Steam and the Modern Age Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam

During the 19th century, the steam engine was used for everything

from driving machinery and mills to propelling ships across the sea,

from lifting coal from the depths of the earth, to powering great locomotives.

One man changed all of that with the invention of a new steam engine,

that was to revolutionise the supply of power.

The steam turbine was invented by Charles Parsons.

It had a great impact on the home, on transport and the workplace.

When Parsons was at university, the Industrial Revolution was in full flow

powered by great steam engines of one form or another,

a lot of them driven by bevelled cogwheels and shafting.

The noise was horrific!

I had a friend, who's now deceased,

who was the chief engineer for a textile firm called Vantona.

He used to tell me tales about when he repaired steam engines.

Put yourself in the picture. It's the middle of the night, about three o'clock in the morning.

They think they've solved the problem with this steam engine,

which had lots of bevelled gearing in its transmission to different parts of the works.

They decided to give it a run. They started it up and the noise!

Clong, ding, dong, dong, dong! Outside the mill gates, there were about 20 people,

who'd been woken up by the noise and thought it was seven o'clock, time to got to work. Incredible!

This, of course, lead to...

the quest to find something that didn't make as much noise.

The answer to that was electricity, which changed the way machinery, like this, was driven.

Up to this time, belts, pulleys and gears where the only way

to take the energy and deliver it to a machine some distance away.

The coming of electricity meant energy could be delivered directly and silently to the machine.

But electricity didn't make steam redundant.

'The mass supply of electricity was made possible by steam.'

Most of the electricity generated in Great Britain comes from power stations, like this.

And, of course, the steam turbine.

In 1888, Charles Parsons installed his first ever steam turbine

in Forth Franks power station in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

It was the forerunner of many more. The steam turbine is still used.

This is Eggborough power station in East Yorkshire.

It's fired on pulverised coal, that means crushed coal.

It produces 5% of Great Britain's demand for electricity.

Just one power station! That's lots of electric, 5% for all of Great Britain!

These cooling towers are 380 feet high and 200 feet across the base.

Have you ever wondered why they need to be so large? There's a very good reason.

Let's have a look inside.

The cooling water from the turbines enters into pipes a few feet below.

The warm water going down creates warmth inside this great chamber.

The cold air rushes in through the gap,

cools the water and then it's sent back to the power station condensers.

The heat and steam from the cooling towers can be seen 15 miles away.

The stuff coming out of the top is quite harmless.

It turns into dew and floats away. It doesn't do any harm to anybody.

The coal arrives by train. There's a thousand tonnes on every load. When it arrives,

it's taken to the conveyor belts at the back and pulverised into a fine powder.

Coal dust is highly inflammable. As soon as it goes into the boiler,

it explodes with ferocity and generates lots of heat.

At peak periods, when everybody's turning their cookers and electric fires on,

it burns 800 tonnes an hour.

I'm in one of the great boilers. It's incredible, like a cathedral.

Down at the bottom, there's a great boiler full of water.

It's connected to the top drum by thousands of yards of tubing.

When it's going, it contains a pressure of 2,500 lbs per square inch.

When the coal dust blasts through the nozzles, these are the burners,

in the middle there's a great fireball.

It impinges on the pipes, which are full of water.

When it gets higher up, it turns to steam at that great pressure.

Here we are in the turbine hall, where there are four separate turbines and generators.

Steam enters the turbine through nozzles around the perimeter of the blades inside the casing.

When it comes out, it expands and turns the rotors.

They use every available ounce of pressure that's in it.

Really...it hasn't changes much since 1884,

when Mr Parsons first designed it.

It revolves at 3,000 revolutions per minute and turns the shaft that works the generator.

This is really a big electromagnet, that generates the electricity.

Even in this modern nuclear power station in Lancashire,

steam is still at the heart of the process.

The main difference between a coal fired and nuclear station is the fuel.

The nuclear station uses uranium contained in metal fuel rods,

to heat the water that makes steam to turn the turbines.

Although nearly all of industry is powered by electricity today,

there are still a few businesses who do things the traditional way.

Like this little brewery, tucked away in rural Oxfordshire.

