Photographic collection 

The National Gas Archive has a unique photographic collection comprising almost 500,000 images. This forms an excellent documentary record of the gas industry in the UK, with images ranging from 19th-century gas showrooms through to exploration and production activities in the North Sea in the 1990s.

Arrangement of the collection

The photographic collection is organised geographically by the 12 regions (or Area Gas Boards) that came into being as a result of the 1948 Gas Act.

• Photographs prior to 1948 (pre-nationalisation), arranged according to the 1,064 individual gas undertakings that existed at this time; and
• Photographs post-1948 arranged according to the 12 regions.

All 12 regions are represented within the overall collection, although some collections are more comprehensive than others. The overall collection contains images illustrating the many different facets of the gas industry. Image categories include:

• Technical (includes all distribution and production photos).
• Aerial and general views of gasworks sites.
• Gas industry personnel.
• Transport.
• Gas appliances and retail (includes photos of showrooms, displays, etc).
• Equipment used in the industry (tools, machinery, etc).

We have started the process of digitising our photographic collection and, where images have been transferred, we can search on keywords including location and subject matter.

Library and supporting collections

The archive holds a large supporting collection (printed, published material) relevant to the gas industry, including:

• An extensive reference library of books covering technical, commercial and organisational aspects of the gas industry through the 19th and 20th-centuries.
• A collection of gas-related Acts of Parliament & Statutory Orders, including those relating to the setting up of many of the individual gas undertakings, and to local authorities. These include sections relating to gas supply and legislation for the overall control and regulation of the gas industry in specific areas of the country.
• Commemorative booklets issued by gas undertakings for anniversaries, work openings, etc. Such material often contains historical information, pictures and works plans.
• Bound Transactions of the Institution of Gas Engineers, District Gas Managers Associations and Junior Gas Associations and an extensive library of papers presented to those organisations by members and other individuals since their inauguration. 
• Bound volumes of technical periodicals such as the Gas Journal, The Gas World, Gas Times and annual year books and directories associated with such publications.
• A collection of in-house magazines for some of the larger undertakings pre-nationalisation and from regions post-nationalisation.
• A large film and video collection, including films produced by the Gas Council, the British Commercial Gas Association and British Gas Corporation, for which we hold copyright.

The archive is run in partnership with the North West Gas Historical Society. Income received from searches is re-invested in the preservation and digitisation services provided by the society.

Remote search rates

• Short enquiries, such as the purchase of electronic copies of documents already digitised: £5
• For each additional 15-minute search: £7.50
• Enquiries taking up to 30 minutes of staff time, such as a search for specific information or scanning a small number of documents from our collection: £15
• In-depth research: £25 per hour

(Payable to North West Gas Historical Society)

- Commercial film rates 

Five-year agreement, minimum use 30 seconds

• UK network transmission, including time-limited internet streaming: £6 per second (i.e. £180 + VAT).
• Worldwide transmission £12 per second.

(Payable to North West Gas Historical Society)