Hams Hall Power Station.

[John Young]

Hams Hall, Real Engineers

Excellent posting Emmerson Very descriptive & a Tribute to the
Highly skilled engineering people who worked A & B Stations
These Power stations were the Forerunners of their time so the guys
working there in all aspects had to be "up to the mark" so to speak,
33,000 & 11,000 Volts doesn,t allow "errors" so Skill & safety levels
were always maintained to a very high standard,

I had the pleasure of working with these guys (as a Contractor)
mid 70,s an apprentice Sparkie myself, helping remove & repair the
massive Electric Motors /Generators/Alternators & Transformers .
The Skills i learned from Those guys there i am very thankful for.
Thanks & best regards John Y

 

[emmerson]

Hams Hall Power Station

Many, many thanks for all your kind responses regarding the thread I posted concerning Hams Hall Power Station. I feel honoured and humbled at the same time. I sincerely thought that no would ever spare a thought for Hams once it had all been demolished and consigned to history books. Hams Hall for me stays very strong in my heart for alot of reasons my father made alot of very close friends through working at hams, and with this they became close family members they were always good to me, particularly when I used to nag them silly asking what Hams Hall was like???? its very sad that these type of generating complexs close and come to the end of there useful lives and eventually face the ball and chain of demolition. I feel it is important to remind people of how important these power stations were back in there day. As what John pointed out they were forerunnners of there time utililsing technology that now in power generation is rather taken for granted. Another word of mention was how big all three power stations at Hams Hall were in physical size, even when comparing to todays dimensions Hams Hall could of held its own. The generating sets may not of been huge compared to the 2000MW gaints, but Hams in the buildings stake and the availablity of the sets was second to none. Its a very fitting tribute for all those encredible people that worked at Hams Hall you should all be justifiably proud of your achievements. Forget Battersea, Hams A was the first super station with the largest cooling towers in the world. The first power station in great britain to use pulverised fuel instead of burning lumps of coal and later the worlds first jet engine gas turbine installed on a coal fired site, remember a large percentage of electricity generation today is from gas turbine technology and Hams A was the first to use this prototype technology. After A Station and 10 years later came the beautiful B Station built in between the II world war a truly magnificent structure akin to a cathedral, I always used to marvel at the sheer scale of the place, every friday it was Hams Hall Sports and Social Club just by B Station, I used to love going down the road at the back of B Station and looking up at four huge cooling towers with the garages just at the bottom by the culvert in/out lets, very happy days for me as a kid. I always, remember I went to the sports and social club and was running around like a man possessed, my dad eventually caught me when I bumped into a very pleasant gentleman with glasses, it turned out to be Jeff Bellis. The very same man who wrote that wonderful book about Hams Hall The Great Site of Power a very fitting tribute to a very nice man.

 

[mariew]

I can only go on the book and photos posted on how huge hams hall was, and to you as a child it must have been overwelming to see such a place, anyhow I am so glad to have found so much information on where my grandad worked, thank's to all of you.

 

[emmerson]

Hams Hall your grandad's job

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.

Mariew your Grandad father's job as a fitter would of been dependent on what type of fitter your grandad was mechanical or electrical etc????. My father was a mechanical fitter so his role was fitting and maintaining anythink mechanical within the power station, one day he could be stripping bearings from a pump, chipping asbestos off pipe work to renew studs and nuts, flogging up bolts, gagging safety valves on boilers, fitting rotors in turbines, fitting out coal mills etc,this was always dependent on which job was production critical that day or night.

What is to note here the working environment a majority of the time this type of work is spent working in a filthy dirty atmosphere, with coal dust in the air, asbestos dust and particles, exposure to extreme heat and noise and also working at heights these are just some of the working conditions, when my dad used to do flogging shifts he would have to take salt tablets and water every hour.

If your grandad was a fitter in A Station in the early 30's, his working conditions would of been alot worse. Regulations back then were not as strict as they are now, asbestos back then was miracle material, hard hats were none existent and hearing protection was questionable. From my own personal experience I have certainly not been inside a clean dust free coal fired power station to date, and from the experiences that I have been told about Hams the older stations were just a bad.

