Gas board

Area gas boards

Company type	Nationalised companies (controlled by HM Government and reporting to the Ministry of Power)
Industry	Utilities
Predecessor	1812 (as the Gas Light and Coke Company and various others
Founded	1948 (by the Gas Act 1948)
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Area served	United Kingdom
Key people	Board members
Products	Gas

The area gas boards were created after the passing of the Gas Act 1948 by Clement Attlee's post-war Labour government.

History

In the early 1900s the gas market in the United Kingdom was mainly run by county councils and small private firms. At this time the use of an inflammable gas (often known as "town gas") piped to houses as a fuel was still being marketed to consumers, by such means as the National Gas Congress and Exhibition in 1913. The gas used in the 19th and early 20th centuries was coal gas but in the period 1967–77 British domestic coal gas supplies were replaced by natural gas.

In 1948 Clement Attlee's Labour government reshaped the gas industry, bringing in the Gas Act 1948. The act nationalised the UK gas industry and 1,064 privately owned and municipal gas companies were merged into twelve area gas boards each a separate body with its own management structure. Each area board was divided into geographical groups or divisions which were often further divided into smaller districts. These boards simply became known as the "Gas Board", a term people still use when referring to British Gas, the company that replaced the boards when the Gas Act 1972 was passed.

Gas Area Boards

No. on map Name of Area Board Coverage of area 1 Scottish Gas Board Scotland 2 Northern Gas Board Durham, Northumberland and parts of Cumberland, Westmorland and the North Riding of Yorkshire 3 North Western Gas Board Lancashire and parts of Cheshire, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Shropshire, Westmorland and the West Riding of Yorkshire 4 North-Eastern Gas Board The East Riding of Yorkshire and parts of the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire (including York) 5 Wales Gas Board Wales 6 West Midlands Gas Board Parts of Cheshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire (including Birmingham) and Worcestershire 7 East Midlands Gas Board Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Staffordshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire 8 South Western Gas Board Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Gloucestershire and parts of Berkshire, Devon, Herefordshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire 9 North Thames Gas Board Parts of the administrative County of London and of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Surrey 10 Eastern Gas Board Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely, Norfolk, the Soke of Peterborough, Suffolk and parts of Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex 11 Southern Gas Board Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Devon, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire 12 South Eastern Gas Board Kent, and parts of the administrative County of London and of Middlesex, Surrey and Sussex

Map of Gas Area Boards

The North-Eastern Gas Board carrying out work in Bradford, 1973