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By Ceri Edwards on

New acquisitions: Lancashire Electric Power Co. diagrams

Archivist Ceri Forster reveals the electrifying story of some of the newest items in our collection.

We recently had donated to us a collection of electrical system diagrams created by the Lancashire Electric Power Company (LEP Co.) There are 15 plans in total, which cover most years between 1930 and 1948. Each plan shows a different year, and the set therefore demonstrates the changes to the electrical infrastructure in Lancashire and Greater Manchester between those years.

LEP Co. was granted the rights to supply electrical energy in bulk to local authorities in 1900. Their first power station at Radcliffe was opened on 9 October 1905, and their first customer was the Acme Spinning Company in Pendlebury – the first cotton spinning mill in Lancashire designed to be powered by electricity. The company opened further power stations at Padiham in 1926 and Kearsley in 1929. It went on to supply electricity to most of Lancashire south of the Ribble, before being nationalised in 1948 into the North West Electricity Board (later NORWEB).

Souvenir brochure from the official opening of the extension at Kearsley Power Station, 1936. [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
Souvenir brochure from the official opening of the extension at Kearsley Power Station, 1936. [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Page from the souvenir brochure from the official opening of the extension at Kearsley Power Station, 1936. [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
Page from the souvenir brochure from the official opening of the extension at Kearsley Power Station, 1936. [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The difference between the first diagram, produced in 1930 and the last in the set, produced in 1948 can be seen here. It is a really clear illustration of how much the electricity industry advanced in those years and where the developments in the infrastructure occurred. The plans clearly show the gradual build-up of an electricity network in an area that was initially not attractive to local authorities, and demonstrate the rural electrification of remote areas, linking farms, collieries and other businesses to the system.

Lancashire Electric Power Co. system diagram 1930. [Ref. 2017-2001]
Lancashire Electric Power Co. system diagram 1930.
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Lancashire Electric Power Co. system diagram 1948. [Ref. 2017-2001]
Lancashire Electric Power Co. system diagram 1948.
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Interestingly, there were no new power stations built after 1929. The system developed by upgrading smaller substations into control centres. There is a lot of growth between 1932–35, following the development the National Grid, which was in operation by 1933.

Promoting electricty to rural communities, Royal Lancashire Show Burnley, 1935. [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
Promoting electricity to rural communities, Royal Lancashire Show Burnley, 1935.
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
It is also interesting to note the changes that took place during World War Two. The plans show connections to Royal Ordnance Factories and Magnesium works, and also show modifications to the system, with emergency substations appearing in 1943 to protect against disruption to supply in the event of bomb damage.

The boiler room at Kearsley Power Station under construction, c.1946 [Ref.1987.838/MS0496]
The boiler room at Kearsley Power Station under construction, c.1946.
Science Museum Group © The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
The plans remained at NORWEB where they would have been bound into a volume and used for reference—some of the plans still bear the marks of binding. They were rescued from disposal by an employee of NORWEB, who later offered them to the Museum. They make a fantastic addition to the archive’s electrical collections, and nicely complement our existing holdings relating to LEP Co. and the development of the electricity industry in Britain.

7 comments on “New acquisitions: Lancashire Electric Power Co. diagrams”

  1. My Great Grandfather Charles Davis Taitet was an Engineer and Manager at LEP in late 1800’s and the first part of the 1900. I was wondering if you had any more information on him…
    All the best Sally

    1. Hi Sally,
      We have a small amount of information on LEP and I believe we have managed to find reference to your great grandfather in a guide to Padiham Generating station from September 1928 where C.D. Taite is listed in his role at the plant. He also appears on a table plan for a ‘Luncheon at the Midland Hotel for the inauguration of 50’000 kw turbo alternator at Kearsley Power Station, hosted by the Earl of Derby’ from 21st of December 1936. Other than that, I’m afraid we don’t hold anything that might be useful.
      Best,
      Ceri

    2. Hi, my name is Philip I am a member of the Friends of Bank Hall, reg charity no. 1147592.
      Recently I have been researching an overgrown part of the grounds at the hall and we have come across a concrete marker post reading ‘LEP Co. HIGH PRESSURE ELECTRIC CABLE DANGER’. In world war 2 the hall was requesioned by by the Royal Engineers as communications HQ for all of the shipping and troop movements along all of the north west ports from Barrow down to Holyhead. Up to the present this cable has been unknown (or even is it still live) to us ,and it occurred to me that it might have been a dedicated supply requested by the military to feed the important work being carried out for the nations defence. The unreliable domestic supplies in the countryside at that time may not have been viable. If you could offer any information on this request it would be appreciated as the occupation during the war is an important part of Bank Halls history. Kind Regards, Philip Wilson. (Sat Nav PR26 9AT)

      1. Many thanks for your message, I have emailed a response from the Archive team 🙂

  2. Hi,
    My name is Alex, I am an electrical engineer from ENWL in Lancaster, I live in Preston,
    Would it be possible to be sent a PDF of similar of these diagrams in decent quality so we could zoom in – we are quite interested in our networks history.

  3. For anyone wanting to obtain copies of these diagrams, further to Ceri’s reply above on 16 December 2020, high resolution digital copies of the earliest and latest diagrams can be ordered for personal, non-commercial research use from the Science and Society Picture Library.
    https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10705865
    https://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10705866

    Copyright in these system diagrams remains with Electricity North West, and we are unable to license or supply digital copies for commercial use without the permission of Electricity North West.

    Jan Hicks
    Archives Manager
    Science and Industry Museum

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