Gasometers - end of an era

[Jethro_uk]

fond memories of South Harrow gasometer (with "NO" for RAF Northolt painted on the side) and Southall (with "LH" for London Heathrow).

[Ian Jackson]

In message , Jethro_uk writes

As the article discusses, are they 'gasometers' or 'gas holders'?

I was taught at a very early age that they are definitely 'gas holders'.

However, the 'gasometer' camp claim (quite rightly) that their very height does indeed provide an accurate measurement of the amount of gas they contain. [Don't they have a scale painted on the outside?]

[Martin Brown]

That older sort do, but the modern pressurised gas holders like the ones outside Warrington that the IRA tried to blow up do not.

There is even a Grade II listed gasometer/gasworks site:

[Jim S]

I convinced my grandsons that they were 'elephant cages' which caused no end of confusion at school :-)

[Tim Lamb]

I was very disappointed by the response when I asked for a *storage* payment in respect of the daily (overnight) pressure change in the 48" pipe they shoved through my fields.

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[Jethro_uk]

When I worked in British Gas, they were "gasometers".

[Robin]

"A" listed site? I'm of the view that there are generally far too many listed buildings but am glad to say that's not the only listed gazometer[1]. Eg the Oval is. So too are 7 at the old Bromley-by-Bow Gas Works (which I recall as a lad was something to be seen when coking).

Mind you, I do wonder how the owners are supposed to find alternative uses to fund upkeep - can be ?100,000s a year to paint etc one biggie. Any multi-millionaires here fancy a really, really big shed?

[1] Murdoch's original spelling :)

[charles]

I was taught that a "gasometer" was the fixed sided tank where as the ones which went up and down weee just "gas holders".

[Tim Streater]

Dusty was it?

[Chris Hogg]

Many years ago, a colleague who worked for North Thames Gas in the

1950's, told me that gasometers had a mechanical link to a dial in a control room that indicated how high, i.e. how full, the gasometer was. On one occasion, when they were pumping gas out of one particular gasometer, the dial stopped working and nobody realised. After they'd been pumping for a while there was the most almighty boom, and they found that the convex top of the gasometer had become concave, i.e. they'd pumped out too much gas and created a partial vacuum in the gasometer, causing the top to invert. It remained that way until he left, as there was no way of correcting it short of rebuilding it.

Whether true, whether even possible, I've no idea, but it made a good story.

[Brian Gaff]

Certainly the one that used to be in Raynes Park did, as one could see the graduations from the railway. You always knew when you were passing it in the dark due to the smell. a few years back it was removed for scrap apparently. Brian

[Ian Jackson]

In message , Chris Hogg writes

Made up, I suspect. Unless I'm completely misunderstanding the principles, you don't pump gas out of those gasholders. It comes out under pressure because of the weight of the cylinder.

Also, even before modern H&S became a twinkle on someone's eye, they would never have dared use a gasholder with a severely damaged top dome

- unless maybe they had done exhaustive checks on its integrity, and made any necessary bodge repairs.

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[newshound]

Like the story my mother spread in the local newsagent, that pound notes would soon be printed with Mrs Thatcher's head on them. "I won't be able to bear to touch them".

[Caecilius]

I would think there would be a fair bit of decontamination to do on the sites, as town gas was fairly dirty stuff. The water they used to seal them must have dissolved all sorts of coal-tar compounds.

[Tim+]

Wouldn't most/all the condensable gubbins be removed at the production stage?

Tim

[Tim Streater]

It was, yes, as it was a valuable by-product of coal gas production. Feedstock for the chemical industry. You're hardly going to leave stuff in the gas which would clog up pipes, gas burners, gas jets, and possibly burn smoky.

[Ferretygubbins]

Back around 1981/82 (ish) my Dad wanted to move from being a ready-mix concrete owner/driver to running a sewage removal truck (septic tanks and the like).

We went to view a truck at Beckton Gas works that he had been told had been sucking clean water out of the bottom of the gasometers. When the salesman started up the truck to demonstrate it he accidently put the pump into 'blow'. The pipe at the rear slammed down (missing me by inches), at this point the end cap shot off and a thick, black, tarry substance like crude oil sprayed out all over the salesman's brand new, bright yellow, VW Golf. Unfortunately for him he'd left the window and sun roof open...

I managed to get an eyeful in both both eyes. This was not a pleasant experience for an 8 year old as you can imagine. The few spots that hit Dad's van dissolved into the paint and never did come off.

Dad declined the opportunity to buy the truck as he would never have been permitted to use it to discharge at the sewage treatment works due to the oily contamination.

[Bill Wright]

Bloody farmers never miss a trick! (Admiration)

Bill

[Nightjar]

Virtually every reference I have found about demolishing gasometers mentions the very expensive decontamination needed to make the land usable for anything else.

[Robin]

Oh yes indeed. Can involve digging down miles to get the tar etc out of the soil. There was a *little* truth in Ministers' claims that the Millenium Dome cost so much 'cos of the cost of decontaminating the site - the old East Greenwich Gas Works. (Not enough truth to excuse both bunches for a stupid vanity project though.)