"Friendly" conference at Verulamium

An informal group which was first established in 2011 held its third annual conference on Saturday 26th October at Verulamium Museum.  The St Albans and District Local History Network is now firmly established on the local scene and already the format is spreading around the county, with an inaugural conference already held in Hitchin.

Around seventy delegates heard presentations from nine different speakers throughout the day, with sufficient time left for Soapbox speakers to 'pop up' and provide a five minute update on a particular project.

Among the presentations was an update on the future of the old Town Hall for conversion to a museum  which would replace that MoSTA site in Hatfield Road.  Kris Goodyear explained the geophysical survey now taking place in Verulamium Park, and the machinery being used to provide the data.  Other subjects ranged from historic gardens, the first fixed-site cinemas, a WW1 Home Front project, and the current High Street, Wheathampstead, funded project.  Then there was an update on the Smallford Station project, the research being undertaken to prepare a map of the Second Battle (of St Albans) landscape, preparations being made for the Sandridge 900 commemoration, and further information about Highfield Park Trust.

The fact that places at the venue, limited to 70, were all booked within a period of eight days, suggests that it was an event eagerly anticipated.  Not surprising really, as one delegate told me it was such a friendly conference; another that she had met so many interesting people during the day; a third that all the visiting speakers for the next twelve months at a local group had now been secured!

Jolly music on a Sunday afternoon

If a visitor to this city inquires of you what interesting places might s/he visit, it is easy to rattle off the usual great locations, almost all of them in the centre.  Of course, if there is time to spare on a Sunday afternoon, and you've exhausted all of the garden centres with their teas and cakes, what else is there?

Here is one which even a number of locals have never heard of, let alone visited: St Albans Organ Museum.  Situated in Camp Road and adjacent to Camp School, it was created on the site of an old Goodwin and Hart building yard by one of the yard's owners, Charles Hart.  Although he was an extensive builder of houses – including most of the 1930s homes around the museum – Charles developed a keen interest in fairground rides and, in particular, the musical equipment which made visitors to the fairgrounds happy, the organs which spewed out their jolly tunes using punched hole concertina books.

Many members of the public became aware of Charles' collecting habits when the Herts Advertiser photographed a newly redundant cinema organ which he had acquired and which he needed to find space for in his yard.

Today, on Sunday afternoons you can hear the full history of the Hart collection of organs, with demonstrations from all of the collected instruments, including a few musical boxes.  The Trust which is now responsible for the collection, also presents concerts, the next being on Saturday 9th November at 7.30pm by Mr John Mann.

The mysterious story of Smith's Printing Agency, the firm which began Fleetville, takes another intriguing twist from a recent discovery, but it will require a separate blog to explain all!

Meanwhile, trawling though Herts Advertiser photographs from the 1920s, I have come across pictures taken in the accommodation at Oaklands Mansion, home of the Hertfordshire Agricultural Institute; and a gymkhana which took place in the grounds of the former Marshalls Wick House, between Marshals Drive and Sandpit Lane.

Finally, Fleetville Diaries, the local history people, have an unusual evening coming up.  Several members and friends of the group are going to tell the short story of one person on their family tree.  Inevitably, we will be hearing of unusual people, members of the family which stood out from the crowd.  Will we hear of heroes, colourful characters, or helpful lives?  More news of this event on the next blog.

Eastbourne link

Some time ago I reprinted an advertisement which had first appeared in the Herts Advertiser in 1938.  I reproduce it here.  At Smallford, during the height of the craze for speedway motor cycling, there appeared such a track between the eastern boundary of the nursery (now Notcutts) and Popefield Farm homestead.  The layout of this field and its track did appear in the 1937 OS map.

Google Earth shows what remains very clearly, as the land has not been developed since WW2, when the track was closed for the last time, and not re-opening after the war.  Unfortunately, it is not possible to reproduce that image here as there are copyright restrictions on Google Earth imagery.

The track itself seems to have been in the middle of the field, where the densest scrub grows now.  Around three sides was space for cars to be parked; on the west side cars could be parked right up to the track for an extra charge.  I have no record of which individuals or organisation owned, leased or rented the ground and organised the meetings – but someone might!  Someone might even have a copy or two of any programme printed for a meeting.

