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  #1  
Old 28th July 2018, 14:01
Old Oilskin Old Oilskin is offline
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Battersea Power Station

I am looking for some information regarding the number of cranes in use for offloading of coal to Battersea Power Station.

Currently working there on Phase 2 of the re-development there is progressive work to restore the jetty and indeed two of the original Stothert and Pitt cranes to their former glory.

Current position is that the jetty is devoid of all mechanical gear including hoppers, conveyors etc. I am informed that the refurbished /overhauled cranes will be tracked in early 2019.

Can anyone tell me if there were 4 cranes on the jetty at its peak of generation or only two as the majority seem to think is the case.

Any other information from collier men regarding the trips to Battersea would be appreciated.

BW

OO :cool
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Old 28th July 2018, 14:56
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Hawkey01 Hawkey01 is offline
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Old Oilskin,

Welcome to SH. I do not have the answer to your query but I am sure one of the members will
be able to help.

Neville
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Old 28th July 2018, 20:31
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cueball44 cueball44 is offline
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Detailed architectural illustration >
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  #4  
Old 28th July 2018, 21:00
Old Oilskin Old Oilskin is offline
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Thanks Cueball. The illustration may well have been drawn for the operation of Station A which was the earliest generating unit - circa 1930. Station B came on line mid 1950s . Hence my query.

Although with 4 stacks, only 3 were ever used.

BW

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  #5  
Old 29th July 2018, 10:09
IJC 38 United Kingdom IJC 38 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Oilskin View Post
I am looking for some information regarding the number of cranes in use for offloading of coal to Battersea Power Station.

Any other information from collier men regarding the trips to Battersea would be appreciated.

BW

OO :cool

During the early 60's in one of a few spells on the coast I served on flat-irons running to Battersea, I only ever remember only two cranes and hoppers, they were very efficient and fast, as didn't have to be too careful, as the flatties had extra strong tank tops and coamings being built for a trade where-in they were likely to sustain grab damage and the hopper target area was quite large. So over two thousand tonnes discharged from one high tide to another, in on one tide and out on the other, arriving late Saturday tide was okay, as no discharging allowed on a Sunday

My flattie was steam vessel with tall funnel so had to be on standby all the time aft to lower and raise the funnel for the bridges, mainmast was telescopic, but foremast wasn't so crew on duty fore and aft on transits, not too bad on daylight transits as both mainmast and foremast could be left down, but on night transits had to be raised and lowered for navigation light purposes. If you had bolshie engineers you were slow in raising the funnel as they reaped the benefits of the smoke, as of course we did aft when the funnel lowered.


Navigating when in ballast both in river and at sea a pain in the butt, as from the wheelhouse midships you could not see the traffic ahead too easily as being down by the stern all you saw was the foc'le head, so it was always a bridge wing job come rain or shine, loaded in bad weather they were like submarines, but accommodation and food was always good, they had a good service speed of 11 - 12 knots so navigating tide races not too bad, where-as the Yellow Perils only good for about 8 knots on a good day, so made navigation much more difficult, some times crabbing down the Channel, when wind and tide against you. but happy days, the food and accomm on the Yellow Perils also okay
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Old 29th July 2018, 11:00
Old Oilskin Old Oilskin is offline
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IJC

A huge thank you for the information provided. Each day I walk past the existing jetty I conjure up thoughts of a Stevie Clarke or Yellow Peril job lying alongside and marvel at the simple efficiency of what used to be.

Only two S&P cranes are being refurbished/overhauled to be re-tracked in 2019. Yes, the hopper was huge as indeed the conveyors. These have now been removed about two months ago. I watched as they were carefully dismantled ad taken away by barge. All gone within 3 days.

The jetty is quite long. Can you recall if there were ever two vessels on the berth at any one time?

Yes, I sailed with both Stevie Clark and Fred, Malling, Gosport and Sanguity but never lifted coal.

Once again, very many thanks for the info provided and hope to hear more about hauling coal to BPS.


BW

00
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  #7  
Old 29th July 2018, 12:06
IJC 38 United Kingdom IJC 38 is offline
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Just a note Oilskin, the Yellow Perils could not get under the bridges on the Thames, I only mentioned them from a navigating point as opposed to the flatties which kept out of the counter currents opposing the tide as they didn't need to they had the speed to judge their passage time. The yellow perils we took close inshore to take advantage of every counter current known to assist our passage, sometimes only left us a foot under the keel, couldn't use the shortcuts in bad weather as the bow would have bounced along until it came to a full stop, and squat at the stern when going full ahead even on these tortoises would have increased draught by 4 -6 inches at the stern. The navigators on the Yellow Perils had to be on their toes at all times as you were always in a close quarter situation, hard work but interesting, also hard work in port with three hatches of dominoes and king and queen beams to play around with.


Cannot recall two vessels alongside at the same time, couple of reasons why not, if the waiting vessel was loaded and the tide goes out and she sits on the bottom then you have more difficulty for her coming afloat as she has sucked herself into the mud and will pop out causing a strain on the moorings when the tide is running, also whilst a visual inspection is made of the river bottom at low tide by the wharf foreman, he cannot see what's underneath the mud, loaded vessels usually waited for the berth and tide and anchored down at Gravesend Reaches.


When the loaded vessel arrives it is always on high water and discharging is started straight away, so by the time low water arrives the vessel is probably more or less half discharged lessening the suction affect and by the time there is enough water to sail the vessel will have completed discharge. Even if arriving late Saturday they would commence discharge to lighten the vessel, so she wouldn't be sitting over the weekend in the mud fully loaded, which may have induced sagging or hogging stresses apart from the suction affect.


If a vessel was in ballast it would sail as soon as it floated to ease the passage under the bridges giving you more airdraught, and it is always easier to navigate stemming the tide than it is running with it.

Last edited by IJC 38; 29th July 2018 at 12:22. Reason: loss of memory !!
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  #8  
Old 29th July 2018, 13:10
Old Oilskin Old Oilskin is offline
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Thank you IJC. So very interesting to learn of the particular skills and knowledge required by all those involved including the wharf foreman.

As an aside - a large amount of the Station's switch/control gear is still preserved under security on the station. Switch House West (which borders the £1 million glass house apartments) is now structurally complete with fitting out just started. Work continues on Turbine Hall West, Boiler House, Pump House, Turbine Hal East and Switch House East.

Phase 3 will see the whole PS enclosed by glass house £1 million plus apartments. The smells from Cringle Street waste transfer station come free of charge.

Thanks again IJC.

BW

00
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  #9  
Old 29th July 2018, 14:20
IJC 38 United Kingdom IJC 38 is offline
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You're welcome, we all learn from each others experiences on all kinds of subjects, others may have had different flattie experiences and will be able to expound on the info given, sometimes it only one word, sometimes on another subject which gets the memory working again. The later flatties which were motor ships had an easier bridges passage, as their funnels were very low when built, so no lowering on passage required. Can remember what I was doing 70 years ago, but what the hell did I do yesterday!
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