Title
Central Electricity Generating Board Maps
Reference
2021-1664
Production date
01-04-1957 - 30-04-1958
Creator
- Central Electricity Generating BoardBiographyBiography
The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was formed under the 1957 Electricity Act, which brought about a reorganisation of the electricity supply industry in the United Kingdom. The aim of the act was to decentralise the industry, and the CEGB was one of two statutory bodies created by the Act.
Representatives from the CEGB worked with officers of the Electricity Council, the other statutory body established under the Act, to formulate general policy for the electricity supply industry.
The CEGB owned, operated and extended the network of power stations and main transmission lines that supplied electricity to the twelve Area Boards of England and Wales. It did not sell direct to customers except where specifically authorised by the Secretary of State for Energy. It did not operate in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
The 1989 Electricity Act enabled the sale of the industry to private shareholders. When the Act came into force on 31 March 1990, the CEGB was separated into the National Grid Company and two electricity generation companies, PowerGen and National Power. The CEGB was formally dissolved in 2001.
- George Philip LtdBiographyBiography
George Philip was a cartographer who established a bookseller’s and stationer’s shop in Liverpool during the 1840s. In 1848, his son George was admitted into the company as a partner and in 1851 creating the company name George Philip and Son. Philip's nephew Thomas joined the firm, becoming a partner in 1854. The company moved to London under the name George Philip & Son Ltd, where they sold geographical and educational publications. The creation of a new branch of the company, Philip, Son and Nephew, in 1859 focused upon retail book-selling and school supplies.
Further expansion of the business was enabled by the demand for school equipment and specialised maps and atlases, as the firm supplied these to schools in Australia and New Zealand.
Philip retired in 1879 and the business continued to be run by the family until 1988 when it was sold to the Octopus Publishing Co, where it continued to trade as George Philip Ltd. Hachette Livre acquired the group in 2001.
Scope and Content
Two maps published by George Philip & Son Ltd and the Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB). They were used by staff at British Telecoms (BT) and its predecessors.
The first map is titled 'Electricity Area Boards', and shows the England and Wales Area Boards pre-April 1957, at a scale of ten miles to one inch. The second map is entitled 'Central Electricity Generating Divisions' and shows these areas in England and Wales, giving the location of power stations, transmission lines etc. The second map is dated April 1958, and is a revision of a map first produced in April 1951. It is drawn at the same scale.
Extent
2 items
Physical description
The collection is in a good condition. The maps are large and are currently rolled.
Archival history
These maps were published by George Philip & Sons Ltd. They were acquired by the telecommunications division of the General Post Office, which later became BT. The LTR Drawing Office there included a library of maps, including these CEGB maps, which were part of the utilities holding. The donor was an employee of BT and its predecessors from 1968 - 2000. In 1987 he joined the Materials Management Unit (MMU) within BT’s London Region Headquarters, with a responsibility for finance and administration. The LTR Drawing Office was located on the same floor. The donor found the maps when in the mid 1990's, BT vacated the building and he had responsibility for carrying out a final sweep of the offices. Because he had an interest in maps, he took a selection of those left behind, which would otherwise been disposed of. The donor kept the maps in his home from around 1995, until he donated them to the museum in 2021.
Level of description
TOP
Repository name
Science and Industry Museum
Associated people and organisations
- British TelecomBiographyBiography
British Telecom (BT) is the name used by the world’s oldest telecommunications company between 1980 and 1984.
The company's origins date back to the establishment of the first telecommunications companies in the United Kingdom. Among them was the first commercial telegraph service, the Electric Telegraph Company, introduced in 1846. As these companies amalgamated and were taken over or collapsed, the survivors were eventually transferred to state control under the Post Office. The telecommunications side of the organisation became known as Post Office Telecommunications.
In 1980 the organisation was again renamed, becoming British Telecom.
In 1982 the UK government announced its intention to privatise British Telecom. This decision was implemented on 6 August 1984, when the business became a privatised company, British Telecommunications plc - the forerunner of today’s global communications company, BT Group plc, which serves customers in 170 countries.
Conditions governing access
Open access.
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions.
Related object
System of arrangement
The items have been arranged in chronological order.
