Deflated Gas Holders

Gas holders, also incorrectly referred to as gasometers - they don't measure anything - were once a common sight in UK towns and cities. They provided a means to store gas, and to maintain the downstream supply at what is called district pressure.

The first gas holder in the UK was erected in 1798, at the Soho Manufactory, in Birmingham. The water-sealed telescopic form, which came to dominate, was invented in 1824, the first constructed in Leeds. The earliest telescopic holders had two lifts, supported by columns. Later models had up to four, frame-guided, lifts. In 1890 William Gadd, of Manchester, invented the spiral-guided gas holder, the helical runners of which obviated the need for an exoskeleton. The last of these was built in 1983.

The gas was stored at near atmospheric pressure, the necessary weight applied by the heavy cap. The tank containing the gas floated in a reservoir of water, which provided the necessary seal, and rose and fell as the volume of stored gas either increased or decreased. A lipped channel around the base of each lift picked up water from the reservoir as the gas holder rose, thus maintaining the seal.

The holders were often sited next to plants producing town gas from coal, but were steadily adapted to store natural gas. Typical volumes for the larger holders, up to 200 feet in diameter, were 1.8 million cubic feet. As a nationwide network of pressurized pipes and regulators for provision of natural gas was developed the holders increasingly became redundant. A few still serve to balance pressure in the pipe network, but in 2013 National Grid announced plans to steadily remove the gas holders of England and Wales. SGN has similar plans for those in Scotland.

The three gas holders visible from the Aston Expressway, Birmingham, were decommissioned between 2009 and 2011. The conjoined pair, erected in 1885, were once part of the Windsor Street Gas Works; sometime in the 1980s they were painted in the claret and blue colours of nearby Aston Villa Football Club. National Grid has been granted permission to demolish all three holders, which are expected to disappear in 2020.

(Second photograph by Abi Smith.)

April Fools' Car Show 2019

The seventh running of the show was held, for the second time, at Whittington Castle, the weather such this year as to enable the show vehicles to be ranged around the walls of the castle, along the line of what would once have been the moat.

Over 120 vehicles were on display, making this the largest show to date. There were many new participants, including an impressive Jaguar XJS 6 litre V12 (top), a cute 1927 Lea-Francis K Type tourer (above), and a sparkling VW Karmann Ghia coupe of 1974 (below).

Second prize went to Steve Willis' 1962 Saab 95 (below), a lovely example. James Allmark carried off the unique show winner's trophy, for his Morris Minor pickup of 1968, with its natty tarpaulin covering. An exciting new venue for 2020 promises an even bigger and better show, with some new attractions.

April Fools' Car Show 2018

The sixth running of the April Fools' Car Show was held at Whittington Castle. The castle, portions of which date from the twelfth century, is the only one in Britain cared for and operated by a private trust of volunteers. The event, sponsored by Oswestry Classic Car Garage, hosted over 110 vehicles - the largest show yet.

As in prior years, the show attracted a number of rare and unusual vehicles, including a BSA Scout coupé de luxe (above), and Norman Crisp's 'Reaper' campervan, based on a hearse and complete with a working kitchen in the pull-out casket - as featured on George Clarke's Amazing Spaces.

Third place went to Matt Potts' Mirage GT, production of which is planned to be brought to the Oswestry/Wrexham area. Vic Morris scooped second place with his fine Ford Model A of 1929. The show winner was Steve Hazelwood, who collected the now traditional handmade trophy for his immaculate 1961 Vauxhall Cresta (above).

Llandrindod Garages I - Automobile Palace

Commenced in 1906 and completed in 1911, what was originally known as The Palace of Sport, trading as Tom Norton Ltd from 1908, was founded by Tom Norton. Norton started in 1906 one of the earliest public bus services in Wales, between Llandrindod Wells and Newtown, held the first Wales-wide Ford agency, and was also a major agent for Austin and Ferguson.

The architect was Richard Wellings Thomas, and the building a very early example of steel construction. It was enlarged in 1919 to about three times its original size, providing nine bays along its curved frontage. Although built to the same Art Deco design, with faience facing throughout, the extension was constructed using reinforced concrete.

