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Hams Hall Power Station.

mariew

mariew

master brummie
My grandad on my moms side was a fitter at hams hall I have heard of the place but never seen it has anyone any photos of the place and what would his job entailed as I know my mom said he had a very bad fall there he was born 1901 so I should inmagine he worked there in the 20s 30s maybe 40s unfortunatly I never met my grandad he died a year before I was born.
 
Hams Hall was a power station out by Coleshill, it was demolished some years ago, the area it covered is now I believe a rail freight terminal.
 
Thank you Darby I didn't know it had been demolished I'm not likely to get any photos then, oh well never mind.
 
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Cromwell thank you so much. My husband has just come home from work and he said they have been demolished years ago, well at least now I can see where he worked thanks again.
 
Mariew, Never say die.......as all the info is out there ....it just needs finding and this is what this site is all about ...we are all like ships that pass in the night .....as one fades from view another appears on the horizon .........constantly changing
 
Well I must say all of you are good at finding all of these photos I tried to google hams hall but could not find anything a big thank you to all of you on this site you have helped so much in my family tree too I could never have got this info on my own.
 
Mariew, and if you want the History of Hams Hall you only have to ask.....
 
yes please Cromwell I dont know that much about my grandad I have been asking my uncle a few questions I know it was very rare he took his flat cap off and he smoked a pipe, so I would love to know about the history and what a fitter did too, and thank you postied the photo is great what a enormous place it was.
 
Mariew for a brief time I worked at Hams Hall but that was in another life...
I will P.M. you all the boring details about Hams Hall in a few days
 
This next picture is of the cooling towers in the 1960's with all the flood water, which used to stretch for miles, happy times
 
The Engine Room in the Generating Plant which when it opened in 1929 could generate 90,000 Kilowatts 10 years later it was churning out 240,000 Kilowatts and in a year burning 773,633 tons of coal
 
what a wonderful photo this place must have been huge thank you for all of these photos they will all be going into my family tree information for future generations so my granddad will never be forgotten.
 
No, unfortunatley, the estate was put up for sale in 1911,six years after the death of Lord Norton, the hose was excluded from the sale and it was demolished in 1920. The park disappeared under the 13 cooling towers of the Hams Hall Power Station. The top two stories of the house were bought by a shipping magnate,re erected, as part of an extension to Bledisloe House, near Cirencester.
 
This picture is beautiful, it was took from the High Street in Coleshill in the 1930's, in the background is Hams Hall "A" station which was completed in 1929, the "B" station was completed in 1942
 
Wow this is a beauty my grandad would have been in his late 20s then I am so grateful for these wonderful photos thank you. I've got to go shopping but I cannot drag myself away from the computor.
 
In 1937 at the British Industries Fair they had a model of Hams Hall Power Station on the front of the stand and explained to people that it was not smoke the came from the cooling towers but steam as they were capable of cooling the circulating water at a rate of 2,600,000 gallons per hour, the tower's were made of Ferro-concrete (quick setting)
 
I suppose people would presume it was smoke coming out of the chimneys so they had to be reasured.
 
Nechells Power Station was built before Hams Hall it was built in 1915 and built to proved extra power for the Great War factories in Brum (The plans were drawn up in 1914) it was nicknamed The Prince's Station as the Prince of Wales officially opened it in 1923....Hams Hall opened in 1929
Ad from the 1930's
P.S. Smoke came out of the chimneys and steam out of the Cooling Towers
 
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Pity our Kandor is absent at the moment.I am sure I recall him saying that his grandfather lived at the Farm at Hams Hall which he had to leave when the power station was built.
 
In Alex Henshaw's book "Sigh for a Merlin" he recalls just how many times he was grateful to see the steam from Hams Hall when test flying Spitfires in bad weather, he was able to get a bearing for Castle Bromwich from it.
 
The Big house Hams Hall was the country seat of Lord Norton and the Adderley family, built around 1780 by Sir Charles Adderley.
A little forgotten fact was, it was at Hams Hall New Zealand's history was mapped out in 1850 when Lord Norton and Charles Adderley gathered around him a group of people that developed the Constitution of New Zealand. Lord Norton a colonial reformer in the days when our great Dominions were just colonies was born on the eve of Waterloo and it was often said about him by his wife that he knew more about the colonies than he did about his children.... many people around Lee Maston were sent out to Canterbury to build homes and settle and he was devastated when his great house was destroyed by fire on the 22nd April 1890 and the inside gutted....most of the fantastic art and book collection was saved and even though the inside was rebuilt it was never the same and demolished in later years...Lord Norton was buried in the Little Church at Lee Marston where his family put a window in memory of his life...
 
Thanks for the link Kxlewis sorry it's a bit late I've only just found it, and thank you for yet more info cromwell, I took a look at the link from Kxlewis and there is a photo of Lord Norton on there.
 
Hi all,
I'm a new member and delighted to join you in this discussion.
I worked, for a short time, at Hams Hall 'B' Station in 1971 (completed in 1949 with 4 towers) and I now work in Edison Road on the 'new' industrial estate. My particular interest is trying to work out where the stations were sited, given the enormous change the are has undergone!

I also lived at the bottom end of Coleshill, throught the 1950s and recall 'C' station actually being built. How time flies, but although no doubt 'environmentally unfriendly' the site provided quite a boost to the local economy during the time it was active. It was, indeed, a feast of industry.

Graham
 
Welcome Graham, and thank's for the input about Hams Hall. I am sure you will find many here with a similar interest. I look forward to reading more. Wendy.
 
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