames construction workers, as well as the developing structure. For example, in slide 8 construction workers had been adding steel trussing to the king post on top of “the dumpling”: 5

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge Slide 9 shows the “skeleton” of the structure taking shape , nearly two years after construction work began: Once trussing reinforcement from the king-post was completed, outer sheets were added to create the “crown” of the gasholder. By summer 1927, the truss-work had been completely covered by outer sheets; workers could pump water in to seal the gas. As the guide-frame rose, engineers had to find a solution to stack additional tiers of steel girders (visible at ground level in slide 10 ) while the lift and crown was already in place: 6

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge The next phase of the time-lapse photography illustrates how engineers adopted construction practices in use at contemporary shipyards and skyscrapers to solve this challenge. The perimeter crane raised and maneuvered steel girders into position, where riveters in cages connected them into upper tiers of the outer guide frame ( slide 11 ): A third tier of the guide-frame for the lift-holder was quickly added in June 1927, as the chimney of the sewage-pumping station began to disappear behind the (inflated) lift-frame ( slide 12 ): 7

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge Within a month, a fourth tier was under construction ( slide 13 ): This photo (incidentally) captures the absence of vegetation on the (rather barren) Chesterton side of river Cam, which (in the 21 st -century) is now a flourishing (human-made) nature reserve. Throughout its history the company had received numerous complaints about pollution. 7 For example, fifty years prior to this photography, the town council’s Commissioners of Improvements 7 In 1867 Cambridge Improvements Commissioners informed the company that “ effluvia arising from the manufacture of Gas & residual products of the Gas house River Lane in the Parish of St. Andrew has been reported to be a nuisance & very serious to the public health” . P. Thorsheim (2002) “The Paradox of Smokeless Fuels: Gas, Coke and the Environment in Britain 1813-1949" , Environment and History, www.jstor.org/stable/20723251 notes that town gas shifted pollution from the aerial atmosphere of (domestic) consumption to the (ground and water) pollution of the site of production. 8

Constructing a gasholder in 1920’s Cambridge considered complaints of “ noxious vapours from the gas works ” , which claimed to destroy vegetation in the neighbourhood. 8 By the autumn of 1927, the guide frame was complete ( slide 14 ): Time-lapse skyline in Cambridge Riverside: architecture and aesthetics The finished gasholder would have been the largest (tallest) steel-framed structure in Cambridge at the time, prior to the tower of the new University Library, which was completed in the early 1930s. As slide 15 illustrates, the guide frames of gasholders were not merely functional, but also aesthetic- architectural structures. 9 8 Cambridge University & Town Gas-Light Company minute book, 1876. Cambridgeshire Archives. In response, the Chairman of the company (who happened to be vice-Chancellor of the University) wrote back to the council: “if it is imagined the produc tion of gas can be conducted to yield nothing but pleasant odours, then the complainants are very much mistaken. And what about the brick kilns, manure works and most offensive of all the candle works right in the middle of town?” 9 Historic England (2019) Gas Works and Redundant Holders, https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/gasworks-and-redundant-gasholders/ 9