ELLENROAD ENGINE, WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Posted: 23 Apr 2012, 07:54
ELLENROAD ENGINE, WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Twenty years ago I was up to my neck in reviving the Ellenroad Engine and, with the support of some good men, had complete control over the Project. It was a complete accident and I have told it many times before, don’t worry, I am not going to do it again! The major factor in how this happened was that Rochdale MBC and Coates Brothers Inks had a problem, what to do with the Ellenroad engines and as it was mission impossible they decided to let have an ex-wagon driver have a crack at it. I had the sense to tell them that if I had ultimate responsibility I wanted complete control and the consequence was that with a lot of help and amazing good luck I succeeded and the evidence sits there at Newhey to this day.
You may not be surprised to hear that there was opposition and some sniping from the foothills. There is no point in trying to analyse why this happened, anyone who has had such a wonderful job as this will know that you sometimes stir up murky water. My attitude was always that as long as I could convince myself I was justified in an action I pursued it and I have to tell you I was my own most severe critic. As the years go by these old battles usually recede into the mist but there is one matter which has never done so; the rumbling of discontent which started when we reinstated the nameplates on the engine.
This was brought to my attention recently by Colin Bowden, not, I hasten to add, in any sense as a criticism but as an intelligent search for the truth as far as we can know it. He had of course come across the evidence from the McNaught archives which suggests that the names were different from the ones I put on the engine in the 1980s.
There is no such thing as a ‘historical fact’ it’s much more tricky than that. Everyone is right when they quote their sources and one thing that has always been clear to me is that it seems certain that between the design of the engine and the actual naming the choice of names changed. I was baffled at first because I had conflicting stories and before making any decisions I spread the word that I was interested in finding the truth. At first the consensus was for Edward and Alexandra and I was beginning to lean towards these even though my original information was different. Then, as is the way with these things, I got a mysterious telephone call. The gist of it was that if I would promise to keep my sources secret, I could view the original plates at a neutral venue.
I agreed, and was shown two very worn plates Victoria and Alexandra. I took rubbings of them to get the right size and font, thanked my informants and sloped off into the gloom. As far as I was concerned this was the prime source, I didn’t ask any questions, I had all I wanted. I went to my pattern maker in Keighley, got two patterns made and Geoff Smith at Keighley cast them for me. I finished them and fixed them on the engine. I knew that the right hand engine was Alexandra because we had the evidence of the engraving from the McNaught archive. Now here’s where memory let me down.
Colin Mentioned that he couldn’t remember having seen any plates on the engine when he saw it in the 1970s but I said that there must have been fixing holes in the lagging plates because I knew I hadn’t stripped the plates to install backing nuts for the fixing screws. I was wrong, I went for a furtle in my archive and found some pictures of the engines taken by Charlie Meecham in the 70s and sure enough, Colin was right, there were no name plates on the engine. Then it dawned on me what I had done, I went into the workshop and sure enough, buried at the bottom of the treasure chest was a neat little box labelled King-Klik made by Riveting Systems at Todmorden. If you’ve never come across these they are handy hollow rivets that can be installed like a pop rivet but are larger and have threaded bores. I had used these to install anchored threaded inserts in the plates without any dismantling. I remember having a shock when I found a source of ¼” Whitworth brass round-headed screws. I had to buy a full box and they were enormously expensive!
So, Colin was right, there were no plates on the engine during the 1970s and the most likely explanation is that someone snaffled the original plates after the fire of January 1916, Kenyon’s of Dukinfield certainly never put any fixing holes in the new lagging installed during the refurbishment of 1919.
