Evan Thomas Lamp Rhondda
The 18th and 19th Centuries were an era of almost unimaginable technological and scientific development in the western world, and Britain in particular was a hothouse of innovation, change and development. Steam powered technology led the charge, and advances in metal work, engineering and production brought factories, railways, canals and new industries to the country. Within a few short decades the country had moved from agriculture to industrial production, and people flocked to the cities chasing the promise of better wages and new jobs.
The Evan Thomas Lamp
Rhondda locals likely know that the steam powered technology that drove most of the new innovations in the western industrial era required huge amounts of coal, and the coal mining industry grew quickly in South Wales, Scotland and across the Lancashire coal field and the North of England. The demand for more coal drove miners deeper into the earth, and their job became more and more dangerous as they dug. New technologies raced to catch up, and engineers in various parts of the country raced to find safe lamp designs for lighting, better equipment and safer ways of engineering the mine shafts. One of the most important developments of the era for miners was the Evan Thomas Lamp. Rhondda residents will likely recognize the Evan Thomas lamp, as the clever invention was invented nearby, and it came to save the lives of many miners in the local area.
The Importance of the Evan Thomas Lamp
Rhondda residents likely know that one of the many dangers for miners in the pits was invisible gases known by various terms, but generally referred to as ‘damp’, that could collect in shafts and caverns. Open flamed light sources like a gas lamp or even a spark could ignite these flammable gases causing sudden terrible explosions. In the early 1800s various inventors came up with safety lamp designs that protected the open flame from ignition while still allowing it to illuminate safely. These early models were temperamental at best and easily damaged in the cramped, dangerous workspace in a mineshaft. Evan Thomas, an engineer and ironmonger set up a lamp making business in Aberdare, and soon was producing the patented ‘Evan Thomas Type No. 7 Lamp’. It was almost universally accepted as an advancement on the earlier models and soon the Evan Thomas lamp Rhondda will recognize was being used in mines up and down the country.
In time, the Evan Thomas lamp Rhondda residents are so proud of was being used anywhere men needed to work in hazardous conditions, and the Evan Thomas lamp is still being produced today to use in dangerous conditions by the same company, E. Thomas and Williams Limited! An example of their incredible Evan Thomas lamp is displayed in the London Design Centre, and the British navy still order the Evan Thomas lamp to use as an emergency back up in the reactor room of their nuclear submarines.
For more information on the Evan Thomas lamp Rhondda is famous for, get in touch with the firm today.
