Transport and Industrial Heritage

We were delighted to welcome back Nick Cooke, who spoke to us last year about the development of Orford Ness. This month he gave an absorbing talk on the R101 Airship beginning with the early history of the site at Cardington and its subsequent development. We heard about Short Brothers and Nick's own family involvement in the project. With excellent slides and an account of the crash site in France, this proved to be a very stimulating talk which prompted several interesting contributions from audience members who also had family links to the Airship.

In April we were pleased to welcome Ted Martin who delivered a fact-filled talk on the history of RAF Henlow. Officially opened in 1918 as an aircraft repair depot, RAF Henlow has performed many functions over the years. In 1924 it became the home of the School of Aeronautical Engineering where Sir Frank Whittle was a student. RAF Henlow was an important maintenance centre during WWII repairing and modifying front-line aircraft. After the war the Radio Engineering Unit was established followed by a detachment of the RAF Support Command Signals HQ.

We were delighted to welcome Jim Cameron to speak to us about the history of a manufacturing company with early roots in Letchworth that is still going strong. The company started as Morse Chain manufacturing chains for a range of purposes. Jim led us through their evolution until they folded but with a number of employees moving on to create a further company which now operates very successfully as FB Chain in Works Road. Jim skilfully wove into his talk the economic conditions and technical developments of the decades to give context to the changing fortunes of the sector.

Our February meeting was actually held in early March as we joined with the Letchworth Garden City Society to welcome Peter Rose who gave us an information-packed talk on the history of the development of bus services in Letchworth and the surrounding area. With a fascinating range of slides to accompany the narrative we learned about local horse-drawn, gas and steam powered and diesel buses and the characters behind them. Peter has researched the history of bus companies in depth and managed to convey a complex story in a very engaging way. 

We were delighted to welcome David Howlett from Hitchin Historical Society who delivered a thoroughly interesting talk on how the railway came to Hitchin, within the context of railway development across England. The talk also explored the challenges and opportunities the railway brought to Hitchin as well as providing snippets of local interest. 

The group enjoyed an informative, well-structured and fully illustrated talk from Nick Cooke on the topic of Orford Ness. The history of this coastal area of Suffolk is fascinating from its initial use in 1913 for the testing of aircraft through its work on bomb ballistics; the experiments that led to RADAR; the later testing of aircraft components and the flight paths of air-launched rockets. The 1950s and early 60s saw Orford Ness hosting tests on the initiation mechanisms for atomic bombs.

John Bray, one of our members, gave us an excellent talk about Town Gas and its role in Letchworth's development. John spent 30 years working as a Scientific Officer in the water and gas industries and started by explaining how town gas was manufactured by heating coal in the absence of oxygen. Letchworth's own First Garden City Gasworks was located on Works Road where Aztek Logistics are now. The site expanded rapidly due to the success of the town in attracting businesses and residents.

We were delighted to welcome Fabian Hiscock from Three Rivers Museum Trust who explained about canals in west Hertfordshire before focusing on the history and restoration of wooden canal boats using The Roger as an example. The Roger was built by Bushell Brothers of Tring in 1936 for the Aylesbury coal merchant and canal carrier, Arthur Harvey-Taylor. It is one of the last wooden canal boats in working order and a fascinating part of our industrial heritage.

We were delighted to welcome Philippa Parker and Janet Capstick from LALG's Letchworth Local History Research group in May. They gave a detailed and informative talk on the many important individuals who contributed to the early development of the new Garden City in the early 20th century. We heard about the pioneer companies who moved their businesses to our town in order to take advantage of the space, residential accommodation and good transport links.

Pamela Birch from Bedfordshire Archives presented an interesting talk on the industrial development of Luton which saw it develop from a rural economy to an industrial hub in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on maps, plans and other documents from the county's archives, Pamela shared fascinating details to which the audience added their own recollections.

David Thorpe from Baldock Radio Station gave us an informative and engaging insight into the varied history of the Baldock Radio Station. Starting with the construction of the site from open farmland in 1929, we learned about the station's role in receiving early international telephone calls in the 1930s; radio tracking in World War II; ship-to-shore radio; TV detector vans and the essential monitoring of radio interference that can jeopardise important safety-of-life services.

Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews from North Herts Museum gave a thought-provoking talk on the Industrial Archaeology of North Herts with an emphasis on the social aspects of the changes brought about by the development of the factory system. Keith sought to expand the ‘definition’ of industrial archaeology to include service industries such as printing and tanning and also work located in the domestic environment, such as straw plaiting.