Here, at Hook Norton Brewery, steam is alive and well.

They use a combination of steam power and years of expertise in the brewing trade,

to produce prize-winning ales and stout.

Beer's still brewed here, using the traditional methods,

in this beautiful building erected in 1899.

This is it, the main power plant, with a steam engine made 104 years ago,

by Buxton & Thornley at Burton-on-Trent, especially for the brewing business.

It works all the plant by a system of line shafting and bevel gears

and comb clutches to every floor in the place.

Over here is James Clark, whose family has run this brewery

for five generations. He's going to explain a bit about it to me.

As a brewery, we have an abundance of steam.

We've got two oil-fired boilers, so we're using some of that steam.

Ideas of combined heat and power plants for climate change levy aren't particularly new.

I'd rather see equipment like this working, than just there for show.

-That's what this does, it's there to work.

-It's lovely that!

-What's going on here?

-In here's today's brew, at the end of its boiling process.

The energy supplied by the steam runs the engine.

It's the basis of beer, it's not been fermented yet.

-We've added hops, which you can smell.

-Oh, yes!

This will be run out into another vessel, where we'll remove the solid hop material,

-ready for its cooling process.

-I had an uncle who made hop bitters.

He went to a brewery for the spent hops. It was right good stuff.

It wasn't alcoholic though. You never got drunk!

-I'm not sure about that!

-Well, I never did!

The gristmill is another example of original machinery,

still in daily use in the brewing process and still driven by steam.

The mill breaks open the malt grain, so the flavour comes out in the brew.

At the end of the process, the engine pumps the brew to the top floor for cooling.

This is our work pump, again driven by the steam-engine.

The main crank is at the top and there's a bank of three pumps.

The work we saw boiling in the copper earlier,

has been run into these hop vats. The hops are being strained out,

and the work's being pumped nearly to the top of the brewery again.

Not many people have seen under the counter in a pub, but the tackle there is similar.

-When you say a pint, please...

-That's the same design.

The positive displacement pump is gentle on the liquid it moves.

Thank you.

Here we are, drinking a sample of the end product, brewed by steam power.

Mmmm...very nice that!

There aren't many steam-engines sill earning their living,

like the one at Hook Norton. Hundreds have been scraped,

but some have been saved and are now museum exhibits.

This is the National Railway Museum in York, where they have some some of the most famous locomotives

in railway history. The A4 Pacifics were built by Sir Nigel Gresley.

When they first appeared in the mid-1930s,

their revolutionary design caused a sensation.

Mallard was one of the many A4 Class steam locomotives

built by Gresley for the London and Northeastern Railway.

With its wonderful streamlining, it went very fast.

From up the east coast, from London to Edinburgh, non-stop.

The first of Nigel Gresley's A4 Pacifics

left Doncaster Works in 1935,

and it wasn't long before a major problem manifested itself.

It went so fast, the braking system of the period wasn't any good.

The Westinghouse Brake & Signal Company had to redesign the whole braking system.

Gresley decided it would be a good opportunity to push the locomotive to its limit

and recapture the speed record from the LMS people.

Also, to get the world speed record back off the Germans.

It must of been exciting in 1938 when the driver and the fireman climbed on board.

Mallard left Grantham, heading towards Peterborough,

with six coaches and a dynamometer car to register the speed and power.

They reached the unbelievable speed of 126 miles an hour.

It must've been exciting going that fast!

I bet it was shaking everywhere!

I remember listening to the recording of the driver, after the event.

'At the top, I gave Mallard a lift and she jumped to it like a live thing!

'After three miles the speed meter in my cab showed 107 miles an hour.

'Before I knew it, the needle was at 116 and we'd got the record.

'Go on, old girl, I thought. We can do better than this!

'I nursed her and shot through Little Bytham at 123 miles an hour.

'124...125...126 miles per hour.'

'126! The fastest speed of a steam locomotive in the world!

Mallard now has pride of place in the museum.

It's the biggest collection of railway locomotives in the land.

The biggest collection of steamrollers and traction engines that I know of,

is also in a museum at Thursford in Norfolk. One I've known a long time.

