31-607: The Rolls-Royce RB.23 Welland was Britain 's first production jet engine . It entered production in 1943 for the Gloster Meteor . The name Welland is taken from the River Welland , in keeping with the Rolls-Royce policy of naming early jet engines after rivers based on the idea of continuous flow, air through the engine and water in a river. The engine was originally developed by Frank Whittle 's team at Power Jets and known as
62-411: A "dairy farm"). The town is known locally as Barlick. A Cistercian monastery was founded here in 1147, by monks from Fountains Abbey . However, they left after six years, before construction was complete, driven out by crop failures and locals unhappy at their interference in the affairs of the local church. They went on to build Kirkstall Abbey . They returned after another ten years to build
93-534: A few weeks earlier, was rated at 1,984 lbf (8.83 kN), but required overhaul after 10–20 hours. Flying from RAF Manston near the English Channel, 616 Squadron first saw action against the V-1 flying bombs en route to London on 27 July 1944. From October 1943 a total of 167 Wellands were dispatched from the Rolls-Royce facility at Barnoldswick. By this point, Adrian Lombard's straight-through design, which became
124-490: A total of 32 W.2B/23 engines to Rolls-Royce as well as four "straight-through" W.2B/26 engines, developed by Rover's Adrian Lombard . The W.2B/23 became the RB.23 Welland and the W.2B/26 became the RB.26 Derwent . Adrian Lombard moved with the engines from Rover to Rolls-Royce. Stanley Hooker helped in the task of ironing out the remaining problems, and things soon improved. A flight-quality /23
155-516: Is served by four primary schools; Gisburn Road, Church School and Coates Lane, whilst St. Joseph's caters to the town's Catholic population. Most secondary age students attend West Craven High School , a Technology specialist school situated in Barnoldswick itself, though a significant minority of students attend Ss John Fisher and Thomas More Roman Catholic High School and Park High School in Colne, and
186-446: The W.2 , Whittle's second design and the first intended for eventual production. Power Jets was working with Rover who referred to it as the W.2B/23 . The relationship between the companies was strained due to Rover's inability to deliver working parts, and broke when Whittle learned that a team of Rover engineers led by Adrian Lombard and John Herriot had designed their own version, the W.2B/26 . Fed up with Whittle, Rover handed
217-614: The Ribble and Aire valleys, Barnoldswick is the highest town on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal , lying on the summit level of the canal between Barrowford Locks to the south west and Greenberfield Locks just north east of the town. Barnoldswick lies very near the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . Stock Beck , a tributary of
248-597: The Rolls-Royce Derwent with higher thrust ratings, and Welland-equipped Meteors were either re-engined or retired. The W.2 was a larger version of Whittle's original design, the Whittle Supercharger Type W.1 , or W.1, which flew in 1941 in the Gloster E. 28/39 experimental testbed aircraft. The centrifugal compressor used a double-sided impeller . Both engines used Whittle's "reverse flow" design, in which
279-637: The Rolls-Royce Derwent , had proved more reliable and produced more thrust, and production of the Welland ended. Data from UK">Britain The requested page title contains unsupported characters : ">". Return to Main Page . Barnoldswick Barnoldswick (pronounced / b ɑːr ˈ n ɒ l d z w ɪ k / ) is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Pendle , Lancashire , England. It lies within
310-588: The administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire. Until 1974, post used to be addressed via Colne , Lancashire, to addresses in Barnoldswick. Following the Local Government Act 1972 , Barnoldswick and a number of surrounding Yorkshire villages, including Earby and Kelbrook , were transferred to the Borough of Pendle in the Non-metropolitan county of Lancashire in 1974. On 1 April 2023,
341-590: The combustion chambers were placed around the turbine to produce a shorter engine. This required the heated air to flow forward before reversing its direction to pass through the single-stage axial-flow turbine. For the W.2, the impeller was 19 inches (480 mm) in diameter and there were ten combustion chambers. The front face of the turbine disc was cooled with air drawn in by an auxiliary fan. The engine weighed about 850 pounds (390 kilograms). The first examples produced by Rover had serious problems with surging and turbine blade failures. Maurice Wilks eliminated