I hope this gives you a little picture of what your grandad's job may of been like.

 

[mariew]

Thank you so much for your discription of the working conditions there, I know my grandad died of cancer, and working in such an enviroment I think would have contrubuted to it, I know my uncle said his dad worked very hard and was good at his job, I will ask him what kind of fitter my grandad was.

 

[mariew]

I have just been told by my uncle that grandad was a mechanical fitter but he was also well advanced on the electrical side of fitting, and he was a very clever man.

 

[emmerson]

Hams Hall your Grandad's job

Mariew, I am glad I can be of assistance to you regarding your grandad fathers job at Hams. Sadly alot of people I knew that worked at Hams have passed away, suddenly or due to illness such as cancer.

The skills and ability your grandad possessed would of been a major asset to Hams Hall, from what I can gather Hams had alot of people like your grandad, real professionals with the natural ability to use his skillls.

From what I can gather their are not many people left who used to work in A Station, but it is nice to think you are keeping your Grandad's legacy alive! You should be very proud of him.

 

[mariew]

I am very proud of him and I am going to write it all down on my family tree for future generations to read, thank you for your help.

 

[peanut15]

Hams hall A & B

Reading about Hams hall struck a chord with me,as my grandfather in 1931 accompanied the city engineer on a tour of germany.To investigate the electro-static precipitation of dust from boiler flue gases to eliminate atmospheric pollution. On his return he prepared the spec's and supervised the preparation of drawing for Nechells and Ham hall A power stations.
In 1933 he was appointed constructional and testing engineer with the electrical supply department. In addition he supervised the erection of building,boilers,turbo alternators and other plant to increase the station capacity from 90,000K.W to 250,000K.W.
1937 Hams hall B was commission to be built. My grandfather again was responsible in preparing data,specs and drawings and to supervise the building and plant.It was planned to produce 160,500K.W
In 1946 Hams hall B held the blue riband for operating efficiency.
1948 on nationlisation of the industry he was appointed personal assistant to the divisional controller of the midlands division in this capacity he was involved in several new power stations including Drakelow.
On retirement in 1953 he was awarded the M.B.E.

 

[mariew]

What a clever man you Grandfather was, he deserved that MBE, you must be so proud of him.

 

[Wendy]

Peanut how wonderful to know so much about your grandfathers working life, as mariew says you must be so proud and rightfully so. My Dad was an electrical engineer and often traveled to Germany and Italy in the late 50's early 60's.

 

[Laurie_B]

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

I think that building of Nechells Power Station (later Nechells 'A') started about 1913,and when the First World War broke out the Government had all work stopped.The extra demand from munitions factories led the Government and the Electricity Supply Dept to construct a temporary station in 1915,which stood just to south the site of the 'Princes Station'
There is a Pathe News clip from 1923 of the then Prince of Wales opening the power station here

 

[mariew]

Only just noticed this, thanks for posting it Laurie it a great bit of film.

 

[The Baron]

GEC GENERATORS from Witton work produced the Power from Hams hall & even the later Gas Turbine Station.

 

[rivertame]

Does anyone know whether the later additions at the power station at Nechells were built by the GEC in Witton? It seems likely as it is just down the road, but looking for some written evidence. Thanks.

 

[sidwho]

hi rivertame, there is a post on nechells some where on this forum, do a search to see what comes up. kind reguards sidwho

 

[rivertame]

thanks sidwho, I'll take a look.

 

[Ray Griffiths]

Hi

the answer is the turbine alternators at Nechells B were built by C A Parsons in Newcastle they were 52.5 MW air cooled generators.

Hams Hall C were GEC 60 MW hydrogen cooled machine 2 cylinder HP & LP

Hams Hall B 42 Mw C A Parsons air cooled 1500 rpm machines

Hams Hall A was GEC alternators air cooled about 27 MW

Other Power Station around the area were Walsall & Ocker Hill

Ray

 

[rivertame]

Hi

the answer is the turbine alternators at Nechells B were built by C A Parsons in Newcastle they were 52.5 MW air cooled generators.