At about 15 years old, I found out from people who'd travelled further than I had,

that hidden away in a place called Thursford in Norfolk

there was a gentleman with a field full of steam engines. Incredible!

Everyone said he was mad because he bought them 40 years ago for £25.00 each.

That's all they were worth. Some of them got cut up for less.

The man who collected all these was named George Cushing. He collected 45 engines,

nearly one of every type of traction engine and portable engine you could have.

This one, I know for a fact, is one of Mr Cushing's favourites, the Aveling & Porter.

Thomas Aveling did a great deal for the development of the traction engine.

After the Aveling, is a Burrell. Like the Avelings,

they were like country blacksmiths in Thetford.

It makes you wonder how they constructed these, in a village hidden away, in Norfolk.

It's amazing!

All of them, each individual person who... The beginnings of the firms, were village blacksmiths.

Er...then, of course, they developed and developed

into quite big engineering concerns.

They made hundreds of these things right up until the 1930s,

when the death knell were here.

They didn't really have a long life,

not as long as the actual steam locomotive.

This is what's known as a Savage centre engine.

The engine was placed in the centre of a great roundabout. They built the roundabout round it.

It's interesting because this is thought to be

the second oldest of its type in existence.

Lots of nice embelishments on it and looks very pretty, doesn't it?!

Mr Cushing bought 'em

because he really loved them.

He realised what a shame it would be if they all got chopped up.

I did have the pleasure of meeting him.

I'm afraid to say he's just passed on at the old age of nearly 99, he were only a week short.

Whatever he did, he deserves a lot of recognition

for saving these magnificent pieces of machinery.

He never saw the end of his dream

because there's another 30 outside that have not been done up!

Hopefully someday they will be.

Nearly all Aveling & Porters, you know.

That's one just like mine at home.

Literally dozens of 'em, in't there, everywhere?

Incredible place!

To get all this running again

would take thousands and thousands of man hours.

Fortunately, plenty are still running,

kept alive by enthusiasts like these.

They've gathered for a steam fair in Camborne.

-Hello, how are you?

-I'm all right.

-How's your tractor?

-Very well.

This is one of the oldest Aveling & Porter tractors

converted into a steam roller, in't it?!

-That's right.

-My mate here is going to convert it back to a tractor.

Somebody said the other day it'll look nicer

-when you re-do the paint work!

-Arrgh!

-Who gave you a passport to come here! Long time no see.

-It's been ten bloody years.

-Indeed!

-Or more than that.

-Absolutely.

-How's your Mclaren going?

-Fine.

-How many tons does it weigh?

-22.

-They made quite a few.

-They did.

This is the only Mclaren engine this size left in the world.

It's through enthusiasts' dedication, that historic steam engines are kept alive and in steam.

There are more than 50 steam railways around the country,

all run by enthusiasts.

One I found interesting is the Tanfield railway, near Newcastle.

One of the interesting things is that here,

you can see the history of the railways -

from the earliest horse-drawn wagonways -

to the modern industrial locos like this one,

built by Robert Stevenson and Co in the 1940s,

more than 100 years after they built Rockets.

-The guest of honour!

-Thank you!

Today the Tanfield Railway is run by a group of dedicated enthusiasts.

-We're here to get steam up.

-Aye, we'll have a go.

Here, at the Marley Hill engine sheds,

they've built up a grand collection of industrial locomotives

from shut-down power stations and defunct coal mines.

How many locomotives have you got on your railway?

-I believe there are 54...

-Blumming 'eck, that's a lot!

..of one shape or another. In various degrees of working or not.

How many wagons would this pull, when it were performing proper?

It would think nothing of 25 coal hoppers,

going in and out of collieries.

-A few hundred ton then?

-Oh, yes. 15,000 ton on this one.

It's a lot of weight, in't it?

-You can get more fire in them than what we've got now.

-Oh, aye.

But a lot more noise!

-It runs very sweet, doesn't it!? Nice engine.

-It is a nice engine.

Squealing flanges!

This is the Causey Arch, the oldest surviving railway bridge in the world.

It was built in 1725-26, by a group of coal owners,

who called themselves the Grand Allies.

Nobody had built an arch that big in 1725.

