More money than sense...

Air head

THERE was a degree of risk involved in being butler to Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Thorneycroft, owner of magnificent Tettenhall Towers, Wolverhampton. He threw a couple of them off the roof to test the effectiveness of his most elaborate invention, the flying machine.

The terrifying trial runs proved two things – the flying machine wasn’t terribly effective and butlers don’t land feet-first.

That was the problem with the many madcap inventions assembled by Thorneycroft (1822-1903). They were extreme, not needed, not wanted and downright dangerous.

Thorneycroft was a fresh air fanatic and installed 60 air pumps and ventilators in Tettenhall Towers. That work spawned yet another hare-brained scheme.

The Lieutenant Colonel travelled to London, convinced he’d make a fortune by pumping air from the coast into city homes.

He was deluded and his Fresh Air Joint Stock Company failed to gain a single customer.

Rather than sea air, he was saddled with the stench of failure – and not for the first time.

Unabashed, Thorneycroft patented a new chimney. The population, and fire service, did not share his excitement for the 10-foot plumes of flame that shot from the structure, created by a system of mechanical draughts.

Thorneycroft will never be recognised as a pioneer of flight for good reason. Frankly, even the eternal optimist had doubts about the effectiveness of his latest invention. That’s why he got his butlers to don home-made wings and jump off the roof.

As a leap of faith, it was misguided. The Admiralty also snubbed his plan to place steam-guns, capable of firing scalding gas jets, on warships, but, in fairness, the father-of-nine’s sprung dancefloors did catch on, and so did his heated shoe boxes.

In 1943, Tettenhall Towers was purchased by Tettenhall College. They no longer throw people off the roof.