Transformer Explosion at Brookwood

On the afternoon of 24th July the pole-mounted transformer located in the grounds of the Brotherhood exploded spectacularly, emitting clouds of smoke and sparks, with a power that shook the house. Fortunately nobody was injured and engineers from UK Power Networks were on site within 30 minutes to investigate the damage to the high voltage cables.

Today the work was completed with new cables being laid underground and new connections at the top of the pole to replace the ones burnt out by the power surge. The cause of the explosion is unknown, but it is thought the Surrey Squirrel might have been responsible.

Thankfully, the damage to the electrical equipment in the Brotherhood wasn't as severe as could have been expected. The electrically operated guillotine in the bindery was damaged, but the computers and other printing equipment were unharmed.

A big thank you to the engineers from UK Power Networks who acted so promptly to make sure the area was safe and to return our supply with only a few hours outage.