John Magill gave a fascinating talk and 'tour' around the many different places he has worked starting with Marconi in Stanmore. We followed the evolution of these companies including (but not limited to) the British Aircraft Corporation to BAE Systems via British Aerospace as well as Marconi, GEC and the European aerospace corporation, Airbus. Hertfordshire has played a major role in hosting these companies and we also enjoyed a brief foray into Cambridge and Chicksands in Bedfordshire with an excellent range of slides illustrating the journey.

Guy Thomas shared with us a wealth of knowledge and research into the many different locations, characters and machines that form the history of aviation in our county. We learnt about the various airstrips that developed across Hertfordshire as well as the manufacturers such as De Havilland and the intriguing individuals who built, flew and funded these machines. Excellent slides accompanied the talk illustrating many scenes then and now.

We were pleased to welcome back Jo Ward from Stevenage Museum who gave us a fascinating tour through some of the industrial heritage of Stevenage. There was a particular focus on the Educational Supply Association (ESA) who used their experience with plywood derived from their experience building Mosquito aircraft in WW2 to produce a range of hardy and economical school furniture after the war and Vincent Motorcycles. 

Richard Meredith-Hardy, owner of Radwell Mill and member of Revivel, gave us an engaging talk on how the upper reaches of the River Ivel were once healthy enough to support mills at Radwell, Norton and Stotfold. Accompanying his talk with archive images, Richard then moved on to explain the hydrogeology of the Ivel, a chalk stream, and the impact that extraction of water from the chalk aquifer is having on it. With stretches of the river now drying or experiencing very low flows, huge damage is being done to the ecology of the river.

Malcolm Bates gave an engaging talk about Letchworth company, Shelvoke and Drewry. Founded in 1922 and trading until 1991, S & D first produced the Freighter a general purpose ‘lorry’’ going on to design and produce a large range of vehicles including tractors, fork lift trucks and bin lorries. War-time production included tank transporters and submersible craft.

Terry Cavender, Executive Officer at the Buckingham Canal Society (BCS), gave us an impressive account of the achievements of the Society and volunteers in protecting and restoring the Buckingham Arm, built in the 1790s as part of the Grand Junction scheme. The canal was a financial success and community asset until the opening of the railway in 1850 drew trade away from it. It was dammed off in World War II and offically abandoned in 1964. The BCS formed in 1992 and has been working to restore several sections.

Douglas Kent, Technical Director at the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), explained the work of the SPAB before discussing how SPAB principles have been put into practice through the programme of major conservation work underway at the Old Sun Inn, Saffron Walden. We learned that the inn is a Grade I-listed historic building displaying some of the best pargeting – external decorative plasterwork – in England.

Matthew Platt gave a fascinating talk entitled Ice Age to ICL: technology through time sharing images from the collection of North Herts Museum at which he is Assistant Curator. From mammoth hunting tools in Weston, to the 'One per Desk' computer created by Letchworth Company ICL, our local area has played host to the development of many innovative technologies.

Josh Tidy, Heritage Manager at the Letchworth Heritage Foundation, gave a fascinating talk on the town during World War II. We heard about home life, including the monotonous diet, and the role of various Letchworth industries in supporting the war effort including British Tab, Spirella, Kryn and Lahy, Meredew and more. A bumper crowd of 40 of us listened to the detail and anecdote with great enjoyment.

James Greer from Airbus gave us a fascinating and enlightening talk about the company and its commercial predecessors which have been building launchers / satellites from the Stevenage site since the 1960s. We learnt about early projects and commercial telecommunication satellites as well as science and space exploration missions including the current programmes in build like Biomass and the Mars Lander. A varied range of questions from our audience provided an interesting ending to this stimulating talk.

Letchworth author and historian, Bill Lindsay, gave a fascinating talk based upon his recently published book on the history of his ancestor William Schaw Lindsay. An orphan who ran away to sea at the age of 16, Schaw's entrepreneurial nature led him to develop a significant merchant shipping line and successfully handle the transition from sailing ships to those with auxiliary steam power. Schaw wrote the key text on the history of merchant shipping and became the Liberal Member of Parliament for Tynemouth and North Shields.

Jo Ward, Curator of Stevenage Museum, gave a fascinating talk on the relationship between the development of transport and the shaping of Stevenage. We explored the original roads layout and the coaching industry, moving onto turnpikes before the advent of the railway in 1850. The station moved from the Old Town to the New in 1973. As workers changed from bicycles to cars the role of buses expanded to relieve pressure on the roads and we learnt of the Superbus initiative.

Tuesday, 2 July 2019   Beep Beep! A talk on micro cars