I was browsing the Hyde Blog when I came across some photos of the Hyde MAN gas holder and the memories came flooding back. I signed on as a labourer with the North Western Gas Board in 1967, in a wooden shed, in the shadows of the 100ft high holder. It wasn't until 1973 though, that I had any duties associated with the holder. I was almost at the end of my technician's course and I had to spend a month with the holder maintainance crew. The morning was spent checking all the holders on our patch, Glossop, Mossley, Dukinfield, Stalybridge, Ashton, Hyde and Marple. Denton was still a working gasworks, with their own team on site. Hyde's MAN holder though, was unique, because the piston that rose and fell inside, was sealed by tar and the tar depth had to be dipped every day. If the gas pressure was 6" water gauge, the depth of tar had to be over 6" or the gas would leak into the holder. Once I had been instructed how to do the 'dipping', it became my job every morning to climb the walkway to the crown of the holder, lift the hatch cover and descend the ladder to the piston. The holder was filled with gas remotely during the night and was always full in the morning, so the piston was always near the top and the descent from the hatch was only ten to twenty feet. On my last day with the team however, things were different. There had been a problem overnight and Gaythorn Control, in Manchester, had been unable to fill the holder. I had become so used to the holder being full, I didn't check the gauge on the holder which indicated how much stock was inside. Also, instead of a three man team, we were down to two, as one chap had gone sick. I therefore trudged up the stairway alone and when I opened the hatch I knew something was wrong as there was a resounding echo, which wasn't usually there. When I looked down I couldn't believe my eyes, the piston was practically at the bottom and the extending ladder dangled down, daring me to descend. I didn't fancy it I must admit but when I tried to check with the boss, whether I could give it a miss, the intercom, a wind up phone, refused to work. Not wanting to jeapordise my chances of becoming a technician, I decided to go down the ladder. Doesn't sound that difficult does it but this ladder was really awkward, as it had to fold up as the piston rose and extend when it fell. If you can imagine a series of diamonds, joined at the points and dangling down with me descending down the outside....scary ! I made it down without any mishaps, completed the dips, north,south,east and west and then started my ascent. I was about thirty or forty feet up when my foot slipped and if it hadn't been for my steel toe-capped boots jamming through the rung, I would have fell. I hung there like a demented acrobat while I stilled my racing heart and then managed to right myself. As if nearly falling to certain doom wasn't bad enough, all the tools needed for the dipping had fallen out of my donkey jacket pockets to the piston far below, so I had to descend once more to retrieve them. I finally emerged into fresh air almost two hours after entering the holder and after catching my breath, made my way down. "Tha tuk thi time Rocker, 'fraid tha tey's cowd". Was all I got from the boss.
Someone was asking when the holder was demolished. I took the photograph in May 1988 as it was being prepared for demolition. I had ensured the valves were all closed and all the gas had been boosted out of the holder. The tar tanks were emptied and it was then purged with nitrogen and demolition could begin.