So far so good, I was happy with the new plates and the lads started polishing them. It was at this point that a controversy was stirred up about the names and as I remember it there were even letters in the papers accusing us of a cavalier disregard for ‘historical fact’. One of the advantages of being El Supremo is that you have minions so I had a word with my mate Bruce Robbins who was running our Interpretative Team and asked him to put someone onto digging out the original newspaper reports of the engine christening, I knew there would be something somewhere. Here’s what the team turned up:
OLDHAM EVENING CHRONICLE - MONDAY 23 May 1892
ENGINE CHRISTENING AT ELLENROAD MILL
The ceremony of christening engines at the Ellenroad Spinning Company’s Mill at Newhey, was performed on Saturday afternoon. A select company of ladies and gentlemen interested in the concern witnessed the ceremony, which took place shortly after 3 o’clock. Mr James Parker one of the Director’s in a speech relative to the situation which had brought them together, called upon Mr Emmanuel Clegg, Chairman of the Board of Directors and a large employer of labour in the district to christen the engine. He did so and in naming them “Victoria” and “Alexandra” respectively he referred in terms of praise in the excellent way in which the engine builders had done their work and complemented them on the care and judgement they had shown. The Company afterwards repaired to one of the mule rooms where lunch was served. The usual loyal and patriotic toasts were followed by
(Researched by A Nicholson, Ellenroad Development Team from Oldham Libraries/Local Studies. From Oldham Chronicle Newspaper)
CHRISTENING OF THE ENGINE OF THE ELLENROAD SPINNING CO. (Rochdale Observer. Wednesday 25 May, 1892)
Speeches on Local Spinning Topics.
On Saturday afternoon a large gathering of people assembled in the Engine House of the Ellenroad Spinning Co to witness the christening of the fine triple expansion engines made by Messrs John W McNaught, of Rochdale.
At half past three o’clock Mr James Parker, Director of the Co said they were met to christen the engines and their worthy chairman Mr Emanuel Clegg had been chosen to perform that very interesting ceremony. It was due to Mr Clegg’s energy and enterprise that the mill had been built and he thought Mr Clegg ought to perform the ceremony. Mr Clegg then turned on the steam and the huge iron monster imbued with new life slowly turned its massive frame. Mr Clegg then sprinkled champagne over each engine and named one “ALEXANDRA” and the other “VICTORIA” immediately afterwards they were working at the rate of 48 strokes per minute as indicated by the speed counter on the wall.
The triple expansion steam engine for driving the machinery inside the mill was made by Messrs John & William McNaught of Rochdale, by whom it was designed, it was one of the largest in the district of that type, and is proportioned for a working steam pressure of 160 lbs. The driving power is between 1,800 and 2,600 horse power. The cylinders are 4 in number viz one high pressure cylinder 24½” diameter, one intermediate pressure-cylinder, 38½” diameter and two low pressure cylinders 43” diameter, all for a stroke of 6 feet. The high pressure cylinder is furnished with Corliss valves, two for ‘Steaming’ and two for ‘Exhausting’. The intermediate and low pressure cylinders are furnished with ‘Piston’ valves. There are 4 of McNaught’s patent vertical air pumps worked direct from the crosshead gudgeons by means of levers and neatly polished links. The flywheel or rope drum is 28ft diameter, it is grooved for 43 ropes and weighs about 70 tons. Spur teeth are cast on the inside of the rim engaging with a spur pinion driven by one of Messrs McNaught patent and automatic disengaging barring engines. The spur pinion comes out of gear immediately its
periphery speed is exceeded by that of the main driving drum. The crank shaft and crank pins are hollow and are made of Whitworth’s Fluid Compressed Steel. The cranks connecting rods and crosshead are made of hammered scrap iron. The piston rods and crosshead gudgeons are made of mild steel. The crank pins are furnished with centrifugal lubricators and rotary pumps and connections furnish an ample supply of oil for the crank shaft bearings. The engine is supplied with electric stop motion, vacuum and steam gauges neatly polished palisading and cast iron flooring plates, steam jacketed wrought iron receiver relief valves, to cylinders and pipes and engine speed counter.
(Researched by A Nicholson, Ellenroad Development Team. 30/09/87)
So there you have it, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. If I was wrong I was in good company! It’s worth noting where the opponents to my nameplates went wrong. The material in the McNaught archive pre-dates the actual installation and christening of the engine and it seems that the directors changed their minds, they decided to name them after the present and future queen, influenced no doubt by the fact that in 1892 Victoria had been on the throne for 55 years. She was to die in 1901 but the engine was still named after the queen, a smart move.
