HOUSES, shops and industries all wanted electricity supplies in the 1920s and had to negotiate a deal with Barrow Borough Council.

The council’s power station at Buccleuch Street was controlled by the Electricity Supply Committee and the councilors were advised by borough electrical engineer Mr H. R. Bennett.

How the committee operated is revealed in a bound book of typed reports from the period April 1923 to August 1924 which turned up in Millom and was kindly supplied by Reg Heathcote, of Newton Street.

Week by week the committee considered new applications for power supplies - each considered on its financial merits as they all involved extending the power network from the nearest connected property.

Mr Eley wanted power to a new shop in Warwick Street and Mr Smith for a fish and chip shop on the corner of Andover Street and St Andrews Street.

A report noted: "An inquiry has been received for supply to the working men's club which is being built in Rampside Road between Roose and the workhouse."

The mother superior wanted power for the new Roman Catholic convent at Croslands.

There were also prolonged negotions to provide bulk power supplies to councils at Millom, Dalton, Ulverston and Grange.

Taking power lines to Grange was estimated to cost £7,500.

There were two options to reach Millom - crossing the Duddon Estuary from Greenscoe Quarry, near Askam or using a 10-and-a-half mile line of poles and crossing the River Duddon at Foxfield.

Borough electrical engineer Mr H. R. Bennett noted: "If on the other hand the main is laid across the Duddon Estuary the total distance would be a little over four miles, nearly two miles of which would have to be laid underground."

The cost of the estuary crossing was put at up to £7,000 while the overland route to Foxfield would be nearer £8,500.

Councillors were not too keen on being the power suppliers to Millom as one of the biggest potential industrial customers - the iron ore mines at Hodbarrow - had its own power station.

The electrical engineer noted: "In view of the fact that the Hodbarrow Mining Company have now put down a private installation it does not appear that there will be any considerable demand for some time to come."

The Kennedy Brothers, based at Ulverston, wanted power for Roanhead iron mines and T. F. Butler wanted a supply to Greenscoe limestone quarries

Barrow Hematite Steel Company wanted power for the water pumps at its Anty Cross iron ore mine at Dalton.

The mine agreed to pay a guaranteed £700 a year for its power - which cover the costs of extending the power lines over a five year period.

Mine managers were keen that the electricity supply was reliable as halting the pumps would see the underground workings flood.

A report to the council noted: "Any interruption lasting more than a few minutes would in all probability result in a great amount of damage being done to the mine."

To reach the mine needed an extension of power lines from Manor Farm.

Getting the lines across the fields was not as straightforward as you might imagine as the landowners wanted paying.

Lord Richard Cavendish demanded a fee of 7/6 (37p) per year for every pole placed in a field and 3/6 (17p) for each pole built into a hedge.

This fee was called a "way leave" and after an inquiry involving the Ministry of Transport it was agreed that Cavendish would get a halfcrown (12p) per pole carrying the power to Anty Cross.

On January 10 in 1924 the new power link to Anty Cross was tested and on 16th the mine pumps were switched on.

As well as the corporation power station at Buccleuch Street, there was a new Abbey sub-station and others at Michaelson Road, Natal Road, Rampide and at Ramsden Dock for the Furness Railway's hydraulic bridge.

In 1924 it was recorded that the range of clothing supplied employees of the borough power suplier including oilskins, Mackintosh coats, rain coats, waterprood cycling suits, leggings, overall coats and meter reader's suits.

Generating power in those pioneering days was not without its setbacks.

A report on June 12 in 1924 noted that there had been a fire in a cable trench in the test room at the Buccleuch Street power station.

It noted: "A short-circuit ignited other cables in the trench.

"The fumes given off from these cables soon filled the engine room and necessitated the shutting down of the plant.

"The fire was quickly extinguished by the fire brigade."

Power supplies were back on in under two hours.

It was thought likely that the fire was started indirectly by damage to cables laid across the bed of Walney Channel and caught by the anchor of a dredger.

The power cable crossed the channel from Platt's Yard to a point opposite Latona Street.

By March 1924 the electricity committee was considering a £60,000 hydro-electric scheme at Backbarrow.