Sign from the side of a Gas Holder in Salford

Sign from the side of a gas holder in Salford, listing the nominal capacity of the gas holder. Inscription: 'Salford No. 4 Holder'. From the Salford site bounded by West Egerton Street, Liverpool Street, and Regent Road, demolished in 2018.

This sign shows the name and capacity of the holder. It is from the gas holder site in Salford, erected in 1878. The site was made famous by The Pogues song ‘Dirty old town’ (1969), written by Ewan Maccoll.

The first gas holder was invented in 1824 and built in Leeds. They were designed to store large volumes of ‘town gas’ (coal gas) to satisfy the increasing demand. By the early 20th century nearly every town in the UK had one. By around 2040 they will have largely disappeared from our landscape. Today, we use natural gas pipelines.