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We really want Our Town Story to be an album for your old photos, to fill in the gaps in the history books of our villages, towns and cities. We would also love for those pictures to be able to help others - for instance by using reminiscence therapy in treating dementia .
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Gallery: Greater Manchester Miscellaneous
Dickinson Street Power Station, Manchester, c. 1890s
@iamtimbo / 7 years ago / 1249 views / comments
Image Details
The Dickinson Street Power Station was Manchester's first electricity generating station, providing electricity to around a square mile of the city from July 1893 - around ten years after the first publicly lit building in London.
Coal was brought in along the adjacent Rochdale Canal, and the station had its own short spur alongside. Six boilers provided steam to the turbines, which were capable of supplying around 900,000 Watts at up to 400 volts direct current.
By September 1893, the station had 100 subscribers, and such was the popularity that an innovative 'five wire' mains distribution system was introduced, each wire providing a different voltage depending on the demands of each subscriber.
As there was no other electrical equipment available, the capacity was measured in light bulbs, and the Dickinson Street station at its inception was capable of providing power to 36,000 lamps - 2,500 of which were for the Town Hall alone.
Demand increased over the following years to such an extent that a whole new power station was built next door only four years later. The Dickinson Street building was demolished in the middle of the 20th Century and replaced with an office block known as Linley House, which still provides offices to United Utilities today.
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