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History

Postcard of a ship HMS Lion.

HMS Lion Postcard

By Collections blog

HMS Lion was a Battlecruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1910. She was the lead ship of her class, which was nicknamed the ‘Splendid Cats’. They were significant improvements over their predecessors of the indefatigable class in terms of speed, armament and armour. This was in response to the first battlecruisers, the Moltke class, which were very much larger and more powerful than the first British Battlecruisers, the Invincible class.

 

Lion served as the flagship of the Grand Fleet battlecruisers throughout World War One, except when she was being refitted or under repair. She sank the German light cruiser Cöln during the Battle of Heligoland bight and served as Vice-Admiral Beatty’s flagship at the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. She was so badly damaged at the first of these battles that she had to be towed back to port and was under repair for more than two months. During the battle of Jutland she suffered a serious propellant fire that could have destroyed the ship if it had not been for the bravery of Royal Marine Major Francis Harvey, the turret commander, who posthumously received the Victoria Cross for having ordered the magazine flooded. The fire destroyed one gun turret which had to be removed for rebuilding while she was under repair for several months. She spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea, although she did provide distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917. She was put into reserve in 1920 and sold for scrap in 1924 under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.

Postcard of the Solway Viaduct with a photo from the past.

Solway Viaduct Postcards

By Collections blog

Some old postcards in the Museums store inspired us to research the Solway Viaduct in more detail. The bridge and its railway line used to connect England and Scotland, it was also used in WW1 to supply HM Factory Gretna and its former site is located about 6 miles from The Devils Porridge Museum.

 

The Solway Junction Railway was built by an independent railway company to shorten the route from ironstone mines in Cumberland to ironworks in Lanarkshire and Ayrshire. It opened in 1869, and it involved a viaduct 1 mile 8 chains (1.8 km) long crossing the Solway Firth, as well as approach lines connecting existing railways on both sides.

 

 

Reconstruction of the viaduct began in the summer of 1882: in the rebuilt viaduct, the three inner columns in each pier were still cast-iron, but the two outer ‘rakers’ were each a single wrought-iron tube filled with concrete and provided with timber ice fenders.

 

 

In 1914 an assessment of the maintenance needs of the viaduct was carried out. The long metal structure exposed to a marine atmosphere had deteriorated and £15,500 would need to be expended in maintenance work. The work was suspended on the outbreak of World War I, which saw increased use of the viaduct for iron-ore and pig-iron traffic from West Cumbria to Scotland. It was announced that stations south of the viaduct were to be closed from 1 February 1917 but this decision was promptly rescinded. The creation of a large munition works at Eastriggs, to the east of Annan, gave the line additional traffic; including (in May 1917) the Royal Train, carrying King George and Queen Mary on a four-day tour of that and other munitions factories.

 

 

Any future use of the viaduct was impossibly expensive, and after a period of dormancy, in 1933 arrangements were made to demolish it. Arnott, Young and Company purchased the bridge and dismantled it; much of the material found a second use, and some of the metal was used by the Japanese forces in the Sino-Japanese War. During the work three men lost their lives when attempting extraction of one of the piles; the men were inexperienced in boat work and their boat was caught in strong currents and capsized. The dismantling of the viaduct was completed by November 1935, but sections of the pier foundations remained in the bed of the estuary. The section of railway between the south end of the viaduct and Kirkbride Junction was dismantled as part of the process.

Shell damage to a goods waggon at West Hartlepool.

WW1 Railway Wagon Postcard

By Collections blog

This postcard (from the Museum’s collection) shows an explosion within a railway wagon during World War One.  Transporting munitions by rail was dangerous and at HM Factory Gretna (the factory which is the main focus of The Devil’s Porridge Museum) they took several precautions when transporting cordite including the use of fireless locomotives such as Sir James (now outside the Museum).

 

 

Although the railway stations were crowded at this time and both the West Hartlepool passenger station and goods station yard were hit, only rolling stock was damaged with no loss of life.

