Hyde Gas Holder.

We recently received this photo and account from Lee Brown - Whilst I'm on and regarding the blog about the Hyde gas holder. It was demolished in 1985 and I was in charge of emptying it of gas and then purging it with nitrogen. When it was operational the gas in the holder was sealed underneath a floating piston by tar and it was filled automatically overnight monitored by the control centre at Gaythorn, Manchester. The tar seals inside had to be dipped every day to ensure the tar pressure was always greater than the gas pressure and as part of my apprenticeship I spent a month with the holder maintenance team, whose job this was. To get onto the piston you had to walk all the way to the top of the holder by the outside staircase then cross to the centre where there was a door accessing the inside. A collapsible ladder hung from the gantry and you climbed down this onto the piston. When the holder was full it was a mere nine or ten feet drop but one morning I was greeted by an empty holder, there had been a fault overnight and it hadn't filled. As it happened that morning, the chap that normally went up with me had phoned in sick, I was on my own. Oh well, I thought, here goes and I began the precarious descent to the piston almost 100 feet below. I made it down without any mishaps and dipped the tar at north, south, east and west, noted the results in the log and then started the climb back. I must have got over confident because at about twenty feet up I slipped and if it wasn't for the fact that I was wearing big toe-tector boots, which jammed in the rung of the ladder, I would have been lying spreadeagled on the piston. As it was, I was hanging upside down and it took all my strength to get upright again. I then had to go all the way down again because when I was upside down all the gear needed to do the dips had fallen out of my pockets. I finally emerged into the fresh air some half hour later and made my way down. When I phoned the results in to control and related my adventure, the controller said. You needn't 'ave bothered lad, missing one day wouldn't have mattered. Thanks very much ! I enclose a photo of the holder with scaffolding in place just prior to demolition.


Many thanks for sharing , Lee !! Great story :)

Hyde Gas Works, Raglan Street

The Gas Works

The original gas works at Hyde were founded by Mr. Isaac Booth, about the year 1844, and were situated behind the Globe Inn m Back Lane. Mr. Booth was a man of enterprise and public spirit who took a prominent part in the local life of the day. He was one of the early churchwardens at St. George’s church. He was the first High Bailiff of the Court Of Request at Hyde, in the days before the establishment of the county court. He also ran a butchering, grocery, and public house business combined at the Gardeners’ Arms, Back Lane. The first street lamp in Hyde to be lighted with gas was the one in the middle of Clarendon Place, opposite the Queens Hotel. Mr. Booth’s gas business was very prosperous, but after a time there was an agitation conducted by Dr. Hague and other prominent townsmen, to secure a better supply of gas on a more extensive scale. Ultimately amicable terms were settled between Mr. Booth and the promoters of the new Hyde Gas Company, and Mr. Booth sold his works to the Company, which shortly afterwards transferred the manufacturing operations to Raglan Street, where they built the Hyde Gas Works seen in these pictures

The Hyde Gas Company was formed on July 5th 1854, and in 1855 was incorporated by Act of Parliament with powers to supply gas in the townships of Hyde, Werneth, Newton, Godley, Bredbury and Romiley. At that time the Board of Directors consisted of Messrs. Samuel Hibbert, Frederick Tinker, Thomas Thornely, James Maugham, Joseph Collier, Thomas Hague, and Sampson Ardern.



In the first 70 years of its existence the Company witnessed many changes in the town which it principally served, and the expansion and development of the town were reflected in the expansion and development of the Company’s business. Gas sales per annum increased from 69,964,700 cubic feet to 283, 180,500 cubic feet, and the number of consumers rose from 4,500 to 11,200, and the mileage of mains from 24 miles to 53 miles. The development of its business was met by the installation of a new manufacturing and distributing plant which was the latest and most efficient type of its day. The Company was also one of the pioneers in the application of Vertical Retorts to gas production, and the Waterless Gasholder when it was erected was one of the first of its kind in the north of England. By the 1930’s the company possessed a well equipped works capable of serving the town with a satisfactory supply of gas at a reasonable rate.

Most of the above is from A History Of Hyde

by

Thomas Middleton.

I cannot recall when the works ceased.. or gasometer was demolished... if anyone can add to this post please do so.

Update To Post

One of our regulars.. 'Ghost Of Red Pump Street' (great name), as come up with some great info for us concerning the iconic Gasometer.., "the concrete base was poured in November 1930 with construction finishing January 1931. On completion it was the second largest holder in the North of England. It consisted of 325,000 rivets, 25,000 bolts, 864 metal panels and 212 steps on nine staircases"

His dad was right the design was chosen after a delegation had visted Germany and opted to have the german designed tower !!. ..

Thanks for this information

I bet I'm not the only one who as climbed this... I did it a few times... once early morning with Tony Collins... it was great watching the town start to come alive.... we had to get down when the police came... we were told not to do it again.... but we had to later that day as we had left our air rifles up there when the police came.. At one time a Kestral had her nest there for a number of years.