Leeds-The great Gasometer in the sky!

[geoffb]

tilly wrote: geoffb wrote: I worked with the the Gas Holder Maintenance department for about 4 years in my 35 years with North Eastern Gas involved with the purging and decommissioning of many holders. Meadow Lane No2 holder was decommisioned in c1971 this was the largest holder in the NE region holding 5,000,000 Cuft. This was a column guided holder as was Kirkstall holder decomed c 1980Stainburn Square holder situated near where the New BBC studios are, in the end fed solely Quarry Hill Flats. and was demolished roughly the same time as the flats.The Holder at New Wortley is called Spence Lane holder which is still in operation being fed from the Medium pressure grid, the Pressure reduction unit is on the Armley Gyratory with the gas main still running at high level on the roundabout.There is a Historical department within the IGEM which publishes a quarterly magazine called historical Gas Times Hi geoffb Would it have been the no1 holder i saw taken down at Meadow Lane in the mid sixtys?I was on contract to the Gas Board at the time working on the then new Hydro Carbon Reforming Plants I also worked for a time decommisioning the old water gas plants in the sixtys one was Tingley and i worked at Bowling in Bradford there was quite a bit of danger with the job at times we had to use phosphor bronze tools so as not to make a spark we were takeing out valves and did not know if there was any gas still in the pipeline. Tilly,that brings back memories, spark resistant tools, I had a full set of spanners, hammer and even chisels. must be worth a bomb now in scrap value alone.No1 holder was where the new Hydrocarbon reformers were which was just beyond the junction of Holmes Street and Dewsbury Road.The reformers were commissioned in 1968 and taken out of service in 1973, such a short life. But North Sea gas was the future, now that has just about run out and there using the wells to store gas from Norway.

[tilly]

geoffb wrote: tilly wrote: geoffb wrote: I worked with the the Gas Holder Maintenance department for about 4 years in my 35 years with North Eastern Gas involved with the purging and decommissioning of many holders. Meadow Lane No2 holder was decommisioned in c1971 this was the largest holder in the NE region holding 5,000,000 Cuft. This was a column guided holder as was Kirkstall holder decomed c 1980Stainburn Square holder situated near where the New BBC studios are, in the end fed solely Quarry Hill Flats. and was demolished roughly the same time as the flats.The Holder at New Wortley is called Spence Lane holder which is still in operation being fed from the Medium pressure grid, the Pressure reduction unit is on the Armley Gyratory with the gas main still running at high level on the roundabout.There is a Historical department within the IGEM which publishes a quarterly magazine called historical Gas Times Hi geoffb Would it have been the no1 holder i saw taken down at Meadow Lane in the mid sixtys?I was on contract to the Gas Board at the time working on the then new Hydro Carbon Reforming Plants I also worked for a time decommisioning the old water gas plants in the sixtys one was Tingley and i worked at Bowling in Bradford there was quite a bit of danger with the job at times we had to use phosphor bronze tools so as not to make a spark we were takeing out valves and did not know if there was any gas still in the pipeline. Tilly,that brings back memories, spark resistant tools, I had a full set of spanners, hammer and even chisels. must be worth a bomb now in scrap value alone.No1 holder was where the new Hydrocarbon reformers were which was just beyond the junction of Holmes Street and Dewsbury Road.The reformers were commissioned in 1968 and taken out of service in 1973, such a short life. But North Sea gas was the future, now that has just about run out and there using the wells to store gas from Norway. Hi geoffb I was working for Humphreys and Glasgow has a maintanance fitter on control valves, relief valves, gate valves, and the rest. The firm was a london firm and my wages were the best i had ever earned if i say i could earn between sixty and seventy pounds in the sixtys you will see what i mean but then if a relief valve failed when the plant was in full production it could cause all sorts of trouble from a shut down or even worse so every thing had to be spot on

[geoffb]

