Page 7 - Demo

pagepage7Historic Gas Times%u2022 Issue 112 %u2022 September 2022 %u2022Dear HGT Subscriber,We%u2019d like to share with you details of some of the exciting changes we%u2019re making to how we share and celebrate gas history. For many years the Panel for the History of the Gas Industry has been successfully writing and overseeing production of the quarterly newsletter, Historic Gas Times (HGT), which has always been very well received across our population of gas history enthusiasts! Our aspiration for the years ahead is to share the history of the gas industry and what learning we can take from it with as wide a readership as possible. HGT in its current format has a declining readership, which is not sustainable with that in mind, we will be integrating the HGT newsletter within IGEM%u2019s Gas International (Gi) journal. From January 2023 your copy of Gi will have pages dedicated to the HGT. Our hope is to include the HGT in every other edition of the Gi journal, which equates to 5 editions per year. Your current preference for a physical or electronic copy of Gi will remain unchanged.For those of you who are not IGEM members we understand this will be a change of format, hopefully the higher quality production should be a benefit. All other aspects should remain the same and we hope you continue to support HGT.For some of you, you will already receive Gi as part of your IGEM membership fee, we understand that you may question what your HGT subscription is for. Well, a little goes a long way! We are preparing to host an annual event to celebrate gas history, showcase learning from the past and explore its relevance to the future of our gas network %u2013 with an exciting line up of expert speakers and opportunities to network with other history enthusiasts. A ticket to these events will be included as part of your ongoing annual contribution, with tickets to other IGEM members, stakeholders and the public available for a modest cost.Your contribution will also continue to support the History Fund, administered by the History Panel, to support gas history preservation initiatives across the UK. Examples include:%u2022Funding of a gas holders photobook, a unique publication that captures the history and aesthetic of notable gas holders across the UK.%u2022Procuring a scanner to resume the process of digitising rare and priceless documents, photos and books and making them more accessible to subscribers IGEM members and others.We hope you see value in continuing your contribution to help communicate and celebrate gas history, invest in important preservation initiatives and ensure that production of the HGT is sustainable long term. We hope to have your ongoing support, but if you have any questions please get in touch with us by phone or email at:Tel: +44 (0)1509 678 150Email: hgt@igem.org.uk Changes to Historical Gas TimesAmong our readers there are still a few who worked on horizontal retorts. Perhaps they could help answer this query from Dr. West, who was once with EMGAS, and whose email appears belo-%u201cThe museum interpretation consultant who is planning the displays at the restored gasworks building in Sudbury, Derbyshire, has pointed out that many pictures of gas works stokers show them wearing distinctive headgear. In some cases they are tricorn hats and in others they have a long peak, a bit like the hat that Robin Hood is often depicted wearing. If anyone has any ideas about this,I%u2019d love to hear themIan WestUniversity of Leicesterian@ianewest.co.uk%u201dThis Editor%u2019s introduction to horizontals came at Linacre, Liverpool, in 1954 and even then there was little or no issue of protective clothing to retort house workers Except perhaps some boots with steel toecaps, and gauntlets. Clothing was old, worn and filthy, supplemented by %u2018Army Surplus%u2019 . Sweat cloths were usually worn.%u2018Visitors%u2019 to the retort house, such as fitters and electricians had been issued with bib-and-brace, while chemists (even I) wore clean white overall coats, frequently replaced.All heads were covered to reduce the quantity of coal dust and breeze with the odd dash of tar and liquor, (some of which was hot) which got into the eyes and ears, and down one%u2019s neck. The best defence was a Trilby although they gave no protection against falling coal lumps. The modern hard hat had not yet arrived and would not have been much use. Some men preferred Aussie-style bush hats, while the older Engineers often preferred a bowler. I cannot recall the headgear favoured by the Retort HouseCaptain, only that he exuded authority. Thankfully, all this changed in the 1960s, with the reformer era.A QUERY ON RETORT HOUSE FASHION