The Siren Board

Today, we visited the Devil’s Porridge Museum in Eastriggs, Scotland, to see the siren on display there which was recently posted in the UK Siren Map topic by user ‘al66class59’. In the picture that was included in the post, the siren looked to be in relatively OK condition, however evidently this photo was taken quite a while ago, as now the siren is pretty overgrown. It is speculated to be a Castle Castings siren (which I foolishly challenged, only to be proved wrong), and I was hoping to confirm this when I visited the siren via a company logo or tag, however I couldn’t find anything on the siren itself apart from the motor manufacturer information plate, which I took a picture of. I couldn’t properly see my tablet’s screen when taking the photos due to the sunlight, so the photos didn’t turn out too beautifully, but I’m fairly sure you can see most of the key details still. I also attempted to transcribe the weathered motor manufacturers plate, which I will write here. Any ‘~’s signify gaps due to illegible lettering.

B.S. 5000 ~~~~~~~.G. Motor
Brook C~~~~omp~~~~~on
Parkinson Motors
HUDDERSFIELD ENGLAND
HAWKER(?) SIDDELEY

FRAME: DNV100LH
SERIAL NO.: B340457
OUTPUT kW: 3.7
REV/MIN: 2850
V.: 400-440
A.: 7.0
Hz: 50
PHASE: 3
RATING: 34.15%
DESIGN: IP55
INSI~~~: 6

I think that this most likely is a Castle Castings as ‘al66class59’ said.
I also took a picture of my small 3D-printed table-grinder siren next to it to get a sense of scale (obviously this only works properly if you have seen in-person my siren). Before I left I tried to scoop out most of the moss, dirt and general rubble that had built up in the choppers. Heck, there was even some grass growing through it. The rotors appear to be able to spin relatively freely, however they are tied to the stator to prevent movement, but I could still turn them a small amount, and they appeared to still turn with minimal effort. The de-icing heaters really need some work, as they are mostly hanging off and the wires are in terrible condition.

I also had a very nice chat with a chap called David, who is an electrical engineer. He told me quite a bit about the motor and in turn I told him about the way the siren works, helping me analyse the siren’s condition. He also told me that he thought that there is a siren of some description near Dixon’s Chimney in Carlisle, which I will investigate further. Anyway, this siren seems to be restorable due it mostly only having light damage, so hopefully the museum will decide to do this at some point.

Thanks for reading,
-205664

Eclipse DDS wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 4:54 pm

Today, we visited the Devil’s Porridge Museum in Eastriggs, Scotland, to see the siren on display there which was recently posted in the UK Siren Map topic by user ‘al66class59’. In the picture that was included in the post, the siren looked to be in relatively OK condition, however evidently this photo was taken quite a while ago, as now the siren is pretty overgrown. It is speculated to be a Castle Castings siren (which I foolishly challenged, only to be proved wrong), and I was hoping to confirm this when I visited the siren via a company logo or tag, however I couldn’t find anything on the siren itself apart from the motor manufacturer information plate, which I took a picture of. I couldn’t properly see my tablet’s screen when taking the photos due to the sunlight, so the photos didn’t turn out too beautifully, but I’m fairly sure you can see most of the key details still. I also attempted to transcribe the weathered motor manufacturers plate, which I will write here. Any ‘~’s signify gaps due to illegible lettering.

B.S. 5000 ~~~~~~~.G. Motor
Brook C~~~~omp~~~~~on
Parkinson Motors
HUDDERSFIELD ENGLAND
HAWKER(?) SIDDELEY

I can precisely date my photo of this siren, in the UK Siren Map topic, to 25 May 2021.

Label would've said (to fill in some gaps) BS5000 Part (numbers) A.C. Motor | Brook Crompton Parkinson |HAWKER SIDDELEY.

Still no idea if it's CC or Carter, and my investigations continue...

al66class59 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 11:53 pm

Eclipse DDS wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 4:54 pm

Today, we visited the Devil’s Porridge Museum in Eastriggs, Scotland, to see the siren on display there which was recently posted in the UK Siren Map topic by user ‘al66class59’. In the picture that was included in the post, the siren looked to be in relatively OK condition, however evidently this photo was taken quite a while ago, as now the siren is pretty overgrown. It is speculated to be a Castle Castings siren (which I foolishly challenged, only to be proved wrong), and I was hoping to confirm this when I visited the siren via a company logo or tag, however I couldn’t find anything on the siren itself apart from the motor manufacturer information plate, which I took a picture of. I couldn’t properly see my tablet’s screen when taking the photos due to the sunlight, so the photos didn’t turn out too beautifully, but I’m fairly sure you can see most of the key details still. I also attempted to transcribe the weathered motor manufacturers plate, which I will write here. Any ‘~’s signify gaps due to illegible lettering.

B.S. 5000 ~~~~~~~.G. Motor
Brook C~~~~omp~~~~~on
Parkinson Motors
HUDDERSFIELD ENGLAND
HAWKER(?) SIDDELEY

I can precisely date my photo of this siren, in the UK Siren Map topic, to 25 May 2021.

Label would've said (to fill in some gaps) BS5000 Part (numbers) A.C. Motor | Brook Crompton Parkinson |HAWKER SIDDELEY.

Still no idea if it's CC or Carter, and my investigations continue...

Ah, thanks for the information. By the way, in the museum it just called it ‘an air raid siren’, so that wasn’t all too helpful…
I’m really interested to find out what this could be!

It kinda looks like a Klaxon GP-series to me, although I'm saying that without any certainity whatsoever.

Darley Champion wrote: ↑

Wed May 31, 2023 1:45 pm

It kinda looks like a Klaxon GP-series to me, although I'm saying that without any certainity whatsoever.

You know, I did think that it looked a bit like a Klaxon, but this helpful post on the UK Siren Map thread explained how it probably couldn’t be one:

https://www.airraidsirens.net/forums/vi ... 63#p218663

Thanks again user ‘al66class59’

Especially given the Klaxon designs are just rebranded Secomaks, there's basically no chance it's a GP8 (no chamfers, base a different shape etc) and it's too small for a GP12.

Ah well.. Forget what I said then.. (I really need to get new glasses) I'm honestly just as stumped as to what this siren might be.

Darley Champion wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 07, 2023 9:32 pm

Ah well.. Forget what I said then.. (I really need to get new glasses) I'm honestly just as stumped as to what this siren might be.

Yeah, it really is an interesting case. Can anyone confirm what time period it’s from?

Just uploaded my recording of the Chapelcross Ex-Nuclear Power Station if anyone is interested
https://youtu.be/V7T-Mp0nnV8
Now, is it just me, or does there seem to be more than one siren in the audio? There are some smaller, high-pitched sirens at the start, but there also seems to be another larger one winding up with the main siren. Then again, it may just be the resonance or echo of the main GP6. The guy I spoke to did call it the 'MAIN site Klaxon', which made me think that there could be another siren elsewhere?

That thing is vastly underpowered! It should sound more like this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq85Qw5kz2E (this is one in Kirkby, Merseyside)

As for testing times, is 5pm something the staff told you? Just wondering if this website is out of date before I potentially go record an ambience in future (https://magnoxstakeholdergroups.com/site/chapelcross/)