The September meeting is the start of our year and to finish off the 2015/2016 year we have our AGM before the talk. As I pointed out we have not found a copy of the Constitution which will be one of our tasks for this year – not finding, writing! Therefore I will just mention that I introduced the Committee members and asked our Treasurer, Linda Graham to provide a quick report which indicated that the finances had improved since last year. I reported that our two co-opted members had agreed to become full members for which we had agreement through a proposer, Jenny ap Simon and a seconder, David Halliwell. The remaining Committee members were introduced and as they had all offered themselves for re-election this was accepted by a proposer Philip Norman and seconded by Gilly Halcrow.
The desperate need for a secretary was outlined pointing out that this is not the typing pool, tea making, secretary of the past but a man or woman who would be a full member of the committee with as much say as anyone else. OK they would need to take notes and look after a diary of events and keep the Chairman in order but mostly it would be an interesting and worthwhile experience for someone with an interest in local history. As an indication of the interest from our previous secretaries I only know of two in the last 20 years or so! If we really cannot find someone prepared to give up a few evenings a year we would even consider taking on someone who wanted a small part time job after hours for an agreed rate to fit in with their lifestyle.
We would also be happy to build the committee with the addition of one or two further members. There are always lots of interesting tasks and, once we have established our Constitution we will have more clarity about our aims. However, don’t let that put you off. You can be a co-opted member and simply come to a few meetings to see if you would like to join in.
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This completed the AGM part of the evening and I then changed hats in order to give an illustrated talk on 200 years of the Gas Industry and the early gas lighting of William Sugg & Co.
I explained that the first part of the Power Point presentation was largely prepared as an in-house celebration of the bi-centenary of the industry in 2012 taking the formation of the Gas Light & Coke Company in 1812 as the start date. We actually began with the 1812 overture and what else went on that year! Before this date there were several pioneers going back into the late years of the 18th century with William Murdoch lighting his house in Redruth in Cornwall in 1792. In the early years of the 19th century, 1803-1804 F.A.Winsor could be found demonstrating the properties and uses of coal gas to the suspicious Londoners in the Lyceum Theatre as he tried to persuade them to invest in a company to light the streets of London. In 1807 he demonstrated this by installing a series of lamps and devices in Pall Mall and along the wall of Carlton House, fed with gas produced in a retort back at his house in Pall Mall with, according to contemporary accounts, the assistance of Thomas Sugg who was an ironmonger living not far away who made and installed the pipework. This means that the Sugg connection with gas actually predates the Industry start!
A subsequent application in 1810 ultimately led to the formation of The Chartered Gas Light and Coke Company in 1812 with the first works set up in Great Peter Street, Westminster. Doubtless this explains why Thomas Sugg’s son, William, started his business in Marsham Street just round the corner in 1837.
A piece of early film demonstrated how smelly you could become working in a gasworks with the hydrogen sulphide rotten eggs smell that pervaded the atmosphere!
By 1870 the demand was so great that the Gas Light & Coke Co (GLCC) opened the largest gas works in the world, no trace of which remains as it was finally redeveloped for the 2012 Olympic Games!
Several illustrations followed the Sugg connection until we got to WWII with film of women playing their part throughout the Industry. A photo of the devastation of the Sugg works that received a direct hit in December 1940 reminded us of the terror of that time. Fortunately this was at night and there was no loss of life.
Nationalisation in 1949 and the Gas Act of 1972 eventually led to the end of the decentralised gas industry
An entertaining piece of film showing the repair of a gas pipe which had led to the pavement being on fire was followed by a film on conversion to natural gas as the whole industry changed to a new era.
A film on home service reminded us of the huge strides that have been taken since the 70’s in the place of women and men in society!
Finally privatisation was recorded on film with the advertising slogan “Tell Sid” that many will remember.
Following this I showed photos of gas street lighting with the reasons why the lanterns were so enormous in the 1880’s and how some of these lamps could still be seen today – a particularly local one being mounted on the Crown Court Offices in High Street, Lewes, albeit converted (badly) to electricity! Several other famous locations that still showed their original lamps (converted to electricity) such as Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square were followed by two very famous locations that are still using gas in their original lamps on Buckingham Palace and around the Houses of Parliament.
A film borrowed from you-tube of the current day maintenance work carried out by the dedicated and unique British Gas team provided a reminder of probably the major reason for the decline of gas lighting in that it requires regular maintenance to keep it in good working order.
Lastly to finish off the evening I showed a piece of film produced to go with a somewhat wistful “Ode to the meter” by Carol Anne Duffy, our poet laureate.
(If there is anyone who would like to view these internet pieces I can provide a link)