22 lions sejant-rampant, each with a shield, guard the building, which faces onto three streets. The elevation to Princes Avenue includes a pedimented entrance to No. 2 Garage. The ground floor fascia boasts faience tiles with raised lettering, including the word Aircraft. Circa 1913 Norton had invited pioneer aviator Gustav Hamel to give flying demonstrations from the nearby old race-course, in an effort to introduce aviation to mid-Wales.

The facility was renamed The Automobile Palace in 1925. It operated as a garage into the 1980s, and was Grade II* listed in 1985. Regrettably, much of the building is unoccupied, but it is home to the National Cycle Museum, a collection of over 250 bicycles that brilliantly charts their history. Apt given that Norton's first business was selling and repairing bicycles.

Llandrindod Garages II - Pritchard's

Also known as Central Garage, Pritchard's Garage was at one time a Rootes dealership, as evidenced by the aged signs for Commer, Hillman, Humber and Sunbeam. 11 lions sejant-rampant upon the parapet hold shields that give a completion date of 1929 for this fine concrete building, now largely unoccupied. The lions and the curved façade echo those of the nearby Automobile Palace.

Borderlands Rare Vintage Tin

The Clwyd Veteran and Vintage Machinery Show, held annually, throws up some real rarities amongst its shows of cars, commercial vehicles, bicycles and motorbikes, steam and stationary engines, tractors and horticultural machinery. The Lotus Europa (above) was a mid-engined GT, built in Hethel, Norfolk, between 1966 and 1975.

Karrier, part of Clayton and Co. of Huddersfield, started making small commercial vehicles in about 1907, and later moved into manufacturing buses and trolley-buses. It was bought by Commer, part of the Rootes Group, in 1934, itself acquired by Chrysler in 1967, who dropped the brand. This Karrier Bantam was a coal lorry.

NSU, an abbreviation of the company's home town of Neckarsulm, was founded in 1873. It was acquired by Volkswagen in 1969, and merged with Auto Union, who owned the Audi brand - the company name changed to Audi in 1985. The last NSU-badged car was the Ro80, with a twin-rotor Wankel engine and a semi-automatic vacuum transmission, built from 1967 to 1977.

Clan was formed in Washington, Co. Durham, in 1971, by a team of ex-Lotus engineers; and closed in 1973. It re-emerged as Clan Cars in the early 1980s, based in Newtownards, Northern Ireland. In 1985 it released the Clan Clover, with an Alfa Romeo powertrain. The company failed anew in 1987, having built only 26 Clovers.

April Fools' Car Show 2016

The fourth April Fools' Car Show, held at Canal Central, Maesbury Marsh, Shropshire, was the largest yet. It attracted over 80 cars, two dozen motorbikes, a clutch of tractors, a Stanley steam car, stationary engines, and three traction engines. Unusual items included a lovely 1972 Citroën Ami 8 Break.

The show winner was John Watson's immaculate 1910 Buick, complete with Selden patent licence plate. (Selden had never built a single example, but in 1895 was granted a US Patent for the automobile, much to the ire of Henry Ford.)  Runner-up was Syd Brode's gorgeous 1950 3.5 litre Jaguar Mk V.

April Fools' Car Show 2014

The third running of the April Fools' Car Show, held at Canal Central in Maesbury Marsh, Shropshire, featured everything from the agricultural to the seriously exotic. The above McCormick Farmall, a brand of America's International Harvester, is a row-cropper, built in France, and looked very fine in its new paint.

From Telford came a lovely Jensen FF. Built between 1966 and 1971, the Jensen Ferguson Formula was the first production car to feature four wheel drive - from Ferguson Research Ltd - and anti-lock brakes, the Dunlop Maxaret system, and is five inches longer than its sister Interceptor. Placed third in show.

Show winner was a stunning 1947 Jaguar Mark IV 3½ litre cabriolet. The 3½ litre was introduced in 1938. This example has a very unusual two-door body, all the panel and mechanical work undertaken by its owner. This year's steam came in the form of a 1924 Clayton and Shuttleworth road roller, Ironside.

Cyprus Car Graveyard

In eastern Cyprus, on the road north from Dhekelia, towards Achna, is a house-cum-workshop surrounded by dozens of British, French, Italian, German, Swedish, Japanese and American cars of the 1960s onwards, awaiting restoration.

