9th May 2024 VII

Ig: walkuponacloud

On January 4th 1973 Biggar Gasworks ceased production, eventually becoming a museum.

For more than 130 years, from 1839, Biggar Gasworks made coal gas for the town and surrounding district. It was one of the first small-town gasworks to open in Scotland, and among the last to close, hence I am including it in our anniversaries. 

In the 1780s, Archibald Cochrane 9th Earl of Dundonald, came across coal gas while heating coal to obtain tar, for use in preserving ships’ timbers. He was able to use this ‘waste product’ to light some rooms in his home at Culross, Fife. Experimenting with coal gas was one thing. Solving the technical and 

commercial problems of creating a large-scale industry was an entirely different matter. Step forward another Scot, William Murdoch/Murdock, from Ayrshire. In 1806, while working for the Boulton & Watt Company, he designed the first large-scale installation, at a Manchester cotton mill. Murdock was a brilliant Scottish engineer and inventor. He probably doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, do a search for him for more info. 

In 1812, Friedrich Winzer, a German, established the world’s first public gas undertaking, in London. By 1815, the Chartered Gas Light & Coke Company had laid 26 miles of gas pipe. Glasgow got its first supply in 1817, Edinburgh in 1818. Biggar was among the first small towns to convert to gas, in 1839, the year Murdoch died.

Biggar Gasworks is remarkably complete – even the coal barrows and shovels remain. Buildings and equipment have been renewed and replaced over the years, but almost everything is in place.

The retort house, where the town gas was manufactured, was  built in 1839 is the oldest building on site. It was stripped of its coal-fired retorts in 1914 and ended up as the coal store. (At that time, the gasman was using 400 tons of coal per year to serve 320 consumers and power more than 100 street lights.) A new retort house, complete with purifying equipment, replaced the old one.

The building that now contains the visitor centre and display was put up in 1858 to house the gasman and his family. John Ramsay, from Carluke, was the first tenant.

The two gas holders originally installed in 1858 and 1879 were rebuilt in 1918 and 1939 respectively.

It is the only preserved gasworks left in Scotland.

Winter haze

Gas Works Park, Washington | November 2022

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East Greenwich Gas Works engine shed - Mar 1951 by Frederick McLean Via Flickr: An old amateur photograph of a 'shed bash' to the East Greenwich Gas Works engine/loco shed in Mar 1951. The gas works had an extensive internal steam/diesel rail network, bringing in coal via a 'coaling pier' on the river, sending out coke and chemicals, as well as many internal rail movements. The network consisted of two narrow gauge and one standard gauge railway, from 1900 it was joined via a spur to the Angerstein railway. On the reverse is annotated "East Greenwich Gas Works loco shed 31/3/51". Old/new overhead maps view:- maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=14.6&lat=5... A history of the gas works is here:- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Greenwich_Gas_Works If there are any errors in the above description please let me know. Thanks. 📷 Any photograph I post on Flickr is an original in my possession, nothing is ever copied/downloaded from another location. 📷 -------------------------------------------------

The Gas Social Club on Rigby Road, South Shore during three different periods. It was eventually fully demolished in the late 1990's.

They have been developing a collection of modern homes on the site since 2014 and are still far from being finished.

everybody go home. this is my magnum opus

9th May 2024 III

Self portrait.

Ig: walkuponacloud

little hamsters big adventures, kasuga

coloured this page from chapter 11

October 30, 2023 - Tens of thousands of striking garment workers took to the streets in Bangladesh, demanding fair wages. Many of the workers make clothes for big Western brands, but get paid only around 75 dollars a month. The unions are demanding a tripling of the wage. [video]/[video]

i need ichiban to stop lookin' at me with them big ol' eyes in infinite wealth