Introduction

This engine was used to power all the machinery at the Hovis Mill in Macclesfield from 1924 until 1954. At this time the mill produced Hovis baking tins, flour bags and even advertisements — everything in fact apart from flour. Hovis first printed its famous advertisements at the Macclesfield Mill in 1895. Engineers were always looking for ways of making steam engines more efficient. This engine's design meant that it was more powerful than other engines which used the same amount of fuel. Its very high speed produced a very efficient flow of steam.

History

This engine, built by Galloways Ltd of Manchester, was one of the most efficient of its time. It was capable of ten times the speed of a beam engine. The engine ran the entire Hovis Mill for ten hours a day, including the machinery for making paper bags, printing advertisements and producing baking tins. It also drove two generators, one for lighting and the other for the coach building department. Enormous quantities of goods were produced. In 1931, ten paper bag making machines were turning out two million bags a week. One hundred million advertisements of all kinds were produced annually.

Hovis flour began life as 'Smith's Patent Germ Flour', patented by Richard Smith, in 1887. It was marketed by S. Fitton and Son of Macclesfield who launched a competition to find a new name for their increasingly popular bread. The winner was Mr Herbert Grimes, a London student, who came up with the name Hovis. 'Hovis' comes from the Latin 'hominis vis', meaning the strength of man. Hovis flour first went on sale in 1890. Hovis have never baked a single loaf of bread — the flour and the baking tins still need to be bought from the company today.

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