Crofton Pumping Station

On Monday we walked down the flight to Crofton Pumping Station. As it was a Bank Holiday they were in steam. They don’t open until 10 30 am and we arrived about quarter passed so we chatted with some of the volunteers by the entrance. I think they do very well manning for steaming days as they need a minimum of 12 to run safely, let alone run the cafe, BBQ, shop etc.As they let the fire out at night and clean it the next morning before relighting it,  they didn’t have full steam up when they first opened  and were only just starting the first Beam Engine the oldest one by some 30 years. Until the engine is running smoothly at the correct speed the valves are opened manually in the correct order and timing to start the engine running in what is known as |The Cornish Cycle.

Not only is this building home to this old boiler it is also home to a family of Swallows who have nested up in the rafters right above the boiler. I wouldn’t be surprised if they think twice about emigrating at the end of the summer with a centrally heated nest. Once it is running correctly the valves operate automatically to keep the engine rocking. It is interesting to see the changes that took place in the development of the engine in those 30 years, lots of things are much lighter, even the beam weighs in at 4 tons less. The other thing of note is that they had moved on from 4 sided square nuts to 6 sided hexangular ones like we use today

All the stationary engines were running when we arrived including a generator from a boat with its own switchgear.Another engine of note was one where the oscillating cylinder one where the main cylinder rocked back and forth meaning there was no requirement for a joint in the conrod where it joins the piston, this is the same set up that was used on the engine of the SS Great Britain.(the one with a red frame)At the top of the stares is an old clock, this was originally installed in the top of a warehouse at Honeystreet . It is said to be built of old agricultural bits and pieces and is slightly temperamental having once chimed 50 but now keeps good time. A visit to the pump house takes you to all parts of the building including the cylinder head floor which houses the top of the cylinders and the valve chests which are operated by the valve gear on the floor below.

There is also a set of old tools which were made specifically for this engine.

Each beam lifts a 5 stage pump from the well below the pump house, although they are both the same size they are of different construction, No.1 is a Bolton and Watt and is a straight lift pump where as No.2 is a Harvey pressure pump using a 6.25 ton weight. each stroke discharges  a ton of water so it is lifting a column of water weighing 5 tons. The reason for starting the oldest pump first is that the water from it is used to prime the number 2 pump. Both pumps discharge their water out of the back of the pump house where it flows over a series of weirs  and along a channel to the top of the lock flight where it discharges back into the canal to keep the summit topped up before the days of the modern electric pumps. The outlet of the channel can be seen on the far side of the canal, quite reedy but still clear enough to allow the water to flow out.

 As we walked back to the boat I spotted these metal fence posts in a field, they have built in tensioners to tighten the fence wire and look quite ornate, so different to a modern post which is banged in without even a chamfer to run the water off the end grain.

Even the old field gate is ornate with scowled top iron on the top corners. 

 The Crofton Pump house is run by a branch of the Kennet and Avon Trust and there is much more information about the pumps on the Crofton Beam Engine web site

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bristol

As some of you may know we spent a couple of nights moored in Bristol Harbour, unfortunately the weather was not on our side with strong winds and rain which somewhat curtailed our cruise around the harbour.

We did however spend a bit of time looking round Brunel's SS Great Britain. She now sits in the dry dock where she was originally built where she is being conserved not restored. One of the clever things the conservers have done is to cover the dry-dock in glass at the ships waterline completely seal it to the hull and then flood it on top with just a few inches of water so it looks as if the ship is floating.

Below the water line the dry-dock is kept at a constant 40% humidity as this is the best atmospheric condition to prevent further corrosion of the hull which is now very bad in places. This is achieved by having a large dehumidifier in the dry-dock which blows warm, dry air under the hull via large  metal pipes.

