The North Somerset Electric Supply Company

This is an extract from an article about the Christy Brothers of Chelmsford published by the South Western Electricity Historical Society. The authors were Peter Lamb, Secretary of the Society and the late Eric Lodge, who was the Portishead Branch Manager for a number of years.

The Clevedon & District Electric Supply Company, which later became the North Somerset Electric Supply Company Ltd, was the first company the Christy Brothers established in the South West in 1911. The original Company was started by Frank Christy with a small generating station at Gas Lane, Portishead, which comprised of two 50 H.P. semi-diesel Petter Engines. The supply was commenced in August, 1913 (The original building still stands today, address now Old Mill Road, while newer station buildings have gone). Later these engines were supplemented by a Hindley Vertical Gas Engine. Distribution then was at D.C. 3 wire, 200/400 volts.

An A.C. system was established at the time of the first Great War, when the Admiralty decided to build a shipyard at Portbury. A tremendous battle ensued between Bristol Corporation Electricity Department and the North Somerset Company, over who should give a supply. The Board of Trade decided in favour of the North Somerset Company, but after all that, Bristol Corporation had to provide a 6.6 kV supply at the base of Clifton Gorge at Ashton, which was transformed up to 11 kV and thence to Portbury via underground cable. Since this occurred towards the end of the War, the final irony of this tale was that the War ended before the Shipyard became a realty. However, this set the pattern of the North Somerset Company for obtaining their bulk supplies of electricity from Bristol Corporation at Bower Ashton (6.6 kV) and Whitchurch (11 kV) in 1925. At Bower Ashton the supply was transformed to 11 kV and later 33 kV (at Kennel Farm 1936) and at Whitchurch 11 kV and 33 kV for transmission to Wells, Street and Langport.

The North Somerset Company had their head office at Bower Ashton and in 1933 there were 16 branch offices throughout the area of supply. By this time they had taken over the Winscombe and Cheddar Electric Supply Companies in 1928, the Wedmore Company, the Mid Somerset Electric Supply Company, based at Street both in 1929 and the Burnham and District Electric Supply Company. Christy Brothers acquired these undertakings and bulk supplies were provided in order to shut down their small generating stations.

Eric Lodge joined the North Somerset Company in 1932 from the West Gloucester Power Company, where he had his early training. He was appointed by the then General Manager, Ernest Tole, and was paid the princely sum of £6 per week.



He was seconded to an interesting travelling showroom with a total staff of three persons including a lady demonstrator, Miss Rousseau. This encompassed the whole of the North Somerset area, including agricultural shows, such as the Bath and West and the North Somerset Shows. Evenings and afternoons were given to practical demonstrations of domestic appliances. Mornings were devoted to obtaining electrical contracts for wiring and installation work, which were passed to the local offices. Close contact was maintained with the local managers and engineers, who gave valuable information on their problems.

Eric said "voltage and copper were in short supply". These were the early days of rural development. "Where to go in and where to stay away was important local knowledge. Engineers today tend to think of the Rural Development Era as that of the 50's and 60's, but it was the private companies who brought the first electricity supplies to the rural areas in the 1930's. The "plums" of the big revenue earnings against capital expenditure had been picked off by the various city and town authorities. It was therefore left to the energetic private enterprises to develop and extend power lines under bulk purchase from the large city undertakings. Eric told a fascinating tale of his personal endeavours in the village of Curry Rivel. He called on a potential consumer, Admiral Sir Frank Notley R.N. Retired, who had his own generator. His house was wired in "Stannos Wiring", which consisted of a single copper conductor in a lead sheath cable suitable for D.C. Eric undiplomatically criticised it, as not being suitable for the new A.C. supply. From which he received the rejoinder "Damm it man, it should be alright, its ship's wiring". It was agreed eventually to install a double wound transformer.

This rural electrification enabled the unit sales to be increased from 11 million in 1931 to 45 million in 1939. In 1934 Eric Lodge was appointed Branch Manager of the Portishead Branch at about the same salary, but it had good prospects! He remembers with fond memories Frank Christy, who would reward his staff by giving all of them an annual bonus of 3 weeks pay - which paid for one's annual holiday! Also in 1929 all the staff of the various Companies were invited on an outing to Cheddar, Burrington and Wells. The purpose of the outing was not only to have a jolly good time, but also to show people, who had not come into close quarters with rural electrification, some of the things it involved .

The North Somerset Electric Supply Company was quite a family affair, where the Toles were concerned. With Ernest Tole as the General Manager, his brothers, Horace and Jack, were each Branch Manager of Street and Wells respectively. Obviously it contributed to the good working of the company, but in these days, the media would probably have dubbed it nepotism. A considerable effort was required to weld North Somerset into the major undertaking of the Chelmsford based parent company.