Many are in remarkable condition, and could be easily recommissioned, including a lovely Mercedes 220 (top). There are at least half a dozen Audis: 80s, 100s, an 80 Fastback (above), a 5S, a couple of proper early Quattros, and a muscular Coupé (below).

The Brits are represented by a Triumph 2000 and a number of Jaguars, including two XJS V12s; one set of the colonial cousins by a Chevrolet Beretta, a Lincoln and a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro (below, identified by Rupert Lloyd Thomas); and another set by a couple of Holdens, one a Premier 202 (next below).

The dry conditions have been kind to very many of the cars, which whilst most have suffered some form of accident damage, it would be nice to think might again see the open road. There are quite a few Volvos, including a beautiful P1800 ES, in that icy blue that so suits them.

It is to those Italian cars that are so prone to rot to which the weather has been most kind. Fiat is represented by a 130, a 131S and a 132. There's a bevy of Alfa Romeos, including an early Spider and a pair of Alfettas, the paintwork of one well protected by foliage (below).

One might expect the Saabs to have survived without difficulty - these include a 95 (below) and a 99. Even a Datsun ST is still in one main piece.

It is though on behalf of the French machinery that one is most grateful to the weather. The collection includes a Citroën CX, a Peugeot 604 V6, and no fewer than two instances of the stunning Citroën DS Pallas (below).

Beckmeter Petrol Pump

This Beckmeter Multi Mix pump was in rather poor condition when acquired. Although the wheels were beyond repair, the panels have been stripped, the missing parts of the top panel built up with car body filler and shaped to the correct form, and the whole painted. New rubbers and glass have been inserted, and the petrol and oil sight glasses replaced with stippled polycarbonate discs, such that the pump, wired into an external lighting circuit, can be illuminated in the dark.

Vélo Moto Auto

The National Weapons Factory at Châtellerault, in the department of the Vienne, Poitou-Charentes, was established in 1819 to manufacture swords. It later made rifles, such as the Lebel type. The factory closed in 1968.

Housed in one of the former factory's buildings is Châtellerault Motor Museum, built around the personal collection of Bernard de Lassée. The collection includes a representative selection of early vélos, including hobby horses, penny-farthings, and safety bikes.

It moves through the history of the moto and the auto, and includes gorgeous examples of Panhards, Delahayes, Darracks, and, of course, Peugeots. There's a smattering of American cars, but it's the French weird and wonderful that catches the eye. Hautement recommandé.

Anything That Goes Car Show

Hosted annually by the Whitchurch Motor Club, and held at the Blue Bell Inn, Tushingham, near Whitchurch, the Anything That Goes Car Show this year attracted over 120 vehicles.

Naturally, given the nature of the club, a member of the Motor Sports Association, very many of the cars are campaigned, and there were, thus, a good number of Ford Escorts on show (top).

Seen far less often is the Simca 1000 Rallye (second photo) and the Hillman Avenger Tiger Mk2 of 1972, in Sundance yellow, a real Ford Escort Mexico killer.

Most brutal was a MG Metro 6R4 (six cylinders, rally car, four wheel drive), introduced in 1984. The works car produced an immense 410 bhp. Group B rally cars were banned at the end of 1986. The 6R4 moved into rally-cross, turbo-charged to a mad 600 to 700 bhp.

A great variety of non-racing machinery was also on display, including an early Ford Mustang (above) and a Ford Lincoln Mercury Monterey Marquis, a car that somehow manages to be a block longer than its name.

Llangollen Motor Museum

About a mile outside Llangollen is an eponymous motor museum that is a delightfully eclectic collection of about 60 cars, a greater number of motorbikes, and various petrol pumps, cans, enamel signs, automobile-related ephemera, pedal cars, vintage radios, and various curiosities.

Amongst the cars are the first production Gilbern GT, of 1961 (below), and a fine pair of Triumph Vitesses (top). Gilbern, 1959 to 1973, remains the only production car to have been made in Wales. Amongst the curiosities is what's reputed to be the oldest motor-drawn caravan in Britain, home-built in 1908 by an amateur artist for use on his painting trips.