mark99 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john6767 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 A google image search brings up this previous thread 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archie57 Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Longford, Coventry! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Thank you. Initially I thought Kensal Green as it had an old Waterless gasometer as well as the others but it just did not tie up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 That's the view from my old bedroom window. Well OK I didn't grow up on the towpath but I could see the footbridge and the gas tower and holders (tbf they were hardly missable). Despite the redevelopment of that site as the Ricoh/Coventry Building Society Arena that footbridge still stands. We used to call the rough ground on the towpath side of the canal the 'Red Hills'. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek R. Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Forgive the digression, but Sandwell Coal Chutes sprang to mind, and there's an interesting article on the tramway that fed them here: https://www.pressreader.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartland Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 Buckby Locks, has explained, as has Mark Baldwin, that these chutes were built for coal transport from Coventry Colliery and were separate from the gasworks site Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Pegg Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 40 minutes ago, Heartland said: Buckby Locks, has explained, as has Mark Baldwin, that these chutes were built for coal transport from Coventry Colliery and were separate from the gasworks site The footbridge spans the Coventry to Nuneaton railway which separated the canal from the gas holders. The town gas works at Foleshill was actually on the opposite side of the railway to the gas holders and was a short distance to the south of where this view was taken. There were railway sidings adjacent to the coal chutes but I don't think they were linked. The coal chutes were accessed by road through gates at the end of Grindle Road, which has since been extended onto the site and built upon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 22 hours ago, mark99 said: Thank you. Initially I thought Kensal Green as it had an old Waterless gasometer as well as the others but it just did not tie up. This was Kensal Green.....when you could still moor without being 3 deep. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) 5 minutes ago, matty40s said: This was Kensal Green.....when you could still moor without being 3 deep. I nicked that image and whacked it up the gasholder appreciation society site! Edited February 17, 2022 by mark99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty40s Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) Old Friends is the nearest boat, I only just caught the light, 2 minutes later the sun was gone. If I 😜find it with ALAMY STOCK watermarked on it or Getty images..I'm coming for you. Edited February 17, 2022 by matty40s 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 I did credit you. But still nicked it! Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray T Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 The Foleshill Gas Works are now the site of Tesco, other shops and what was Ricoh Arena, now Coventry Building Society Arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 18, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Thanks Ray. Will repost on the gasometer appreciation page. Credit to Ray T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 3 hours ago, mark99 said: Thanks Ray. Will repost on the gasometer appreciation page. Credit to Ray T. Hey Mark, my dear old departed Dad used to say one of the gas holders in the Hayes/Northolt/Uxbridge area had a huge white "NO" painted on the top back in the 60s. This was supposedly because airline pilots relied on one of them as a landmark for landing at Heathrow and sometimes used the wrong one. This eventually led to it getting the big "NO" painted on top, to distinguish it from the right one nearby. Is there any truth in this story? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Pan American Boing 707 Lands At RAF Northolt By Mistake. On October 25th 1960 a Pan American (Pan-Am) Boing 707 jet with 41 passengers and crew on board landed at RAF Northolt by mistake! The approaches to Heathrow and Northolt were similar in that each approach, when heading over London, had before them very large and similar in appearance gasometers. The pilot it seems saw the gasometer and then beyond it the runway and assumed it was Heathrow, when the gasometer was in Harrow. The Heathrow approach has a gasometer in Hounslow. In order to try to prevent the same thing happening again on the Harrow gasometer in very large letters the two letters NO (for Northolt) were painted on it and on the one in Houslow LH (for London Heathrow) where there are pictures of them below. The South Harrow one has since been removed. There were fears that the runway at Northolt would not be long enough to get the plane airborne again but with a light fuel load it subsequently took off and made the short journey to Heathrow. https://www.ruisliponline.com/707-lands-at-raf-northolt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 Beaten to it by David. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Schweizer Posted February 18, 2022 Report Share Posted February 18, 2022 30 minutes ago, David Mack said: Pan American Boing 707 Lands At RAF Northolt By Mistake. On October 25th 1960 a Pan American (Pan-Am) Boing 707 jet with 41 passengers and crew on board landed at RAF Northolt by mistake! The approaches to Heathrow and Northolt were similar in that each approach, when heading over London, had before them very large and similar in appearance gasometers. The pilot it seems saw the gasometer and then beyond it the runway and assumed it was Heathrow, when the gasometer was in Harrow. The Heathrow approach has a gasometer in Hounslow. In order to try to prevent the same thing happening again on the Harrow gasometer in very large letters the two letters NO (for Northolt) were painted on it and on the one in Houslow LH (for London Heathrow) where there are pictures of them below. The South Harrow one has since been removed. There were fears that the runway at Northolt would not be long enough to get the plane airborne again but with a light fuel load it subsequently took off and made the short journey to Heathrow. https://www.ruisliponline.com/707-lands-at-raf-northolt I am not sure why they had such fears. Only a year earlier a De Haviland Comet, landed and took off from RAF Northolt when participating in the Daily Mail London to Paris Race. I lived in South Ruislip less than quarter of a mile from the end of the main Runway at RAF Northolt, and witnessed the Comet taking off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) 11 hours ago, MtB said: Hey Mark, my dear old departed Dad used to say one of the gas holders in the Hayes/Northolt/Uxbridge area had a huge white "NO" painted on the top back in the 60s. This was supposedly because airline pilots relied on one of them as a landmark for landing at Heathrow and sometimes used the wrong one. This eventually led to it getting the big "NO" painted on top, to distinguish it from the right one nearby. Is there any truth in this story? Yes deffo. NO was for Northolt Airport, painted on side of South Harrow MAN type Gasholder. LH for Heathrow Airport painted on side of Southall MAN type Gas holder. To prevent any more mistakes! Both the gasholders were rare-ish waterless M>A>N types ie they never collapsed like most do - just big bean cans with piston inside and could be mistaken I guess. Edited February 19, 2022 by mark99 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark99 Posted February 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 (edited) This is the view you get from Southall - looking over to Heathrow. 300+ foot high. Inside, at the top was terrifying when the piston was on the floor. Climing from the top down a wobbly old victorian collaps-able staircase. Edited February 19, 2022 by mark99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuthound Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 9 hours ago, mark99 said: Yes deffo. NO was for Northolt Airport, painted on side of South Harrow MAN type Gasholder. LH for Heathrow Airport painted on side of Southall MAN type Gas holder. To prevent any more mistakes! Both the gasholders were rare-ish waterless M>A>N types ie they never collapsed like most do - just big bean cans with piston inside and could be mistaken I guess. Blimey, the planes would have to be flying very low to read those markings... 😂🤣 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtB Posted February 19, 2022 Report Share Posted February 19, 2022 2 hours ago, cuthound said: Blimey, the planes would have to be flying very low to read those markings... 😂🤣 Only if they were coming in to land, or something.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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