Mill Engines at Shaw Lodge Mills, Halifax

Additional information
provided by
The Northern Mill
Engine Society

Textile Mills, including Shaw Lodge Mills, received their power from steam engines during the eighteenth and early nineteenth century. Later, the mills were converted to to take their power from electricity, (I think this was in the 1920's in our case), still using many of the power transmission equipment which was already in place. Even today, in the twenty-first century we still use some vintage equipment, lathes, and engineering tools, which is belt driven, as when it was originally built. (Maybe they thought electricity was just a passing fad!)

Several mill engines operated at John Holdsworth & Company Limited.
Arthur S. Roberts of Leeds, describes in his records, from the 1950s and 1960s, for example, one single horizontal cylinder engine at Shaw Lodge Mills, which was made by Pollit & Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge in 1900. This mill engine was named 'Constance', interestingly also the name of Constance Gertrude Holdsworth, 1880-1955, the eldest daughter of Clement Holdsworth.
Another engine was named 'Kathleen', also the name of Kathleen Marian Holdsworth, 1882-1946, the second daughter of Clement Holdsworth.

The Northern Mill Engine Society have some undated hand-written records, from which we discover the contact on site was G.E. Barker.

Engine No 1, named CONSTANCE	400IHP cross-compound engine made by Pollit and Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge in 1900 14ins HP and 27.5ins LP with 42ins stroke with Corliss valves on the HP 80rpm with 14ft flywheel for 13 ropes condenser driven by tailrod behind LP cylinder
Engine No 2, named GWEN	150IHP tandem compound engine also made by Pollit and Wigzell of Sowerby Bridge in 1901 10ins HP and 20ins LP with 36ins stroke with Corliss HP and slide valves on LP 90 rpm 10ft flywheel for 6 ropes note "moved from Low Shed to floor above"
Engine No 3, named KATHLEEN	Steam Engine No. 3, "Kathleen" 450IHP tandem compound engine made by Cole Marchent Morley of Bradford in 1897. 15ins HP and 28ins LP with 42ins stroke. Corliss valves 82rpm with 16ft flywheel for 12 ropes Drove alternator in "room next to beam engine"
Engine No 4	50IHP single cylinder engine 7 ins cylinder and 12 ins stroke with 4ft flywheel slide valve, non-condensing "drove stokers and coal hoist" Note: I remember this engine, it was located in the boiler-house cabin, a very cosy and warm place. This powered a long shaft that ran in bearings along the boiler-house roof, and which in turn wound the bucket conveyors, which fed coal from the large hoppers up into the three Lancashire boilers. The steam engine ceased being of use and was removed in 1972. It was sold to an enthusiast, to make way in the boiler-house for a brand-new Parkinson-Cowan, GWB 10,000 Lb/hr multi-fuel boiler with a Vekos burner. [David W Holdsworth, 2008]
Engine No 5 (presumably an earlier engine)	"Large twin beam engine in attached house with shaft under road" also noted : "at one time, site had three beam engines"

Please send questions, updates, additions to:
Middle Pasture, Halifax, HX3 0AG, UK
Tel: +44 1422 322500