tilly wrote: geoffb wrote: tilly wrote: geoffb wrote: I worked with the the Gas Holder Maintenance department for about 4 years in my 35 years with North Eastern Gas involved with the purging and decommissioning of many holders. Meadow Lane No2 holder was decommisioned in c1971 this was the largest holder in the NE region holding 5,000,000 Cuft. This was a column guided holder as was Kirkstall holder decomed c 1980Stainburn Square holder situated near where the New BBC studios are, in the end fed solely Quarry Hill Flats. and was demolished roughly the same time as the flats.The Holder at New Wortley is called Spence Lane holder which is still in operation being fed from the Medium pressure grid, the Pressure reduction unit is on the Armley Gyratory with the gas main still running at high level on the roundabout.There is a Historical department within the IGEM which publishes a quarterly magazine called historical Gas Times Hi geoffb Would it have been the no1 holder i saw taken down at Meadow Lane in the mid sixtys?I was on contract to the Gas Board at the time working on the then new Hydro Carbon Reforming Plants I also worked for a time decommisioning the old water gas plants in the sixtys one was Tingley and i worked at Bowling in Bradford there was quite a bit of danger with the job at times we had to use phosphor bronze tools so as not to make a spark we were takeing out valves and did not know if there was any gas still in the pipeline. Tilly,that brings back memories, spark resistant tools, I had a full set of spanners, hammer and even chisels. must be worth a bomb now in scrap value alone.No1 holder was where the new Hydrocarbon reformers were which was just beyond the junction of Holmes Street and Dewsbury Road.The reformers were commissioned in 1968 and taken out of service in 1973, such a short life. But North Sea gas was the future, now that has just about run out and there using the wells to store gas from Norway. Hi geoffb I was working for Humphreys and Glasgow has a maintanance fitter on control valves, relief valves, gate valves, and the rest. The firm was a london firm and my wages were the best i had ever earned if i say i could earn between sixty and seventy pounds in the sixtys you will see what i mean but then if a relief valve failed when the plant was in full production it could cause all sorts of trouble from a shut down or even worse so every thing had to be spot on H&G were the main contractor for buiding these plants, they also built Dewsbury works the biggest in the region. This was situated in Saville Town. On another thread it was constructed on a Victorian Tip, the bottles and other collectables that turned up over the years was considerable, when the works closed it was plagued by illegal diggers. I was lead to belive a blue Glass bottle found here was sold for thousands.I was an apprentice engineer in the late 60s at Meadow Lane, the resident fitters who took over from H&G after commissioning and handover were very jealous of you lot because you were earning at least twice as much. Some H&G fitters stayed on to work for NEGB as part of the team which seviced these plants throughout the region, which were at Hull Bankside, Leeds Meadow Lane and Dewsbury.The new gas holders at Meadown Lane illustrated by Phil were built by a Leeds company called Clayton and Sons of Hunslet, I dont know what happened to them, I do know they were still building holders in India in the 1990s

[Si]

Phill_dvsn wrote: I think this gas holder near the Armley gyratory has got to be the most photographed in Leeds.I did read somewhere it is the biggest in the City, It certainly appears so.The others have three extending telescopic parts, this one has four to make it the tallest. I'm not sure when this one was built, but it appears to be the same design as the Hunslet gasometers, I'm guessing this would have been built in the 1960's as well?     It doesn't seem that long ago that this gasholder was repainted light grey and blue. And now look at it! I have an old aerial view of this area taken c.1947, and there were several gasholders on the site. One had obviously been removed, as only it's outline can be seen on the ground. Was it a casualty of the Luftwaffe?     

[Phill_dvsn]

Si wrote: Phill_dvsn wrote: I think this gas holder near the Armley gyratory has got to be the most photographed in Leeds.I did read somewhere it is the biggest in the City, It certainly appears so.The others have three extending telescopic parts, this one has four to make it the tallest. I'm not sure when this one was built, but it appears to be the same design as the Hunslet gasometers, I'm guessing this would have been built in the 1960's as well?     It doesn't seem that long ago that this gasholder was repainted light grey and blue. And now look at it! I have an old aerial view of this area taken c.1947, and there were several gasholders on the site. One had obviously been removed, as only it's outline can be seen on the ground. Was it a casualty of the Luftwaffe?      It's filthy isn't it Si? I like em that way to be honest lol Can you post those aerial images mate? I only ask because the Armley gas holder looks very similar to the Hunslet beasts. They were built in 1965.

[Si]

I'll dig 'em out of the cellar tomorrow for you, Phill.If there's anything else of interest on them, I'll post that too.

[Phill_dvsn]

Si wrote: I'll dig 'em out of the cellar tomorrow for you, Phill.If there's anything else of interest on them, I'll post that too. Top man.Cheers

[Si]

As requested, here's the gasholder site on Wellington Road. East is roughly to the top. Armley Road can just be seen top left. The gasholders match the positions on the 1908 OS map. However, note the two circular impressions beside the far right gasholder.Picture taken by the RAF on 28th of March, 1948, from 5800 feet. My original print is much clearer - the blurring must be down to the scanner.The entire print stretches from Armley Gaol at the top, to the roundhouse at the bottom, and from this site, to Kirkstall Road in the other direction.            

[Si]

This is the same area on the 1908 OS map. I've posted it this way up for comparison.    

[Reginal Perrin]

Si wrote: This is the same area on the 1908 OS map. I've posted it this way up for comparison.     Seriously? These gas holders are as old as that?