 

A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive which uses reciprocating engines powered from a reservoir of compressed air or steam, which I filled at intervals from an external source. Typical usage was in industrial switching where a traditional locomotive was too noxious or risky, such as in a mine or a food or chemical factory (such as HM Factory Gretna). They were used at HM Factory Gretna as they were less likely to cause an explosion, this means that it was easier to transport the munitions across the Factory site without the risk of a huge chain explosion.

 

 

 

This photo is also from the Museum’s collection and shows HM Factory Gretna during its construction.  It has the title “Site 2 showing the scene of the accident” and is dated July 19th 1916.  It seems there may have been a railway accident at the Factory as well.

 

If you would like to know more about railways at HM Factory Gretna, you might find the following booklet of interest: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/product/hm-factory-gretnas-unique-railway-system-booklet

The Devil's Porridge Museum's podcast logo with a cartoon munition worker and soldier.

New Online Podcast

By News

Welcome to the Devil’s Porridge Museum Podcast!

 

Over the last few weeks museum staff and volunteers have been working on an inter-generational  oral history project. This project is now available for you to enjoy in the form of the Devil’s Porridge Museum Podcast.

 

Through conversations and interviews, our volunteers and others from the local community will be sharing their personal stories and memories with the Devil’s Porridge Museum Podcast team.

 

The first podcast features museum Chairman Richard Brodie, discussing the origins of the museum with some young visitors. More episodes will follow over the coming weeks, so please come back and listen to more instalment throughout the summer.

 

If you would like to get involved with the project to share your own stories and memories or if you would like to find out more about joining our production team please contact Steven@devilsporridge.org.uk

 

 

You can listen to the Podcast below:

If you would like to know more about the Museum, its collection and history, you might be interested in our Museum guidebook (just £2.50 from our online shop):

The Devil’s Porridge Museum Guidebook

 

The royal visit to HM Factory Gretna during WW1 with exicted munitions workers.

John Charles Burnham Part 3

By Collections blog

John Charles Burnham comes to Gretna

 

In 1915 Burnham was loaned by his employers to the Ministry of Munitions and became Director of the Board of Management and Superintendent at H.M. Factory, Gretna a post which he held until 1921. During his time at Gretna, he was responsible for the smooth operation of the greatest factory in the world. Spanning nine miles across the Anglo-Scottish border and encompassing two purpose built townships, employing 30,000 people and creating over half of all the cordite produced in Britain during the War. Burnham oversaw it all.

 

In 1917 the King and Queen visited Gretna and Burnham was an integral part of their experience and can be seen in the photograph below standing in between the King and the other man (he is in the middle, walking slightly behind them).

At the end of the War, Burnham was a major part of the Armistice celebrations (his speech on November 11th 1918 was recorded in the local paper, the Annandale Observer as shown below).

 

John Charles Burnham.

John Charles Burnham Part 2

By Collections blog

John Charles Burnham in India

 

1894 – 1899

 

Burnham moved to India to work as Chief Chemist in an experimental Cordite Factory in Kirkee which is in the state of Maharashtra in West Central India (Mumbai is in the same state). The factory was listed as producing small arms and pistol ammunition. It is still there today.

 

1899 – 1915

Burnham was appointed Manager and Chemist at the Government of India Explosives Factory, Aruvankadu Nilgiris in the state of Tamil Nadu in Southern India. This factory produced Cordite and gun cotton (and still produces explosives today).

 

His advice was sought by the Government on many occasions, and his services were recognised by the award of the Companion of the Star of India (CSI) in 1911 at the Delhi Durbar which was hosted by King George V and Queen Mary (photographed below).

 

You can see our previous article about John Charles Burnham here: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/john-charles-burnham

 

If you enjoyed this article then the following books (available from our online shop) may be of interest to you:

Gretna’s Secret War

The Devil’s Porridge Museum Guidebook

Postcard of a ship the HMS Birmingham.

HMS Birmingham

By Collections blog

This is a postcard from our Museum store which shows a photo of the WW1 ship HMS Birmingham. HMS Birmingham was launched on the 13th of May 1913 and was commissioned in February 1914. She joined the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in 1914, visiting Keil in June that year.

