Details

Metropolitan Borough of Islington's 'shift engineer's memo book and standing orders log' containing memoranda and standing orders from the period 1907 to 1921, although the majority of entries are from 1909 to 1912. This book would have belonged to the shift engineer's at Islington's power station at Eden Grove. Islington Vestry was among the earlier Municipal Authorities to provide for the electrical needs of its inhabitants (Islington Vestry became the Metropolitan Borough of Islington in 1900). Islington laid the foundation stone on its own power house 27 December 1894 and the station which was situated at Eden Grove, Holloway Road, was formally opened 4 March 1896 (had been supplying power since January 1896). Coal was brought to the station by rail, the 10-ton trucks being passed over an Avery weighbridge and then emptied by end-tipping. The Eden Grove power station had the distinction of being the first in Great Britain to handle coal in this way. The borough electrical engineer for Islington at the time that this book was used was Albert Gay MIEE, but the majority of the memos and standing orders have been written by the Chief Assistant Engineer, P MacAlister, or the Station Superintendant, Montague J Allward. The Islington Electricity Department was located at 50 Eden Grove. The volume contains mainly loose papers but has been broadly split into sections as follows; 01. Main switchboard and switchgear. 02. Boiler house, steam ranges, valves etc. 03. Public lighting. 04. Mains. 05. Station costs and records. 06. Steam ranges, valves, drains, supports, and cooling towers. 07. Defective plant. 08. Visitors. 09. Accumulators and battery details. 10. Miscellaneous.