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#1732848396110372-463: The (now closed) railway , spurred the development of the existing woollen industry, and helped it to become a major cotton town. The engine of the last mill to be built in Barnoldswick, Bancroft Mill , has been preserved and is now open as a tourist attraction – a 600 hp steam engine, which is still operational. On the lower slopes of Weets Hill in the Pennines , astride the natural watershed between
403-724: The River Ribble, runs through the town. Barnoldswick was an ancient parish in Staincliffe Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire (although Blackburnshire in Lancashire sometimes claimed the area). The parish included the townships of Brogden with Admergill , Coates and Salterforth , all of which became separate civil parishes in 1866. The civil parish of Coates rejoined the parish of Barnoldswick in 1923. From 1894 until 1974, Barnoldswick formed an urban district within
434-809: The UK. Reheat development had started at the National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE) in 1943. When the V-1 attacks started on London in 1944 flight tests were done using a Welland engine in a Meteor I. The attacks finished before the reheat could be used in action. Production of the Meteor continued, with EF211 to 229 and 230 through 244 entering service No. 616 Squadron RAF in May 1944. The Wellands were rated at 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN), with 180 hours between overhauls. The Jumo 004B , which entering service only
465-605: The boundaries of the historic West Riding of Yorkshire . It is situated 30 miles (48 km) from Leeds and 50 miles (80 km) from Lancaster ; nearby towns include Skipton to the east, Clitheroe to the west, Burnley to the south and Keighley to the east-south-east. The civil parish has a population of 10,752. Barnoldswick dates back to Anglo Saxon times. It was listed in the Domesday Book as Bernulfesuuic , meaning "Bernulf's Town" ( –uuic being an archaic spelling of –wick , meaning "settlement", in particular,
496-478: The civil parish of Bracewell and Brogden was abolished and its territory added to Barnoldswick. At present, Barnoldswick has a town council and forms part of the West Craven Area Committee on Pendle Borough Council. In 2014, Eliza Mowe celebrated 10 years as one of only 20 female town criers in the country. The Member of Parliament for Pendle and Clitheroe , the constituency into which
527-445: The engine took place on 9 August 1942, fitted in the tail of a Vickers Wellington bomber. Whittle was constantly frustrated by Rover. He thought that there was an inability to deliver production-quality parts, and became increasingly vocal with his complaints. Whittle accused Rover of "tampering" with the design of the engine in order to avoid patent fees and enable Rover to claim the design as their own, whilst Rover's development work
558-565: The first production Meteor Mk.1, Serial number EE210/G , (the "/G" signifying "Guard", meaning that the aircraft was to have an armed guard at all times while on the ground). It was test flown by Daunt on 12 January 1944. This Meteor was then sent to the US in exchange for a General Electric J31 (Power Jets W.1) powered Bell XP-59A Airacomet , RG362/G . The Meteor was first flown at Muroc Army Airfield by John Grierson on 15 April. Several test flights followed, and by December it had been shipped back to
589-516: The isolated Church of St Mary-le-Ghyll close to the road between Barnoldswick and Thornton in Craven . At the same time, William de Percy II, feudal baron of Topcliffe , granted Crooks House in the northern part of the Bracewell area to the monks who founded Sawley Abbey . For hundreds of years, Barnoldswick remained a small village. However, the arrival of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal , and later
620-419: The job creation for the town. Barnoldswick lies on the bus routes between Skipton and Burnley and between Skipton and Clitheroe/Preston, operated by Burnley Bus Company and Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire respectively. On Sundays, there is a service from Burnley to Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales National Park that passes through the town. Barnoldswick railway station formerly served
651-445: The longest ever strike, from 1985 to 1987. Rolls-Royce plc is a large employer based in the town. It was originally Bankfield Shed, a cotton weaving mill that Rover used to produce the production version of Whittle's gas turbine and was purchased by Rolls-Royce in 1943. The model number of many Rolls-Royce jet engines start with the initials RB (e.g. RB199 ) which stands for Rolls Barnoldswick, as Rolls-Royce aero's design centre
