George Street Mills - powerhouse

Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 24 Mar 1990

This engine house once held a horizontal tandem compound mill engine but when I took this it was home to two working Belliss and Morcom steam engines installed in 1980 and 1983. They ran into the early 1990s and were scrapped in 1997. They were part of a highly sensible combined heat and power scheme and this concept is certainly not dead. On this visit I learnt about four engines in a powerhouse at Deanshanger Oxides. The closest engine was undergoing maintenance and was No. 3373 of 1907 and installed third-hand in 1983. This was a C-type inverted vertical compound good for 120 brake horsepower at 500 rpm. The little blue box was a modern electronic governor that replaced the original crankshaft mounted centrifugal governor.

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