SCG/23 June 2009
Twenty years ago I was up to my neck in reviving the Ellenroad Engine and, with the support of some good men, had complete control over the Project. It was a complete accident and I have told it many times before, don’t worry, I am not going to do it again! The major factor in how this happened was that Rochdale MBC and Coates Brothers Inks had a problem, what to do with the Ellenroad engines and as it was mission impossible they decided to let have an ex-wagon driver have a crack at it. I had the sense to tell them that if I had ultimate responsibility I wanted complete control and the consequence was that with a lot of help and amazing good luck I succeeded and the evidence sits there at Newhey to this day.
You may not be surprised to hear that there was opposition and some sniping from the foothills. There is no point in trying to analyse why this happened, anyone who has had such a wonderful job as this will know that you sometimes stir up murky water. My attitude was always that as long as I could convince myself I was justified in an action I pursued it and I have to tell you I was my own most severe critic. As the years go by these old battles usually recede into the mist but there is one matter which has never done so; the rumbling of discontent which started when we reinstated the nameplates on the engine.
This was brought to my attention recently by Colin Bowden, not, I hasten to add, in any sense as a criticism but as an intelligent search for the truth as far as we can know it. He had of course come across the evidence from the McNaught archives which suggests that the names were different from the ones I put on the engine in the 1980s.
There is no such thing as a ‘historical fact’ it’s much more tricky than that. Everyone is right when they quote their sources and one thing that has always been clear to me is that it seems certain that between the design of the engine and the actual naming the choice of names changed. I was baffled at first because I had conflicting stories and before making any decisions I spread the word that I was interested in finding the truth. At first the consensus was for Edward and Alexandra and I was beginning to lean towards these even though my original information was different. Then, as is the way with these things, I got a mysterious telephone call. The gist of it was that if I would promise to keep my sources secret, I could view the original plates at a neutral venue.
I agreed, and was shown two very worn plates Victoria and Alexandra. I took rubbings of them to get the right size and font, thanked my informants and sloped off into the gloom. As far as I was concerned this was the prime source, I didn’t ask any questions, I had all I wanted. I went to my pattern maker in Keighley, got two patterns made and Geoff Smith at Keighley cast them for me. I finished them and fixed them on the engine. I knew that the right hand engine was Alexandra because we had the evidence of the engraving from the McNaught archive. Now here’s where memory let me down.
Colin Mentioned that he couldn’t remember having seen any plates on the engine when he saw it in the 1970s but I said that there must have been fixing holes in the lagging plates because I knew I hadn’t stripped the plates to install backing nuts for the fixing screws. I was wrong, I went for a furtle in my archive and found some pictures of the engines taken by Charlie Meecham in the 70s and sure enough, Colin was right, there were no name plates on the engine. Then it dawned on me what I had done, I went into the workshop and sure enough, buried at the bottom of the treasure chest was a neat little box labelled King-Klik made by Riveting Systems at Todmorden. If you’ve never come across these they are handy hollow rivets that can be installed like a pop rivet but are larger and have threaded bores. I had used these to install anchored threaded inserts in the plates without any dismantling. I remember having a shock when I found a source of ¼” Whitworth brass round-headed screws. I had to buy a full box and they were enormously expensive!
So, Colin was right, there were no plates on the engine during the 1970s and the most likely explanation is that someone snaffled the original plates after the fire of January 1916, Kenyon’s of Dukinfield certainly never put any fixing holes in the new lagging installed during the refurbishment of 1919.
