MANWEB

Crewe

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This is a photo taken inside the Crewe Corporation Electricity Dept's generating station at Electricity Street, Crewe, opened at the end of the Victorian era.
The plant used steam engines to drive the DC generators and it continued in use until the late 1950s. Gradually the town was changed over from DC to AC but the DC network was kept going using mercury arc rectifiers for a time after the power station closed, until all properties received an AC supply.

The man in the picture is very probably Tom Astbury, the person who was in charge of maintaining the machinery.

The building survives, after the machinery was cleared out it became the District Stores until the new depot was opened in Macon Way in about 1967.
The hand operated crane is still there (I have operated it by winding large, cast iron hand-wheels, to unload a 500kva transformer - hard work!). At the other end of this building there is a complete 33Kv substation built 'inside' the old building and that is probably the reason that the old building survives.

The coal for the boilers originally came by horse and cart from the Thomas Street coal yard in Crewe, the carts tipped the coal down a chute (which is still visible) near to the river bank, the river being used for cooling water supply.

My Fitter's Mate, Jack Pilbury, was originally a stoker at the generating station.