Brewing, the oldest industry in the town
had a national reputation even around the time that Burton Grammar School was
founded. It developed over the next 200 years, catering mainly for local demand
and a select London market. Then when the Trent became navigable several
breweries, Bass, Worthington and Allsopp included, began a thriving export trade
with Baltic countries via Hull. By the 1820s new markets were also opening up in
India.
In 1840 ten breweries produced some
70,000 barrels of ale a year (1 barrel = 36 gallons) and employed around 350
workers. During the next 50 years, due to the opening up of railway links,
brewing expanded so rapidly that around 1890, 32 breweries were producing 3
million barrels a year using over 8,000 workers. In fact 25% of all beer sold in
Britain came from Burton. Breweries built their own railway lines connecting
with the railway companies’ links. In 1890 there were 87 miles of track and
private sidings in Burton which were used by both breweries and other firms
within the town. 25 ale trains left Burton every day and 100,000 tons of barley
came in by rail between September and February each year. There were 32 level
crossings in the town around this time.
Over the next 25 years or so there was a
steady decline in the number of breweries due to amalgamation and liquidation,
such that by 1914, only 16 remained occupying 19 sites. Between the wars beer
was still a popular drink and the now famous euphemism ‘Gone for a Burton’ was
coined allegedly from an advertisement for Burton beer, which depicted a group
of men which was obviously one person short, and the question was raised as to
his whereabouts to which the reply was ‘He’s gone for a Burton’. This was also
used in WW11 to infer that a missing comrade had nipped out for a pint.
Subsequently it has also come to mean dead or broken.
Even after WW11 when the Big 5 were Bass
Worthington, Ind Coope & Allsopp, Marston Thompson & Evershed, Truman Hanbury &
Buxton and Everards and the total number of breweries were countable on two
hands, the railway network still covered the town. There were still 29 level
crossings as late as 1962! The size limit for a train in the town was 15 wagons,
without a special permit, but shunting operations could cause delays of several
minutes for road users and pedestrians. A bell sounded before the crossing gates
were opened, usually manually from a signal box, although a few gates were
opened by hand.
The most visible locos around the 1940s
and 50s as I recall were those from Bass (Turkey red livery plus brass and
copper brightly polished) and Worthington (Dark blue livery – not quite so
flamboyant). Bass had 8 steam locos operating, the oldest being No. 7 which was
bought in 1875, rebuilt in 1899 and sold in 1963. Most were sold in 1963/64
although No. 9, bought in 1901 and which pulled the directors’ carriage on the
visit of King Edward VII to Burton in 1902, was presented to the Staffordshire
County Museum in 1967. It was returned to the Bass Museum in 1977.Worthington’s
6 steam locos were somewhat younger that the Bass engines, being mostly acquired
after 1900. 5 were renumbered Bass 12-16 around 1960 and also sold in 1963/64.
Bass No.9
loco at Bass Museum Horninglow St.
Diesel powered locos began to replace
steam at Bass from 1957 for general haulage although Worthington had used 40
h.p. petrol driven locos for shunting from the 1920s. These six were converted
to diesel in the 50s and renumbered Bass 17-22 in 1960. As transportation of
beer switched increasingly to the road, the need for the railway network
decreased, bulk tankers, tanker trailers and racked trailers for kegs were used,
even the grain arrived in bulk trailers carrying 20 tons apiece. Many crossings
became disused and by the end of the 60s all the locomotives had been sold and
almost all the crossings had been removed. The ‘Big 5’ now are Coors, Marstons
(Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries), Burton Bridge Brewery and two smaller
outfits. How things change!
Just a thought for the over forties:
As a lad in the early 1950s, I remember being told that it was impossible to
travel into the centre of Burton (market place) from outside the borough by road
without encountering a level crossing. I think that was true – unless you know
different. I have also enclosed a photo of Bass No.4 loco at the level
crossing in Station Street between Cross Street and Union Street in 1961. It’s
copyright John Turner at 53a Models at
www.bluediesels.co.uk where there are some 32 other images of Burton
brewery locos together with dozens of other industrial locos besides...... and
more.
