• This month has been a quiet month due to the freezing temperatures. Volunteers have spent much time making sure that all pipework is drained and all valves and machinery are protected from frost.
• The Trust is proud and honoured to announce that it has received an Engineering Heritage award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Read more...
• This month the site was in steam for four consecutive days. The first two were our regular weekend steaming. Just as the site was being locked up, the weather produced a nice photo opportunity.
On the following Monday, we were visited by 88 children from William Shrewsbury Primary School - they had a wonderful day and most of them returned to school with blackened faces (but clean hands). Their new head-of-year says they will definitely want to come back next year.
On Tuesday, despite the foul weather, 30 came from Paulet High School and a further 25 came from Fountains School.
• The number of visitors to the site this year has now exceeded 3,500.
• One of the ploughing engines which used to work on the sewage farm was spotted working at the Great Dorset Steam Fair. This is the engine which the Trust attempted to purchase in November 2009, but was sold at auction.
• The first wheel for the pipe drug has been fully assembled. The next major event will be fitting the steel rim. This is bound to be an exciting spectacle which all our volunteers will want to be present for! In the meantime the other new hubs are having the tapered hole drilled in them using our radial arm drill.
• Following the resolution at the recent AGM, Sir Alan Jones has accepted the invitation to become the President of the The Claymills Pumping Engines Trust. The Trust is honoured by his acceptance of the position and looks forward to working with him.
• The August bank holiday steaming was used to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Pumping Station. The weekend was themed as a Victorian weekend and many volunteers dressed in Victorian style clothing. One volunteer dressed as Queen Victoria pictured here meeting our President and another as James Mansergh, the engineer who designed the pumping station. The Mayor of East Staffordshire Councillor David Leese visited on Sunday. Visitors who arrived in Victorian dress were given free entry to the site. Various local organisations were involved in running Victorian stalls and our volunteers have made some Victorian childrens' toys for our younger visitors.
• The new chain guard has been made and fitted to C engine. The engine has been rotated using the barring engine, but it will be tested at the August steaming.
• The process of fitting the mahogany cladding to D engine continues with the circular rings completed and lagging fitted betweeen the rings.
• The summer restoration and maintainance peroid is now in full swing. The boiler crew are hard at work cleaning out the tubes and flues of both boilers No 4 and 5.
• Each beam engine used to have a chain drive from the flywheel axle to a lineshaft on the outside of the building which drove the lime measurers in the lime shed. When the lime shed was demolished, the chains were removed and the lineshafts were "gas axed" on the outside of AB engine house. The lineshaft for C engine has been freed up and shortened. A chain has been fitted and the next job will be to reinstate the chain guard using details from our archive photographs.
• The process of fitting the mahogany cladding to D engine has started with the construction of the circular rings around each cylinder.
• This month has been occupied with 3 steaming weekends - 2 bank holidays and a private steaming. The number of visitors at both bank holiday weekends were better than last year.
• The Easter steaming went ahead as planned after everyone pulled the stops out and got the site ready in three days.
• The painting of the walls in CD is almost complete - just a couple of finishing touches to do. Most of the floor was also blacked in time for the Easter steaming. Here are two views of C engine. Photo1 Photo2
• The pale blue paint has now been stripped of the handrail stanchions in AB engine house. The driving floor stanchions have now been bolted down and most of the temporary scaffolding rails have been removed. The next job will be to make and fit the mesh infill panels.
• The boiler house is also receiving attention - the walls are being painted too.
• When Boiler 5 finished its 10 years service and No 4 took over the steam raising duties, the boiler crew started work on No 3 as the next restoration task. Unfortunately, a serious problem has been found in the firetubes. The boiler had been left full of water for several years and we believe this caused the corrugated sections to rust so badly that a chipping hammer has gone right through the tube in several places. The Trust has decided to abandon the restoration of this boiler and revert to No 5 when required.
• Building repairs have been carried out this month by contractors commissioned by Severn Trent Water. Health & safety requirements meant that the Trust's volunteers were unable to work on the site at the same time as the contractors. Repairs have been carried out on the workshop, agitator and feed pumphouse roofs. Most of the windows and downpipes have been painted and sash cords on the opening windows have been replaced. The contractors vacated the site on schedule on 31st March, leaving the Trust a tight schedule to prepare the site for the Easter steaming. Photo1 Photo2
• The painting of the walls in CD is progressing. Here are two views of D engine. Photo1 Photo2
• Reconstructing the wheels for the pipe drug is continuing. This picture shows the new spokes fitted to the hub.
• Our new year steaming was a very successful weekend, despite the rain on Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a glorious day with plenty of visitors braving the elements.
• The Claymills beam engines have been chosen as one of Staffordshire's 10 objects for the BBC's "A History of the World" project. There will be a broadcast from the Potteries Museum, Stoke on 18th February.
© Claymills Pumping Engines Trust
Meadow Lane
Stretton
Burton upon Trent, DE13 0DA
Registered Charity No. 1030331
Accredited Museum No. 2334
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