| Public | |
| Industry | Engineering |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Clarke Chapman |
| Founded | 1820 |
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Wolverhampton, UK |
| Products | Nuclear engineering Boilers Pressure vessels |
John Thompson Limited was a major engineering business based in Wolverhampton offering products for the nuclear engineering industry.
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 249,470. The demonym for people from the city is 'Wulfrunian'.
The Company was founded by William Thompson as a general engineering concern in or around 1820 in Wolverhampton. [1] In 1850 the business passed to William's brother, Stephen, and in 1860 it passed to William's son, John, and within ten years it was concentrating on manufacturing boilers. [1]
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central heating, boiler-based power generation, cooking, and sanitation.
By 1914 it had expanded into motor pressings; during World War I it made cowlings for Sopwith aircraft and in World War II it made airscrews for Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. [1]
Hot pressing is a high-pressure, low-strain-rate powder metallurgy process for forming of a powder or powder compact at a temperature high enough to induce sintering and creep processes. This is achieved by the simultaneous application of heat and pressure.
World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.
A cowling is the covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles and aircraft.
In the 1950s, as part of a consortium with AEI, it was awarded a contract to supply boilers and reactor pressure vessels for Berkeley nuclear power station. [2]
Associated Electrical Industries (AEI) was a British holding company formed in 1928 through the merger of the British Thomson-Houston Company (BTH) and Metropolitan-Vickers electrical engineering companies. In 1967 AEI was acquired by GEC, to create the UK's largest electrical group. A scandal that followed the acquisition is said to have been instrumental in reforming accounting practices in the UK.
In 1970 the business was acquired by Clarke Chapman [3] and in 2004 the Ettingshall Works finally closed. [1]
Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Ettingshall is an area of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, and is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 13,482.
An Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) is a type of nuclear reactor designed and operated in the United Kingdom. These are the second generation of British gas-cooled reactors, using graphite as the neutron moderator and carbon dioxide as coolant. They have been the backbone of the UK's nuclear generation fleet since the 1980s.
TRW Inc. was an American corporation involved in a variety of businesses, mainly aerospace, automotive, and credit reporting. It was a pioneer in multiple fields including electronic components, integrated circuits, computers, software and systems engineering. TRW built many spacecraft, including Pioneer 1, Pioneer 10, and several space-based observatories. It was #57 on the 1986 Fortune 500 list, and had 122,258 employees. In 1958 the company was called Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, after three prominent leaders. This was later shortened to TRW.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. is a Japanese multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group.
Boulton Paul Aircraft Ltd was a British aircraft manufacturer that was incorporated in 1934, although its origins in aircraft manufacturing began earlier in 1914, and lasted until 1961. The company mainly built and modified aircraft under contract to other manufacturers, but had a few notable designs of its own, such as the Defiant fighter and the Balliol trainer.
Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc., originally Babcock, Wilcox & Company and then The Babcock & Wilcox Company, is a global leader in advanced energy and environmental technologies and services for the power, renewable and industrial markets. B&W is headquartered in Barberton, Ohio.
Combustion Engineering (C-E) was a multi-national American-based engineering firm and a leader in the development of both fossil and nuclear steam supply power systems in the United States with approximately 42,000[10] employees worldwide. Originally headquartered in New York City, C-E moved its corporate offices to Stamford, Connecticut in 1973. C-E owned over three dozen other companies including Lummus Company, National Tank Company and the Morgan Door Company. Former workers have gone on to hold leadership positions in major engineering firms and governments around the world. The company was acquired by Asea Brown Boveri in early 1990. The boiler and fossil fuel businesses were purchased by Alstom in 2000, and the nuclear business was purchased by Westinghouse Electric Company also in 2000.
Bold is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. Bold itself is situated to the south east of St Helens, near to the boundaries with Halton and Warrington in Cheshire. The parish extends southwards beyond the M62 motorway and includes the hamlet of Bold Heath along with the Clock Face and New Bold area of St Helens. According to the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,283, increasing to 3,410 at the 2011 Census
The Weir Group plc is an engineering company headquartered in Glasgow, Scotland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The company operates in over 70 countries employing approximately 14,000 people focused on mining, oil and gas and power markets.
Heysham Power Station is a nuclear power station in Heysham, Lancashire, England, operated by EDF Energy. The site is divided into two separately-managed stations, Heysham 1 and Heysham 2, both with two reactors of the advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) type.
Gwynnes Limited was a City of London England engineering business, iron founders and pump makers founded in 1849 to capitalise on the centrifugal pump invented by James Gwynne (1804–1850). In 1856 his eldest son, J E A Gwynne, of Essex Street Wharves on the south side of The Strand was awarded a patent for the manufacture of carbon or charcoal powder. Their Strand site became part of the Victoria Embankment built between 1865 and 1867 and Gwynne profited from judicious investment in the reclaimed land. Their Crisp Road, Hammersmith Ironworks and works at Church Wharf, Chiswick, London, were established in 1867 to specialise in the manufacture of these centrifugal pumps and pumping engines This machinery was for use in practically all purposes where large or small quantities of liquid were required to be lifted and dealt with for low or high heads. A limited liability company was formed in May 1897 to own the business.
Babcock International is a multinational corporation headquartered in the United Kingdom. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main business is with public bodies, particularly the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence and Network Rail.
Berkeley nuclear power station is a disused Magnox power station situated on the bank of the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England.
Doosan Babcock Ltd is part of Doosan Power Systems S.A., a subsidiary of Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction. It is a power sector OEM, construction, upgrade and after-market services company that offers specialist services and technologies to the fossil-fired power generation, nuclear power generation, and oil, gas and petrochemical industries.
Mather & Platt is the name of several large engineering firms in Europe, South Africa and Asia that are subsidiaries of Wilo SE, Germany or were founded by former employees. The original company was founded in the Newton Heath area of Manchester, England, where it was a major employer. That firm continues as a food processing and packaging business, trading as M & P Engineering in Trafford Park, Manchester.
Stuart Street Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Bradford, Manchester, England.
Bold Power Station refers to a series of two coal-fired power stations that were situated in Bold near St Helens in Merseyside, North West England. They are now closed.
International Combustion Limited was a major engineering business based in Derby offering products for the nuclear engineering industry. International Combustion Australia Limited was a separate non-affiliated company.
W & J Galloway and Sons was a British manufacturer of steam engines and boilers based in Manchester, England. The firm was established in 1835 as a partnership of two brothers, William and John Galloway. The partnership expanded to encompass their sons and in 1889 it was restructured as a limited liability company. It ceased trading in 1932.
T.B. was a three-wheeled cyclecar manufactured by the aircraft department of Thompson Brothers of Bilston, England, from 1919 until 1924. A prototype four-wheel car never entered production. Approximately 150 cars were produced of which only one example is believed to have survived.