They used Roman technology for a guide

and it was years before anybody built another one as big as this.

The man who built it, Sir Mr Wood, had a panic attack near the end.

Before it was completed, it's reputed that he jumped off and never saw it finished!

It was feared the wagons of coal going over might have collapsed it.

As many as 900 wagons a day went over this bridge full of coal.

-How's the water level?

-It's canny.

We need the water to go over here.

Before you go down the hill you need plenty of water.

We don't want to drop the flow down!

-It's quite a hill we're going down.

-It is indeed.

-We could freewheel down here!

-Aye!

At a time when Stevenson was building lots of locomotives,

this railway was still running on wooden tracks and horse propelled.

It wasn't until the 1840s that steam was introduced here

and then it wasn't locomotives, but three stationary winding engines.

All that remains of one of them is this rather sad hole in the ground.

Once here there was an engine room, with a winding engine

and a great chimney and a resevoir for the boilers.

Then finally, in 1881 I think, they finally got steam locomotives.

Apparently, they hauled the coal up and down during the week,

bricks and all sorts of other materials,

but on Saturdays the passengers could have a ride on...

the paying public, in the same wagons that brought the coal.

There were quite a few railways like this, here in the north-east,

including one from South Shields,

that was known as the Marsden Rattler by the locals!

In a way, steam has now become a bit of a holiday attraction,

something for a day out.

Or if you come up here to Scotland, more like a week out...

if you take a cruise on this lovely steamer, the Vic 32.

You're encouraged to have a go at everything. You might shovel coal,

or help to raise the anchor before you set sail to explore

the lochs and islands off the west coast of Scotland.

This boat was built in Yorkshire in 1942 and is based on the Clyde Puffer.

They didn't have a condensor.

The exhaust steam went up the chimney and helped to draw the fire.

It was really designed for inshore delivery boats, around Britain.

They delivered all sorts of stuff.

When we were out in the loch, I talked to Nick Walker, the owner.

He told me the boat used to deliver ammunition during the War.

-It's an inshore craft.

-What did it do after its days of carrying ammunition?

She was laid up at a naval dock yard, then sent to the scrap yard...

-Ooo 'eck.

-..at Inverkeithing.

We have Keith Tominberg, who owned the Island of Eigg,

to thank for rescuing it.

My wife and I have spent the last 25 years restoring it, taking people on holiday.

It's a lot of people's dream to put to sea on a steam-driven ship.

Absolutely. It's a dream come true.

Now, let's go down below and look at the engine.

This is the engine. It's a compound which means it uses the steam twice.

It is typical of a boat of this sort of style.

The steam is firstly used in the high-pressure cylinder,

then it's exhausted into an intermediate chamber,

and then into a low-pressure cylinder.

This equalises the pressure on the torque on the crank shafts.

After that, it's exhausted into the condensor,

which is then condensed back into water and used over and over again.

The seafaring machine cannot take water out of the ocean,

it's very bad for boilers.

I've noticed that the pressure is dropping a bit,

I'll put some coals on the fire

in case the captain up top shouts down for more steam!

I'll get on with that then!

I'd rather be on this than one of them plastic things!

Now I've got steam up, he's gonna let me have a go at the steering.

Keep in close to this shore, you've got to come in closer.

You're safer because there are rocks all around here.

If you come in starboard a bit, because we're clear of that ridge.

-That's right-hand side, "starboard"?

-Yes.

Come to starboard slowly and follow this shore.

Look out for red lobster pots.

If you see one have a look for another, they're always in pairs.

-We don't want the rope wrapped round our prop.

-Yeah.

Then he put me to work on a bit of steeplejacking.

WHISTLES BLOWS

There's no better way to see this lovely Scottish scenery,

It's magic!

I wish I'd lived in the days when you could travel like this all the time.

Steam is more than just enthusiasm or nostalgia.

Steam power was developed here in Britain -

one of our unique contributions to history.

It's a great credit

to all the dedicated enthusiasts we've seen in this series,

that such an important part of our heritage has been kept alive.

Subtitles by Deltha Mcleod and Claire Benstead BBC Broadcast - 2003

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