News and Current Projects

January 2012

• A visit from the Vintage Sports Car Club on New Year's day contributed to a very successful start to the year. The yard was crammed full of wonderful cars. Photo1 Photo2 Photo3

• The repairs to the condenser pipework proved to be successful and both C & D engines ran on the new pipework.

• A visit from 64 children from All Saints', Rangemoor was arranged two days after the steaming.
"What a fabulous day out - who would have thought visiting a sewage pumping station could be so interesting?"
"We sat down to a staff meeting, but had time for a quick discussion about how much we enjoyed our visit - one of the best for hands on experience and it will certainly fit well with the rest of my topic this term."
"Thanks from all of us, to you and all your wonderful volunteers for their enthusiasm and knowledge, they made the visit truly memorable - in lots of ways! We wouldn't have changed a thing."
"Hope to see you again in the future."

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December 2011

• The work on the condenser pipework has been completed and the hole filled in. The stirling efforts of the volunteers involved have been featured in the Burton Mail.

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November 2011

• At the October steaming problems were encountered in maintaining a vacuum on D engine and the reason for this has been under investigation. It had been suspected that the condenser pipework had sprung a leak, resulting in a loss of cooling water and part of the yard has been dug up to expose the pipework from the engine house to the valves in the yard and a split in the cast iron pipework has been found. Work is currently on going to bring these valves indoors into the basement of C/D engine house with the priority to complete this for the New Year steaming.

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October 2011

• This month the site was in steam for three consecutive days. The first two were our regular weekend steaming. This photo shows our woodturning demonstration and some of the items he has created.
On the following Monday, we were visited by 95 children from William Shrewsbury Primary School - they had a wonderful day and most of them returned to school with blackened faces (but clean hands).

• Some time ago a set of steps next to our workshop became unsafe and needed repair or replacement. It was noticed that these cast iron steps were of exactly the same design as the steps in the engine houses, so it was decided to repair the steps rather than fit a modern replacement. This entailed making an intricate pattern for the step treads, from which new cast iron steps were made. The side plates also needed attention. The steps were then reassembled, painted and lowered into position. A 4x4 provided a sturdy anchor point for the tirfor!

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September 2011

• The process of fitting the mahogany cladding to D engine continues. Two thirds of the strips of mahogany for the low pressure cylinder have been fitted to the engine.

• The September steaming had a couple of additional visiting vehicles. Photo 1 Photo 2

• At steaming weekends, we also have a children's 'Try a craft' corner.

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August 2011

• The August bank holiday steaming was themed as a Victorian event and period clothing was provided to some of our visitors. Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3

• The stoker mechanism on Boiler 5 has now been removed from the boiler to allow inspection of the front plate. Photo 1 Photo 2

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July 2011

• The Claymills Classic Car Club was founded in 2007 and meets at the pumping station on the first Wednesday of the month. Photo 1. Photo 2.

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