Cooling Tower No.8, Hanley power station

The City of Stoke on Trent power station extension was opened on 31st October 1929. The central power station was situated adjacent to the Caldon Canal in Hanley on the site of the original Hanley works. A central power house was opened in 1913 and over the subsequent years a number of expansions and upgrades were made to the capacity of the works. The 1929 scheme saw the addition of a 12,500 Kw turbo-alternator set with associated plant and equipment, which included this cooling tower (No.8). The new tower was supplied by the Davenport Engineering Co., Ltd., of Bradford, the construction of the Cooling Tower Ponds being sub-let by them to Messrs. T. Godwin & Son, of Hanley.

In the booklet produced for the opening the details given are:

The Tower is of the Natural Draught Two Chimney type, designed to deal with 450,000 gallons of water per hour and reduce the temperature from 86°F. to 74°F. when the atmosphere conforms to a wet bulb temperature of 55°F. The gross base area is 6,960 square feet. The height of the chimneys is 70 feet and that of the two water inlets 20.5 feet. The framework of the Towers is constructed of Pensacola Pitch Pine, while the boards and the interior cooling stacks are built of red wood. All the ironwork is heavily galvanised. All the timbers comprising the chimney portion of the Tower are creosoted under pressure in order to give the longest possible life. The cooling stacks are built on the maker's patent system and the water distribution is arranged on their Patent Upward Jet System. The Pond, which has a depth of 4 feet, is constructed of concrete with a large suction sump arranged at one end and a rectangular weir has been fixed in order to measure the quantity of water passing over the tower. As one wall of the pond is adjacent to the canal, this was built of reinforced concrete and designed to act as a retaining wall.

Information found on the web from Mr David Bowie states:

There appears to have been two main manufacturers of wooden natural draught cooling towers in the UK: (i) The Davenport Engineering Co., Ltd., Harris Street, Bradford, (Telegrams: "Humidity, Bradford"), and; (ii) The Premier Cooler and Engineering Company. Since the dimensions and constructional details of these towers are essentially identical, I quite strongly suspect that these companies may have been one and the same. The Davenport company produced towers in the 'Bradford' range.
These towers generally were 70' high, with the overall dimensions of the base being selected from a standard series of sizes as dictated by the semi-modular build to arrive at the required capacity. Thus, a nominal 100,000 gallons per hour tower (capable of reducing this quantity of water from 115degF to 75degF) was a type 'T1224'. This designator indicates that there were 12 main posts and that these were on 24 feet wide centres. The corresponding overall dimensions being 87' long x 24' wide x 70' high.
Similarly, a 200,000 gallon tower was a type 'T1437', indicating 14-posts on 37' centres, for overall dimensions 103' x 37' x 70', and a 300,000 gallon per hour tower was designated type 'T1441, for 14-posts on 41' centres; 108' x 41' x 70' overall.
The main upright posts were typically 8" x 8" timbers in Pensacola Pitch Pine, scarf jointed at mid-height and secured with galvanised fishplates. Horizontal and diagonal bracing was also in pitch pine, typically 4" x 4". The horizontal members were arranged 12' to 13' apart over the height of the chimney tower.
Cladding boards were of 6" x 1" Swedish Red Wood, tongued and grooved and arranged vertically. A substantial cornice, some 2'-10" high surmounted the tower. With the exception of the wetted areas, all timbers employed in the construction of the tower were pressure impregnated with creosote. All metal fittings, bolts, and nails were heavily galvanised. When viewed from above, there was a series of horizontal cross braces on the same