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#1732848396110682-460: The mill and create a local apprenticeship scheme. Put in place by Manchester-based property developers, Capital & Centric Plc the scheme would involve construction of a new factory, and a medium-sized supermarket. The plans were approved over two other competing schemes in August 2012, the council citing that, in addition to adhering with planning policy, the site on Harley was favoured, because of
713-730: The project along. Eventually, in early 1943, Spencer Wilks of Rover met Hives and Hooker for a dinner at the Swan & Royal Hotel , Clitheroe . By mutual agreement between the Minister of Aircraft Production and the Boards of Rover and Rolls-Royce, the Rover jet factory at Barnoldswick was exchanged for the Rolls-Royce Meteor tank engine factory in Nottingham. A handshake sealed the deal. Rover handed over
744-439: The project to Rolls-Royce , where Stanley Hooker joined the team from Rolls' supercharger division. Hooker's experience in the design of centrifugal superchargers, along with improved metals and combustion systems, put the engine back on track and it soon entered production. The Welland was used only for a short time. Hooker continued development of the W.2B/26, which featured an improved layout. This soon entered production as
775-622: The surging by adding a 20-vane diffuser to the compressor. J.P. Herriot of the Air Inspection Department (A.I.D.) was sent to Rover to provide improved turbine materials, and the engine passed a 25-hour test at 1,250 lbf (5.6 kN) in November 1942. Meanwhile, the prototype Gloster F.9/40, soon to be known as the Meteor, was ready for flight, although the engines were not. Taxi tests were started by test pilot Gerry Sayer while waiting for flight-quality engines. The first flight-test of
806-551: The town and distribute all their stoves through a close link of specialist stove retailers. Barnoldswick is also home to Silentnight Beds, the United Kingdom's largest manufacturer of beds and mattresses. Silentnight , part of the Silentnight Group, has its head office and manufacturing premises in the town. Silentnight is noteworthy in trade union history (in this case Furniture, Timber and Allied Trades Union ) as having
837-480: The town falls, is Jonathan Hinder ( Labour) , who was first elected in 2024. Since 1854, Barnoldswick has been the home of Esse stoves , one of the country's oldest standing stove manufacturers. The company have manufactured in the town since 1854 and clients have included Florence Nightingale , Shackleton and Scott , Alan Hinkes and River Cottage . Esse have their head office at the Ouzledale Factory in
868-791: The town, on the Midland Railway 's branch line off the Skipton to Colne line, though this was closed under the Beeching Axe in 1965; the pressure group SELRAP is campaigning for the reopening of the latter line. At present, would-be rail passengers must travel via Skipton for trains serving North and West Yorkshire or via Colne/ Clitheroe for trains serving Lancashire; services are operated by Northern Trains . The nearest airports are Leeds Bradford (40 minutes by road or about two hours by public transport) and Manchester (about 1¼ hours by road or about three hours by public transport). Barnoldswick
899-496: Was fitted to a Gloster G.40 , an updated version of the E.28 that had flown the W.1, and was flown by John Grierson on 1 March 1943. Starting in April, the ratings had been improved to 1,526 lbf (6.79 kN) thrust, and achieved 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN) on 7 May 1943. The prototype F.9/40 was finally fitted with 1,700 lbf (7.6 kN) engines and was flown by Michael Daunt on 24 July 1943. Two Wellands were installed in
930-413: Was proceeding at a slow pace. Rover was losing interest in the project after the delays and constant harassment from Whittle. Earlier, in 1940, Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce had met Whittle, and later introduced him to Ernest Hives . Rolls-Royce had a fully developed supercharger division, which Hooker directed, and which was naturally suited to jet engine work. Hives agreed to supply key parts to help
961-401: Was situated in Barnoldswick. Hope Technology , a manufacturer of mountain bike parts such as disc brakes, hubs, and headsets, is based in Barnoldswick. Albert Hartley Textiles is the last remaining textiles mill in the town and is a big employer for the local area. Originally, there were thirteen mills in the town, the last being constructed in 1920. There are currently plans to renovate