When you visit the boat you start off after crossing the dockyard by going through an air lock and down stairs to the floor of the dry-dock, where you can wander all round the bottom of the hull. The SS Great Britain was changed quite a bit over her lifetime but the museum has tried as far as possible to show the ship as she was when first launched. This has meant building and fitting a new propeller and rudder, as one of the modifications made to her was to fit a retractable propeller that could be drawn up unto the hull for when she was sailing to reduce drag. This meant also replacing the rudder, Brunel had designed a balanced rudder which reducer the amount of force required to make the boat turn.

The boat was also re-rigged to back how she was originally, as later in her life her steam engine was removed completely freeing up space for cargo and she relied 100% of sails for motive power so her rigging was changed. 

There is another giant dehumidifier inside the boat to maintain the 40% inside the boat, Cabins have been refurnished as have the main dining area. This really was First Class travel for the rich. There was also steerage class which was a completely different kettle of fish.

 

In the rigging yard outside is one of her spars, this is not timber but also made or iron.

  

One of the good things about this visit was that your tickets are valid for 12 months so you are free to come and visit as often as you like in the year. I think you could easily spend a full day there, but it would be a lot to take in in one go, but allow at least half a day for a visit.

We also visited the M Shed which is a large museum housed in one of the dock warehouses, this was free entry and covered two floors with some interesting exhibits.

If you have children with you, we had the grandson and friend for one day then a day in “at Bristol” is the answer. They will just love doing all the activities in there, from a demonstration of the listening machines that were erected on the south coast during the war to listen for enemy planes to building with giant Lego.

Eating out and you really are spoilt for choice we had one very good and reasonably expensive meal in the Bristol Hotel who’s WiFi I was able to receive on the boat and another at Bristol Beer Emporium where the dining room is actually in the cellar which is all brick, this makes it quite noisy when there are a lot of people in there.

Walking around the town there are some interesting old streets, one of these is Christmas Steps

The detailing on the building was very good both the brickwork and the stone carvings 

At the top of the steps there are a row of Alms Houses which end on to Christmas Steps. 

We did wander around other parts of the town including visiting Bristol Cathedral which is quite  grand building and very welcoming with someone by the door to greet you and give out a leaflet about the different parts of the building.

For some reason Bristol decided it wanted a floating garden, I am not sure why as it has lots of space for conventional ones, but they found an old concrete grain barge and put a load of soil on it before planting native flowers on it and mooring it well up the harbour away from the normal footfall. I think it is only accessible by boat  I don’t know if its been quietly forgotten about as it doesn’t look anything like the pictures on the web site show for last April.

Devizes

We have spent a short time in Devises which has been enjoyable in the sunshine. We took the Wadsworth brewery tour which included a visit to the sign writers shop, all the Wadsworth pub signs are still hand painted, no vinyl lettering or photos. There Coopers workshop, although they don’t have their own master cooper they employ a freelance one as required the do have a workshop and staff to repair their wooden barrels, this was followed to a trip to the stables to see their two Shire horses, I have never met such a friendly horse ever before, he just loves attention, like a great big dog. Of course the tour ends in their bar for sampling the product.

We also visited the Parish Church which was an interesting place as it has some drawings of the green man in it which of course was a pagan symbol for fertility. The town is absolutely full of interesting buildings that have a blue plaque on them. These are put up buy The Trust for Devizes and are paid for from money left to the trust by one of the council surveyors. There is more information on these buildings Here 

There are also a set of medieval town trail plaques in lots of the old streets and a leaflet about these is available from the Tourist Information Office

The local canoe club were very active in the bright sunny weather but I am not sure the water was that warn, however some of them did end up in the water and you can see a couple here standing on top of their canoes. That is only going to end one way.

This week Devizes are hosting a food festival and today was the first day with a food market, One of the things on offer was Devizes cheesecake which is suppose to be baked to a secret receipt only know in Devizes, but it looks as if someone told Google. They were selling it at £2 a slice at lunchtime, but when we passed again at half four it had dropped to 4 slices for a pound. That wont help the diet much.

