Almost without exception, the UK's local authorities issued such 'official handbooks' during the mid-20th Century and, often running to several editions, they are a rich seam for looking at local history as they cover civic and municipal services along with various commercial and industrial concerns based there. The City of Birmingham, as befitted one of the UK's largest city authorities, produced in the 1920s and '30s, annual editions that vied with the City of Manchester's similar productions. The editions contain a series of sections dealing with the city's governance, the services provided - that at the time included the council's many trading undertakings such as gas, electricity, water and transport, along with social services such as hospitals that were then mostly run by the city council.
One of the largest trading undertakings was that of the city's Electric Supply Department that was most likley the largest such municipal supply undertaking in the UK. The Council had acquired the private generating company in 1900 along with those in Aston and Handsworth when both areas were annexed by the city in 1911. Work had started on a new generating station on a site in Nechells in 1914 but this was paused due to the outbreak of war and work only recommenced in 1918. The station was opened in 1923 by the Prince of Wales and became known as the Prince's Station. In post-WW2 years, and under nationalisation, a second station, Nechells B, was opened in 1954 but generation ceased on the site in 1982.
During the 1920s requirement for power grew dramatically and with growing Governmental control of the industry larger, more efficient generating stations were favoured and Birmingham began to construct a new power station on a greenfield site to the east of the city at Hams Hall. Constructed in 1928 the first phase of the station was opened, by the Duke of York, on 6 Novemebr 1929. The station was considered to be one of the largest and most efficient in Europe at the time and was an earlier user of pulverised coal as fuel. In time the City would open the second phase, as B station in 1942, and a third and final phase (four units were originally planned for) opened in 1956/58 by the nationalised industry. The stations closed in order of construction in 1975, 1981 and 1992.
Hams Hall was originally fitted out with GEC equipment throughout, and GEC advertised the new station heavily. GEC's main works were, of course, in Birmingham at Witton so it was hardly surprising that local industry was favoured although the two 30,000kv turbo-alternators at the heart of the station were construced by a subsidiary, Fraser & Chalmers, whose turbines business had been acquired by GEC in 1919.
This plate of the Prince's Generating Station, at Nechells, shows the ranks of timber cooling towers that long dominated the local scene.