Quite by chance, in a local history organisation magazine printed recently in Eastbourne (the town the Smallford team was competing against at home in the advertisement) a detailed article appeared, giving much information about the increasing popularity of speedway, the types of motor-cycle used, and the success of the Eastbourne Speedway site at Arlington, north of the town.  The names of a few nationally successful riders were also named: Mick Murphy, Vic Huxley, Ron Johnson, George Newton, Phil Hart and George Saunders; they probably rode at Smallford in their early days before graduating onto the major tracks.

One press photo which appeared in the article is shown here, and it shows a structure which is probably similar one at Smallford.  Maybe it was for the starter?  There may also have been a platform next to it for officials.

The Smallford track will have given a small occasional income to several local people, as the car parking and other entrance fees would have to be collected, mechanics would have been on hand, and casuals would have been engaged to sweep or rake the dirt track between races.  In fact, the author of the Eastbourne article was such a person in his youth and he recalls that his position in the centre of the oval track was probably the "best seat in the house"; although I doubt whether the sweepers ever had the chance to sit down.

Live archaeology

We rarely experience the pleasure of live archaeology in the East End of St Albans.  Not so long ago test pits were dug at The Wick, and we are awaiting a report on the findings from that project.

However, yesterday, if you were walking or cycling in the warm sun along Alban Way, you may have come across something completely different.  A short while previously a series of rectangular patches were scalped of vegetation on both sides of the path – the line of the former branch railway between St Albans and Hatfield, closed for passengers in 1951 and freight by 1968.  You might have taken a mild interest in that clearance.

Yesterday morning you may also have spotted a small group of keen young children with trowels and some excitement at one of the cleared patches one hundred metres or so east of Smallford railway bridge.  Viewers of Time Team will have noted the tell-tale sign of a square line pegged out beside the former track: the standard area for a one-metre square test pit.  The calm Sunday morning atmosphere was regularly punctuated with squeals of delight as objects of interest were encouraged to the surface.  Among the more obvious finds of brittle plastic and stones within the soil, were revealed an old bolt, small pieces of coal and the bottom of a small 19th century clay jar or pot.  No doubt many other objects were transferred to the finds tray during the course of the morning, all supervised by the children's parents and the project leader.

The children were all members of the Young Archaeologists' Club and were exploring there on behalf of the Smallford Project ( www.smallford.org ), raised to investigate the history of the hamlet, collect a number of stories about the place and restore the former railway station still standing behind a contractor's mech fence.

Children are natural archaeologists, and during the next few weeks they will be making sense of the objects they have found, and no doubt, will continue to find.

ELECO

Having only just completed a post and published it, I discovered more about ELECO which places yesterday's post in a slightly different context.

The company was formed in 1895 as Gilbert Arc Lamp Company, based in Chingford, Essex.  The firm moved to St Albans in the early years of the 20th century.  One major contract was to design and supply the lanterns along Victoria Embankment.  The company name was altered to the Electric Lighting and Engineering Company in 1920 and from then until the 1960s it focussed on street lighting and switch gear.

ELECO then widened its interests to include structures when, in 1960, it acquired the 1948-born Hoddesdon firm of Bell and Webster.  It later purchased Goodes Silos Ltd and Davis Sheet Metal Engineering, which specialises in cable trunking, and as late as 1991, Abtus Company Limited which are involved  in railway maintenance equipment.

Helicopter landing lights were developed for the Admiralty, cable trays were supplied for the Channel Tunnel, and ELECO Technology was formed in 1994 for research and development projects for various parts of the company.  Its software has been used on the restoration of the Cutty Sark and by the main contractors of the Shard, a 'sky-tall' building at London Bridge.

ELECO may no longer be in St Albans, but the company has bases in Herriard, Hampshire; Lydney, Gloucestershire; Thame, Oxfordshire; and Telford, Shropshire; as well as many locations in other countries.