Hams Hall C were GEC 60 MW hydrogen cooled machine 2 cylinder HP & LP

Hams Hall B 42 Mw C A Parsons air cooled 1500 rpm machines

Hams Hall A was GEC alternators air cooled about 27 MW

Other Power Station around the area were Walsall & Ocker Hill

Ray

Thanks Ray,

That's great information.....now I know!! Thought the GEC must have made some being such a short hop over to Nechells.

 

[AlvinJF]

hi mariew, don't know if you are still interest in hamshall, but my dad worked there for almost 30 years. He was a bricklayer whichmay seem odd but I will explain. The generators were originally steam powered,to do this they had enormous boilers these had an inner lining of fire bricksaround these was a large series of pipes filled with water, when the coal wasfired the water heated to steam (like a boiling kettle) and was then forcedunder pressure into the generators which were then rotated by the steam andgenerated the electricity. the excess steam was then passed out side into the"cooling towers" the cubby concave shaped ones and as the steam rose inthe towers it cooled off into water and ran back down inside of the towers andsent back into the station to be used again. Dads job on the maintenance team waswhen a boiler "went down" as they called it was after a couple ofdays when the boiler had cooled down enough was with a team of brickie's was togo in and completely re line the boiler with new bricks, a very dusty, dirtyand warm job, great in the winter not to pleasant in the summer months. Dad wasborn in 1920 went to hams approx 1955 and took early retirement in 1983 and unfortunatelypassed away in 2005. I as a kid went round the stations quite a few times whenthere were no "boss's" like to be around. Alvin

 

[Ray Griffiths]

Hi Alvin
What was your dad's name and which power station did he work A, B, C.

hi mariew, don't know if you are still interest in hamshall, but my dad worked there for almost 30 years. He was a bricklayer whichmay seem odd but I will explain. The generators were originally steam powered,to do this they had enormous boilers these had an inner lining of fire bricksaround these was a large series of pipes filled with water, when the coal wasfired the water heated to steam (like a boiling kettle) and was then forcedunder pressure into the generators which were then rotated by the steam andgenerated the electricity. the excess steam was then passed out side into the"cooling towers" the cubby concave shaped ones and as the steam rose inthe towers it cooled off into water and ran back down inside of the towers andsent back into the station to be used again. Dads job on the maintenance team waswhen a boiler "went down" as they called it was after a couple ofdays when the boiler had cooled down enough was with a team of brickie's was togo in and completely re line the boiler with new bricks, a very dusty, dirtyand warm job, great in the winter not to pleasant in the summer months. Dad wasborn in 1920 went to hams approx 1955 and took early retirement in 1983 and unfortunatelypassed away in 2005. I as a kid went round the stations quite a few times whenthere were no "boss's" like to be around. Alvin

 

[AlvinJF]

Hi Ray, he actually worked at all three over his nearly 30 years his name was Frank Follows, he lived in Whitacre Heath not far from the then post office on the same road as the Swan and Railway inn pubs.Alvin

 

[ray domney]

Hi

the answer is the turbine alternators at Nechells B were built by C A Parsons in Newcastle they were 52.5 MW air cooled generators.

Hams Hall C were GEC 60 MW hydrogen cooled machine 2 cylinder HP & LP

Hams Hall B 42 Mw C A Parsons air cooled 1500 rpm machines

Hams Hall A was GEC alternators air cooled about 27 MW

Other Power Station around the area were Walsall & Ocker Hill

Ray

Ray you seem to know as much as me, best wishes Ray Domney x G E C, Hams Hall & Fawley power stations.

 

[Dave Ackrill]

Hams Hall Power Station

Anybody who has an interest in Hams Hall Power Station site is more than welcome to contact me.

Hi,

I've been reading some of the posts and have memories of going to Hams Hall when training to become an Electrical Engineer with the MEB and then after I qualified.

