Duchess Wore Feathers Opens New Coke Ovens at Beckton - The Duchess of Kent wore this new and striking feathered hat fashion when she opened the new coke ovens of the gigantic Beckton, Essex, works of the Gas Light, and Coke Company. The ovens are part of an expansion scheme to cost at least eight million sterling. Within a few years it is hoped to complete the fifth battery, giving a daily output of gas sufficient to supply the needs of a small town for a year. November 04, 1948.