Devizes is also home to the Wiltshire Museum, its not over large but it is very well laid out with some good exhibits. The museum building itself has been there since 1873. Some of their exhibits include gold from Stonehenge and stone age tools.

 

 

Bath day 3

We were in town a little after 11 am and headed straight to the Roman Baths, no queue, so a good result. One advantage of getting older is you get in places a bit cheaper, in this case £11.75 each.

The whole thing is very well laid out with a free audio guide. The route zigzags back and forth and up and down so you see things from several angles. 

 Like the room above, it is viewed from both ends.

You must remember this was not just a hot bath but also a temple covering quite an area.

You enter the baths on the terrace level and walk round the top of the main bath before going inside and working your way downwards. Here there are some very good models of what the complex use to be like, it has been built over many times since Roman days. The domed roof part is what houses the main pool with all the rest now covered by buildings and streets, Even today there is a lot more underground than open to the elements like the heated room where the floor was suspended on tiles.

You eventually come out at water level

There are several rooms running off this level which were various treatment rooms.

The hot water springs come up in the Sacred Spring at a constant 46°C and the water then flows via lead pipes and channels to the other parts of the complex. 

The Romans were very clever at controlling the water levels with sluices and weirs with the excess water running off to the river. Today they are trying to use that excess energy to heat the Abbey which is almost next door with warm water. You can read about the project here.

  In its day this would have been a very splendid building and below is part of one of the brick roof arches that would have been high above the main bath.

 

After all that we were ready for some lunch which we had in the square in front of the Baths and Abbey listening to the buskers. It must be some kind of licensed and timed slot system, as while we were there we heard three different acts. We also had the pleasure of watching the human statue getting ready. We were unable to see what was in the over trousers he was wearing or how it was fixed to the base that is under the blue rug. There is water running continuously from the bottle in his right hand to the mug in his left hand. The bag to his right contains a reservoir and pump and he has pipes inside his cloths connecting it all together. He just sits there on nothing with his leg crossed for hours.

 

In the afternoon we went to buy tickets to visit the Abbey tower. The only go on the hour, so we turned up about ten to three just as a lady was returning two tickets for the three o’clock tour. It turned the tour was cancelled as HRH Prince Edward was visiting the Abbey and he was running half an hour late and they were not allowed to do roof and tower visits while he was there, so we booked the four o’clock and it only cost us £6 each.

They only take 16 people at a time with two guides. You go up at the east end of the Abbey to the bell ringing chamber which is just above the Abbey’s vaulted ceiling. Where every Sunday the bell ringers go to ring the ten bells. This room also houses the machine that plays tunes on the bells. In the photo is the old mechanical one that works with a pin drum the same as a large musical box. But this has been superseded by an electronic one which is housed in the small blue box to the right of the guides head.

This room also houses the clock which is not very spectacular as all the clockwork mechanism and weights have been replaced by a small electric motor.From here we were able to go down a narrow passage way to view the back of the clock face with its gearing to drive both hour and minute hand from on shaft connected to the clock.

We then continued upward to the Bell Chamber.

 

 

The inscription on the largest bell reads All you of Bath that hear me sound thank lady Hopkins hundred pounds

 

After the bells it was the final of those 212 steps to the top of the tower wit its wonderful views of Bath and surrounding district

     

  

   

   

 

  Then it was down to roof level where we walked to the west end

 

and so the the stairs to take us to ground level where we looked around the inside before leaving. It wasn’t long ago that we were on top of this lovely ceiling looking down through a spy hole.They have very thoughtfully installed a mirror on a trolley so that you can look straight up without getting a kinked neck or going dizzy.  The abbey is also looking to improve its Carbon Footprint and save money by installing under floor heating using hot water from the Roman baths before it flows to waste into the river. There is more information on this under FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR BATH ABBEY HEATING PROJECT at http://www.bathabbey.org/abbey-community-news

       This brought us to the end of another enjoyable day in Bath