So far so good, I was happy with the new plates and the lads started polishing them. It was at this point that a controversy was stirred up about the names and as I remember it there were even letters in the papers accusing us of a cavalier disregard for ‘historical fact’. One of the advantages of being El Supremo is that you have minions so I had a word with my mate Bruce Robbins who was running our Interpretative Team and asked him to put someone onto digging out the original newspaper reports of the engine christening, I knew there would be something somewhere. Here’s what the team turned up:
OLDHAM EVENING CHRONICLE - MONDAY 23 May 1892
ENGINE CHRISTENING AT ELLENROAD MILL
The ceremony of christening engines at the Ellenroad Spinning Company’s Mill at Newhey, was performed on Saturday afternoon. A select company of ladies and gentlemen interested in the concern witnessed the ceremony, which took place shortly after 3 o’clock. Mr James Parker one of the Director’s in a speech relative to the situation which had brought them together, called upon Mr Emmanuel Clegg, Chairman of the Board of Directors and a large employer of labour in the district to christen the engine. He did so and in naming them “Victoria” and “Alexandra” respectively he referred in terms of praise in the excellent way in which the engine builders had done their work and complemented them on the care and judgement they had shown. The Company afterwards repaired to one of the mule rooms where lunch was served. The usual loyal and patriotic toasts were followed by
(Researched by A Nicholson, Ellenroad Development Team from Oldham Libraries/Local Studies. From Oldham Chronicle Newspaper)
CHRISTENING OF THE ENGINE OF THE ELLENROAD SPINNING CO. (Rochdale Observer. Wednesday 25 May, 1892)
Speeches on Local Spinning Topics.
On Saturday afternoon a large gathering of people assembled in the Engine House of the Ellenroad Spinning Co to witness the christening of the fine triple expansion engines made by Messrs John W McNaught, of Rochdale.
At half past three o’clock Mr James Parker, Director of the Co said they were met to christen the engines and their worthy chairman Mr Emanuel Clegg had been chosen to perform that very interesting ceremony. It was due to Mr Clegg’s energy and enterprise that the mill had been built and he thought Mr Clegg ought to perform the ceremony. Mr Clegg then turned on the steam and the huge iron monster imbued with new life slowly turned its massive frame. Mr Clegg then sprinkled champagne over each engine and named one “ALEXANDRA” and the other “VICTORIA” immediately afterwards they were working at the rate of 48 strokes per minute as indicated by the speed counter on the wall.
The triple expansion steam engine for driving the machinery inside the mill was made by Messrs John & William McNaught of Rochdale, by whom it was designed, it was one of the largest in the district of that type, and is proportioned for a working steam pressure of 160 lbs. The driving power is between 1,800 and 2,600 horse power. The cylinders are 4 in number viz one high pressure cylinder 24½” diameter, one intermediate pressure-cylinder, 38½” diameter and two low pressure cylinders 43” diameter, all for a stroke of 6 feet. The high pressure cylinder is furnished with Corliss valves, two for ‘Steaming’ and two for ‘Exhausting’. The intermediate and low pressure cylinders are furnished with ‘Piston’ valves. There are 4 of McNaught’s patent vertical air pumps worked direct from the crosshead gudgeons by means of levers and neatly polished links. The flywheel or rope drum is 28ft diameter, it is grooved for 43 ropes and weighs about 70 tons. Spur teeth are cast on the inside of the rim engaging with a spur pinion driven by one of Messrs McNaught patent and automatic disengaging barring engines. The spur pinion comes out of gear immediately its
periphery speed is exceeded by that of the main driving drum. The crank shaft and crank pins are hollow and are made of Whitworth’s Fluid Compressed Steel. The cranks connecting rods and crosshead are made of hammered scrap iron. The piston rods and crosshead gudgeons are made of mild steel. The crank pins are furnished with centrifugal lubricators and rotary pumps and connections furnish an ample supply of oil for the crank shaft bearings. The engine is supplied with electric stop motion, vacuum and steam gauges neatly polished palisading and cast iron flooring plates, steam jacketed wrought iron receiver relief valves, to cylinders and pipes and engine speed counter.
(Researched by A Nicholson, Ellenroad Development Team. 30/09/87)
So there you have it, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. If I was wrong I was in good company! It’s worth noting where the opponents to my nameplates went wrong. The material in the McNaught archive pre-dates the actual installation and christening of the engine and it seems that the directors changed their minds, they decided to name them after the present and future queen, influenced no doubt by the fact that in 1892 Victoria had been on the throne for 55 years. She was to die in 1901 but the engine was still named after the queen, a smart move.
SCG/23 June 2009