They had one of the first 'computer' controlled tap changers in one of the sub-stations and it sometimes went wrong and sent the tap changer either to the top, or the bottom, tap and stuck. On one visit an ex-CEGB fitter, who had been transferred to the MEB, showed me how to fix it. After that, if the tap changer got stuck, they would often send me to fix it again. Sometimes in the middle of the night, when I was not on standby, Control would wake me up and ask me to go and fix it as the two other engineers on standby that night said that they did not know how to do it...

 

[Dave Riley]

I came across a interesting article in the July 1945 issue of The Meccano Magazine referring to a new chimney at Hams Hall power station. The article refers to a lift inside the chimney. I wonder if the lift was just for construction or if it was intended for future maintenance. I bet a few steeple jacks would have loved the addition of a lift whilst carrying out their work. I wonder if anyone can enlighten me one the true purpose of the lift.

Here is the article.........

Electric Lift inside 400 ft. Chimney
An electric passenger hoist running up its centre is to be a feature of a great new chimney to be built at the Hams Hall electric power station, Birmingham. This chimney will rise 400 ft. abovc ground level and have an internal diameter of 22 ft. at the top, which is about the width of an average suburban road! There is already a similar chimney at this power station, and the new one will be identical in every respect. The two chimneys will stand on a reinforced concrete raft 75 ft. square and 9 ft. thick, and the deadweight on the the subsoil will be about 10,000 tons without including wind load. About 2,000,000 bricks will be used in building the chimney, and the work, which is to be carried out by P. C. Richardson and Co. (Middlesbrough) Ltd., will occupy about 18 months. The total cost excluding the foundations, will be about £50,000. This firm have already erected at various sites throughout the country 20 other chimneys all having a height of 300 ft. or more.

 

[Ray Griffiths]

I came across a interesting article in the July 1945 issue of The Meccano Magazine referring to a new chimney at Hams Hall power station. The article refers to a lift inside the chimney. I wonder if the lift was just for construction or if it was intended for future maintenance. I bet a few steeple jacks would have loved the addition of a lift whilst carrying out their work. I wonder if anyone can enlighten me one the true purpose of the lift.

Here is the article.........

Electric Lift inside 400 ft. Chimney
An electric passenger hoist running up its centre is to be a feature of a great new chimney to be built at the Hams Hall electric power station, Birmingham. This chimney will rise 400 ft. abovc ground level and have an internal diameter of 22 ft. at the top, which is about the width of an average suburban road! There is already a similar chimney at this power station, and the new one will be identical in every respect. The two chimneys will stand on a reinforced concrete raft 75 ft. square and 9 ft. thick, and the deadweight on the the subsoil will be about 10,000 tons without including wind load. About 2,000,000 bricks will be used in building the chimney, and the work, which is to be carried out by P. C. Richardson and Co. (Middlesbrough) Ltd., will occupy about 18 months. The total cost excluding the foundations, will be about £50,000. This firm have already erected at various sites throughout the country 20 other chimneys all having a height of 300 ft. or more.

Hi Dav
I worked on all three power stations atHams Hall and never heard of the feature, I only worked in the Turbine Halls on the turbines. Have a date for this article

 

[Ray Griffiths]

Hi Dav
I worked on all three power stations atHams Hall and never heard of the feature, I only worked in the Turbine Halls on the turbines. Have a date for this article

Sorry Dav I’ve just noticed the date if this constructed it would been the thr completion of B stn or for the proposed build of C stn in the early 50s
I have some details of both stations but no mention of a lift in chimneys

 

[Dave Riley]

Hi Ray, the article was in the July 1945 edition of the Meccano magazine and it states a construction period of 18 months so presume the chimney was completed in the late 1940's. The article does state 'to be built' so I wonder if the lift was ever included in the final build. Surely the lift must have been intended just for construction purposes, I have never heard of a lift in a finally constructed working chimney.

 

[Ray Griffiths]

It would be B stn the completion of the second half built after the war
I’ll see if I can find out any more info for you

 

[donky 1955]

hi mariew i used to work at rugeley power station as a scaffolder and we used to erect scaffolding for the fitters and electrisions alot off the work fitters did reqired a scaffold hope that helps im sorry i i havant any photoes off hamshall.