 

On August 9th 1914, she spotted the U-15, whose engines had failed as she lay stopped on the surface in heavy fog, off Fair Isle. The crew of Birmingham could hear hammering from inside the boat from attempted repairs, and so fired on her but missed. As the U-boat began to dive, she rammed her, cutting her in two. U-15 went down with all hands, the first U-boat loss to an enemy warship. Birmingham also sank two German merchant ships that year and took part in the battle of Heligoland on August 28th and the battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915. In February 1915, she joined the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, Attacking a U-boat on 18th June 1915 with no success.

 

She also took part in the battle of Jutland as a member of the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, during which she sustained damage caused by splintering during the night of the battle.

After the First World War, she was flagship for the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron in 1919-1920, after which she was transferred to the Nore from 1920-1922. Considered (with two other two shaft ‘Towns’) for conversion to a mine layer, but the idea was not pursued. She was recommissioned in November 1923 to the Africa Station with the 6th Light Cruiser Squadron as flagship, relieving Lowestoft. She then continued to serve in foreign stations until being sold in 1931. She arrived at the yards of Thos W Ward, of Pembroke dock on 12th March that year to be broken up.

 

If you’re interested in the history of the Second World War, you might find this book from our online shop of interest: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/product/the-solway-military-coast-book

Illustration of a Breguet plane.

WW1 Plane Postcards Part 2

By Collections blog

Here are some more of the WW1 plane postcards which are being kept in the Museums store. This post will include information about the Royal Aircraft Factory b.e. 2c.

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E. 2c

The B.E. 2c was designed as an inherently stable aeroplane, easy to fly and an ideal answer to the Royal Flying Corps’ fundamental operational requirement for a good reconnaissance aircraft. It first flew on 30th May 1914 powered by a 70hp Renault engine. When it entered service with No.8 Squadron RFC in April 1915, the 90hp RAF engine had been fitted as the standard power plant. The B.E. 2c’s stability was initially well received by service pilots but with the advent of the true fighter Fokker monoplanes and the Albatros biplanes, they became very easy prey, being to stable to avoid attack and too slow to get away. Nonetheless, production of large numbers continued and 14 squadrons of the RFC and one of the RNAS were equiped with this type. It was still in action on the Western Front during ‘Bloody April’, 1917 where it suffered a large number of casulties. It was operated overseas by both the RNAS and the RFC, serving as a bombing and reconsissacne aircraft in Maceedonia and the Middle East, and in the Dardenells and the Aegen.

 

You can see our previous plane postcard here: https://www.devilsporridge.org.uk/ww1-plane-postcards

 

WW1 Railway Mounted Artillery illustration.

WW1 Postcards

By Collections blog

The postcard above shows some soldiers next to a railway mounted seige gun. These postcards from WW1 show soldiers in many different settings during the war for example some show soldiers using an antiaircraft gun, some show soldiers walking with their regiments and some show soldiers being treated for their injuries. You can see some of the postcards below.

 

This postcard shows some soldiers using an antiaircraft gun.

 

This postcard shows one soldier being treated for his injuries

 

Some children's artwork on a wall in The Devil's Porridge Museum.

The Devils Porridge Online Events

By Events

While the Museum is closed we have decided to run some of our Kids Clubs online, these clubs will be broadcast on Facebook live or just posted as a video on Facebook around the time tha. In addition to our online Book Bug sessions we are also going to be running other weekly online activities . On Tuesday afternoons we will be posting an Arts and Crafts video taking viewers through each step in different craft project each week, Wednesday morning at 9.30 our Facebook live book bug sessions will take place, on Thursday afternoons as part of our Young Historians Club a new history activity sheet will be made available on our website and through a link on our Facebook page and on Friday afternoon via our Facebook page we will either have colouring activities or a drawing workshop video.

 

Tuesdays – Posting an afternoon Arts and Crafts video taking viewers through each step in different crafts projects each week.

Wednesdays – Tune into our Facebook live Bookbug session at 9.30am

 

Thursdays – For our Young Historians club a new history activity sheet will be made available on our website and on Facebook.

Fridays – On our Facebook page will have either colouring activities or a drawing workshop video.

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