IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Thorneloe Gardens, CROYDON, CR0 4EP

This Grade II listed church is on Barrow Road. See http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-201299-st-george-s-church-croydon for more details.

This Grade II listed church is on Barrow Road. See http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-201299-st-george-s-church-croydon for more details.

On the left are Coldharbour Way and Crowley Crescent and on the right are Barrow Road and Crowley Crescent.

The boiler house with three Cornish boilers. The one furthest from the camera was still in use. You could have eaten your dinner off the floor. Not bad - especially when you consider that these were hand-fired with coal (nasty dirty black stuff).

These were the last reciprocating steam engines in service for pumping drinking water. By this time, this one had been replaced by an electric pump down the well and the new plumbing is seen in the foreground. The well pump bell crank can be seen to have been lifted clear and placed behind the cylinders. Official decommissioning was at a ceremony a few months later and some of my friends attended. The engine house has now been razed to the ground. The two engines survive - one at London Museum of Water and steam, Kew Bridge and the other at Strumpshaw Hall in Norfolk. See - Image and Image

These were the last reciprocating steam waterworks pumps in the UK and were formally retired in 1983. The station contained a pair of horizontal cross compound engines with slide valve cylinders. The piston tail rods drove well pumps on one side (low pressure) and a double acting force pump on the other side (high pressure). One engine was 1910 by James Simpson & Co and the other 1920 by Worthington-Simpson Ltd. Both survive off site.

This is the top of the Green's economiser with the scraper drive mechanism. The small steam engine driving it is at the far end and the belt comes towards the photographer to drive the scrapers via the self reversing mechanism on the right. Examples of this may be seen at the British Engineerium, Hove, Mill Meece Pumping Station, near Eccleshall and Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, Burton-on-Trent. See - Image

A Clarke, Chapman horizontal duplex winch with a 5.5 ton working load. This was one of two in the basement. The floor plates had been removed to enable this one to be used to remove the bell crank from the adjoining pumping engine and install electric pumps in its place. On my earlier visits the winches had only been visible and accessible through the basement. Waddon was the last reciprocating steam engine waterworks in use and was formally decommissioned in mid-1983. The steam turbine sets at Hampton ran a little longer.

This was the last site in the UK to use reciprocating steam engines to pump drinking water. It closed in 1983 and has been demolished. There were two horizontal duplex steam winches used to service the wells and built by Clarke, Chapman & Co Ltd, Gateshead. One was removed for preservation and the other was probably scrapped. I don't know where the removed one is currently. These were hidden in the basement but I had a trusty guide to UK engines that alerted me to their existence so that I could seek them out.

Waddon was the last UK site to operate reciprocating steam engines for pumping potable water and closed in 1983. The two engines were horizontal cross compounds driving lift and force pumps. This photograph was taken at low level between the two slide valve chests and shows the diagonal duplex steam barring engine that engages with teeth in the flywheel rim to slowly turn the engine for starting and maintenance.