That sounds like a terrific St Albans success story.  Some of the company's street lights, made during its time in Campfield Road, can be seen at the website www.midlandcountiesstreetlighting.co.uk.  It may be possible to add further to this story shortly.

Lighting Campfield

At the end of last week's blog I briefly described how a former resident was trying to locate work places at which he had been employed in the 1960s.  The clues given to me were, a firm making 'up-and-over' garage doors, and a company manufacturing immersion heaters for copper heating cylinders.

One firm I had not considered for garage doors, but which the man in question recalled, was the Sphere Works in Campfield Road.  Although the company no longer exists several firms occupy the site which is now known as the Sphere Industrial Estate.

The question now is, do you remember Sphere Works manufacturing metal up-and-over garage doors? If you were employed at the Sphere in the 1960s or 1970s perhaps you could email the author ( saoee@me.com ) with some details.

While doing some computer searches for Sphere Works I came across the site www.simonsornwell.com    Simon is a collector of street lamps and has provided details of many of the country's manufacturers, including ELECO.  This firm was part of Sphere Works and also had premises in Campfield Road.  ELECO sold most, if not all, of the lamps and posts for St Albans before WW2.  It is always intriguing how firms become successful, get taken over, change their names and their locations.

ELECO, which began in the 1880s, was taken over by Davis Engineering Ltd in the 1980s, but that firm does not appear to be active today, unless there has been another change of name.  But one model the company made was a Windsor.  Is there a connection here with another street lighting firm, called   D W Windsor, which began in 1976?  Did it later take over the Davis Company?

If so, the continuity of ELECO remains in the county, for D W Windsor is at Hoddesdon.  If not, well ...   Any information would be welcome.

Turning to the SAOEE website, the two pages which describe the collection of One Hundred Objects has been static for some considerable time, and before the second book was published it was felt prudent not to display all of the objects in the collection.  A new set of pages is now gradually appearing, displaying and describing all of the objects.  You can now have a peep at the new layout through a link on the Welcome page.  The remaining four pages will gradually appear during the next month or two.

Another Ashpath

When roads have no official name, we have to give them a label in order to identify them to others.  So each of us may use our own family labels.  Take The Ashpath, for example (sometimes also known as the Cinder Track). It had no official name because it was a private farm track.  Sometimes in poor condition  ash or cinders from Owen's brickworks was occasionally spread.  If you are not sure which track I mean, today we all know it by its official name: Ashley Road.  The Ash in this case is the tree, not the burnt leftovers.

A resident of Tyttenhanger Green, and a former resident of the village, have declared that they know of another Ashpath.  Describing a walking route the two took to reach Hatfield Road, they used Hixberry Lane, then Hill End Lane (Station Road) over the railway crossing, and cut through the former Hill End Brickworks site, picking up a track on the edge of the former wooded area; a track which is now Longacres.

A muddy Hixberry Lane.

The lower end of Hixberry Lane can still become waterlogged, and it is Hixberry Lane which the ladies recall their families calling the Ashpath.  I imagine the ash in this case came from the Hill End brickworks.  The brickworks was replaced by Marconi Instruments, which has now been replaced by  the 'Marconi estate.'

The Butterwick Wood industrial estates between Oaklands and Smallford contain two named roads: Lyon Way and Acrewood Way.  But many will know the road giving access to Homebase, began as an access road to the Meat Cold Store and Banana Warehouse adjacent to the former branch railway.  But it has never received an official name, although a nearby road sign now directs traffic to 'Alban Park.'   Could this be the new official name for the road?  What name has your family used down the years for the 'Homebase road?'  The author would love to know.

An interesting request has arrived from the daughter of an retired couple attempting to formalise their pension arrangements.  Although only in St Albans for a short time, the man recalls working in the 1960s for a firm making garage doors (the name Marconi's was mentioned in this context but somewhere along the line memories have become confused), and a company making immersion heaters for copper cylinders.

If you can suggest firms thriving in the 1960s for either garage doors – wooden or metal – or immersion heaters, would you consider prompting the author, either by replying to this blog or emailing the author via the website.

Un-named access road between Dunelm and Homebase.