IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
The Droveway, HOVE, BN3 7QA

The boiler house originally contained six boilers but in 1934 they were replaced by these four Lancashire boilers by Yates & Thom of Blackburn. Two are now steamable and the boiler man is stoking the one that was in steam for the site's last steaming day for a couple of years. The boiler house is absolutely spotless despite the boiler being fired on that dirty old stuff - coal. The site is about to enter the last phase of a protracted revamp.

The top of four 1934 built Lancashire boilers. On the right is the edge of a deadweight safety valve. The next fitting is the standpipe with its crown valve to let the steam out of the boiler. The next fitting is the combined lever arm safety valve and low water alarm. The manhole is furthest towards the rear. The far door provides access to the 1866 built No. 1 engine, which was out of bounds on this occasion.

A pair of duplicated inverted vertical duplex rotative steam feed pumps by Frank Pearn of Manchester. It is customary to have more than one way of feeding the boilers with water. These are possibly the nicest pair of feed pumps in the country as many are of the less photogenic non-rotative type.

This is the older of the two Woolf compound beam pumping engines and was built in 1866 by Easton, Amos & Sons of London and stopped in the late 1940s. As seen here it was incomplete, inoperable and surrounded by a variety of artefacts. The site is currently being refurbished and it is claimed this engine will be returned to an operable condition. The cylinders are 28" x 64.75" & 46" x 96" and it was good for 204 ihp on test. Normal speed was 12-16 rpm on steam at 70 psi. The other beam engine is operable and is truly spectacular.

Home to a pair of Woolf compound beam pumping engines and also the British Engineerium. The whole collection was up for auction in 2006 but a local benefactor stepped in at the 11th hour (and 59th minute) and saved the lot. It has not yet re-opened as renovations and improvements are in progress.

Opened in 1866 as a waterworks when it was discovered that the earth beneath the Goldstone valley kept large areas of water. It was extended a decade later when another steam engine was added and formally opened in 1884 when the cooling pond and new reservoir were added. It closed in 1971 but was saved from demolition by Jonathan Minns and began building up a collection of engineering artifacts and was opened as a museum in 1976. The museum has lived a charmed life surviving financial crises in 1982 and 2000 and reliant on a quite literally last minute saviour in 2006 when businessman Mike Holland raised the £3m pound needed to keep the collection together 25 minutes before they were due to be auctioned in several lots. The museum is currently closed whilst new plans for the future are implemented but it will reopen.

The lighting was bad, it was thronged with visitors and the engine was fairly whipping round. All factors conspiring against quality photographic results. This is the best of quite a few. you can see motion smear on the flywheel but on the whole I'm reasonably happy. The engine is a Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engine by Eastons & Anderson. The slide valve cylinders are 28" x 64.75" and 46" x 96". The flywheel is 23' 6" diameter. The engine is good for 150 horsepower at 16 rpm and shifted 125,000 gallons of water per hour. The total lift was 600'. A very pretty, well looked after and practically silent engine.

The engine is a Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engine by Eastons & Anderson and built in 1875. The slide valve cylinders are 28" x 64.75" and 46" x 96". The flywheel is 23' 6" diameter. The engine is good for 150 horsepower at 16 rpm and shifted 125,000 gallons of water per hour. The total lift was 600'. This shows the rather plain twin flitch plate beam. The barley twist handrails are a very nice touch. When the site first opened the public were allowed up here, even when in steam, but by 1992 there was no public access. I was up here with the site owner's permission.

The engine is a Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engine by Eastons & Anderson built in 1875. The slide valve cylinders are 28" x 64.75" and 46" x 96". The flywheel is 23' 6" diameter. The engine is good for 150 horsepower at 16 rpm and shifted 125,000 gallons of water per hour. The total lift was 600'. This view is of the packing platform with the smaller high pressure cylinder to the left. Watt's parallel motion connects the piston rods to the beam above. This location was not open to the public and I was there with the site owner's permission. The site is currently closed and up for sale as a going concern. A considerable sum of money has been spent on restoration and the creation of new display spaces.

The engine is a Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engine by Eastons & Anderson built in 1875. The slide valve cylinders are 28" x 64.75" and 46" x 96". The flywheel is 23' 6" diameter. The engine is good for 150 horsepower at 16 rpm and shifted 125,000 gallons of water per hour. The total lift was 600'. This view is from beside the cylinders looking towards the crank and flywheel. The big handwheel is for operating the slide valves by hand for starting the engine once the eccentric rod has been ungabbed. However, the stop valve is on the far side of the engine so starting would either be a two man job or require some nifty footwork to and from the stop valve if things got a bit lively. The site is currently closed and up for sale as a going concern. A considerable sum of money has been spent on restoration and the creation of new display spaces.