Manchester Hydraulic Power

Manchester's Hydraulic Power system was a public hydraulic power network supplying energy across the city of Manchester via a system of high-pressure water pipes from three pumping stations from 1894 until 1972. The system, which provided a cleaner and more compact alternative to steam engines, was used to power workshop machinery, lifts, cranes and a large number of cotton baling presses in warehouses as it was particularly useful for processes that required intermittent power. It was used to wind Manchester Town Hall clock, pump the organ at Manchester Cathedral and raise the safety curtain at Manchester Opera House in Quay Street. A large number of the lifts and baling presses that used the system had hydraulic packings manufactured by John Talent and Co.Ltd. who had a factory at Ashworth Street, just off the Bury New Rd. close to the Salford boundary. Manchester Corporation opened its first pumping station in 1894, following pioneering schemes in Kingston upon Hull and London. The scheme was a success and additional pumping stations to cope with the demand for power were added in 1899 and 1909. Modernisation started in the 1920s, when the original steam pumps were replaced by electric motors at two pumping stations. The greatest volume of water was supplied in the 1920s, although the length of the water mains continued to increase until 1948. Usage started to decrease in the 1930s, and the first pumping station closed in 1939. By the 1960s, there were serious concerns about the state of some of the equipment and corrosion in the high-pressure mains, and in 1968 the corporation announced its intent to switch the system off, which it did at the end of 1972. The grade II listed pumping station built in Baroque style at Water Street has a new life as part of the People's History Museum, while one of its pump sets has been restored and is displayed at the Museum of Science and Industry, where it is part of a larger display about hydraulic power.