The 2,000 yard Gas Works - # 08/45

Here it is (or was: on this very site). The "Thing" to make you Afraid! The Brentford Gas Works. The Gas Works closed in 1963; at its largest the works covered 8 1/2 acres on both sides of the High Street. The Brentford Gas Company was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1821. Its main works lay on either side of Brentford High Street, with a long frontage to the River Thames. Consequently Brentford was one of the first towns to have fully lit streets - the peak of modern city living!

Imagine! Brentford was 1/3 giant Gas Works, 1/3 giant Water Pumping and Filtration Station, 1/3 Canal and Railway Goods Transfer point, and a mass of bad housing for 19th Century manual dock labourers and barge sailors. The "Do-Good Charities" of the 19th Century were tearing their hair out over poverty, child education and schooling and poor health and housing. A town once described as "a paradise", became "the filthiest in England".

Yet on the other side of the river was Richmond, with its royal palaces and accolade as the "most beautiful town in England".

But it's not all bad..........read the official website comments.

http://www.brentfordhighstreet.com/index.php?option=com_mtree&task=listcats&cat_id=57&Itemid=40

http://www.brentfordhighstreet.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12&Itemid=47

The mystical dongle-wanglifier- # 08/13

Marvel at the exquisitely made control system for the mighty steam engine: the perfection of form and function.

Unfailing support - # 08/12

The cast iron pillars are higher than a house and support the massive iron cross bar. Above this "shoulder" is the 30 tonne pivoting rocker arm that rises and falls, one end driven by steam pressure through a huge piston, the other end rising and falling to lift the water.

I'll show a few more pictures in the coming days, and then we'll let this engineering marvel go back to its quiet rest. The history of hygiene and flushing toilets in the metropolis may seem unglamorous, but this Kew Bridge Steam Museum brings it to life.

The beginning of Revelation - # 08/11

Revelations may come slowly, being formed during many episodes. The engine is enormous and can only be revealed in several photos. I want to show the texture and magnitude and the great style of whole structure in its engine-house flooded with sunlight through large, very elegant Georgian style windows.

It is an amazing construction where art and science combine. Aesthetic design is paramount. Engineering perfection is the absolute guide. Function and form bring great pleasure and extreme utility.

Here you see the cast iron stairway that leads to the first of two floors above the ground.

The engine is supported by huge cast iron columns moulded as those you see in a Greek temple. Here you see the base of those columns.

Remember that this was designed and built in 1846 to pump water for London.

Camera: Olympus C7070 WZ

The Baptismal Font and the Oil of Consecration -# 08/10

The tears of the Titan fall into the font and are transformed into the Oil of Consecration.

Giants, especially Super-Giants, must be approached circumspectly and with great reverence. So don't rush me!

The vision is gently consolidating. It will transform your soul.

Camera: Olympus C7070 WZ

The High Altar in the Temple of the Great Titan - # 08/09

Hush! We have entered the temple. The sacred vessels - (the oil can and the grease gun) - are laid out on the table - (a massive iron block housing valve gear). Celestial light floods in through huge windows, and the biggest steam engine in the world waits quietly and accepts our reverence. http://www.kbsm.org/

The Brentford pumping station was built in 1836. In 1846 the world's biggest steam engine was installed. The engine worked continuously until 1944. It still works, even today, on special demonstrations.

It is still the biggest steam egine in the world. You must see it! More follows.

Camera: Olympus C7070 WZ