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Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.<ref name=science>{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap14775/bicc-ltd|title=BICC Ltd|publisher=Science Museum Group|accessdate=26 April 2020}}</ref> It was originally an importer and refiner of [[bitumen]] for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their [[Erith]] site on the Thames in the 1880s.<ref name=science/>
Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.<ref name=science>{{cite web|url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/ap14775/bicc-ltd|title=BICC Ltd|publisher=Science Museum Group|accessdate=26 April 2020}}</ref> It was originally an importer and refiner of [[bitumen]] for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their [[Erith]] site on the Thames in the 1880s.<ref name=science/>


It played a significant role in construction of the British [[National Grid (UK)|National Grid]] in the 1930s. It built the [[400 kV Thames Crossing#132 kV Thames Crossing|132 kV crossing of the Thames]] at [[Dagenham]] with overhead cables spanning 3060 feet (932m) between two 487&nbsp;ft (148m) towers, and allowing 250&nbsp;ft (76m) clearance for shipping.<ref>''Power over the Thames'', C. Winchester Ed 1937, Wonders of World Engineering P1321-1324, Amalgamated Press, London</ref> Callender's research and engineering laboratories were based at a former power station site in [[White City, London|White City]], London, close to Ormiston House, where the company's founder had lived.<ref>[http://www.biccwoodlane.co.uk/chapter%20three.htm History of Wood Lane Chapter 3]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
It played a significant role in construction of the British [[National Grid (Great Britain)|National Grid]] in the 1930s building the [[400 kV Thames Crossing#132 kV Thames Crossing|132 kV crossing of the Thames]] at [[Dagenham]] with overhead cables spanning 3060 feet (932m) between two 487&nbsp;ft (148m) towers, and allowing 250&nbsp;ft (76m) clearance for shipping.<ref>''Power over the Thames'', C. Winchester Ed 1937, Wonders of World Engineering P1321-1324, Amalgamated Press, London</ref> Callender's research and engineering laboratories were based at a former power station site in [[White City, London|White City]], London, close to Ormiston House, where the company's founder had lived.<ref>[http://www.biccwoodlane.co.uk/chapter%20three.htm History of Wood Lane Chapter 3]{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>


===British Insulated Cables===
===British Insulated Cables===

Revision as of 22:21, 26 April 2020

British Insulated Callender's Cables
Company typePublic
IndustryBuilding materials
Founded1945; 79 years ago (1945)
Defunct2000; 24 years ago (2000)
FateRenamed
SuccessorBalfour Beatty
HeadquartersHelsby, UK
ProductsElectrical cable

British Insulated Callender's Cables (BICC) was a 20th-century British cable manufacturer and construction company, now renamed after former subsidiary Balfour Beatty.

History

British Insulated Callender's Cables was formed in 1945 by the merger of two long established cable firms, Callender's Cable & Construction Company and British Insulated Cables. The company was renamed BICC in 1975.[1]

Callenders

Callender's Cable & Construction Company was founded by William Ormiston Callender in 1870.[2] It was originally an importer and refiner of bitumen for road construction but began manufacturing insulated cables at their Erith site on the Thames in the 1880s.[2]

It played a significant role in construction of the British National Grid in the 1930s building the 132 kV crossing of the Thames at Dagenham with overhead cables spanning 3060 feet (932m) between two 487 ft (148m) towers, and allowing 250 ft (76m) clearance for shipping.[3] Callender's research and engineering laboratories were based at a former power station site in White City, London, close to Ormiston House, where the company's founder had lived.[4]

British Insulated Cables

British Insulated Cables was founded as the British Insulated Wire Company at Prescot, near Liverpool in 1890.[2] It bought the rights to a paper-insulated power cable capable of transmitting electricity at 10,000 volts, for use at Deptford Power Station, from Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti.[2] It went on to acquire the Telegraph Manufacturing Company in 1902 and was renamed British Insulated Cables in 1925.[2]

Demise of the business

In January 1991 the British Copper Refiners subsidiary[5] in Prescot was closed with the loss of 230 jobs.[6] In 1999 the ailing BICC sold its optical cables business to Corning and power cables businesses to General Cable Corporation,[7] which subsequently sold on parts to Pirelli.

Closure of part the Erith works by Pirelli was announced in 2002, with production of oil-filled cable transferred to their Eastleigh works in Hampshire.[8] Pirelli subsequently sold off their cable operations, now known as Prysmian.

BICC also owned construction company Balfour Beatty and, following sale of its cable operations, BICC renamed itself Balfour Beatty in 2000.[9]

Callender's Cableworks Band

Main article: Callender's Cableworks Band

This was an amateur brass band, active between 1898 and 1961, of which all members were employees of Callender's at Erith.[10] They rehearsed and performed in their leisure time, while the company in its role of patron lent its name and supplied uniforms and instruments. The band broadcast prolifically on BBC Radio in the 1920s and 1930s.[11]

References

  1. ^ BICC, Monopolies & Mergers Commission Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c d e "BICC Ltd". Science Museum Group. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. ^ Power over the Thames, C. Winchester Ed 1937, Wonders of World Engineering P1321-1324, Amalgamated Press, London
  4. ^ History of Wood Lane Chapter 3[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Grace's Guide to British Industrial History British Copper Refiners, Subsidiary of British Insulated Cables
  6. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 Feb 1991 Mr. George Howarth (MP for Knowsley, North)
  7. ^ PR Newswire General Cable enters into a definitive agreement to acquire the worldwide energy cable assets of BICC PLC
  8. ^ Pirelli to shed 445 jobs, BBC News 20 Nov 2002
  9. ^ Shake-up will see BICC change to Balfour Beatty
  10. ^ Brass Band Results: Callenders Cable Works Band - amateur band employed by the Erith Works of the Callender Cable & Construction Co.Ltd
  11. ^ Callender's Band performance programme or handout leaflet, 16 Dec 1932

Further reading

  • R.M. Morgan, 1982, Callenders 1882-1945, BICC plc.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Insulated_Callender%27s_Cables&oldid=953339476"