IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Long Lands Lane, DONCASTER, DN5 7XB

Pictured close to the Markham Grange Steam Museum.

For much of the year this nursery business generates its own electricity from this building. The fuel is waste wood (e.g. pallets) that is chipped and stored in the tall silo. The big building houses a W H Allen steam turbine, a Sisson reciprocating steam engine and two Belliss and Morcom engines. The Allen and Sisson can be put on the bar but the turbine is used to almost complete exclusion of the reciprocating engine (which is not really quite big enough). The plant operates in "island mode" with the grid being switched out on synchronisation. A large steam museum has now been built in the foreground. The two flywheel halves belong to a Robey duplex engine from Friden Brickworks, Derbyshire.

This is next door to the Markham Grange Nursery and is a veritable temple of reciprocating stationary and marine steam engines. A visit is recommended strongly.

Possible exhibits stood on the land that was to become the Markham Grange Steam Museum. The cream device on the left is the bottom end of a high pressure compressor from ICI Billingham and its cylinders are lying on the floor centre and right of centre. The two small engines left of centre are paper mill drives from Langcliffe near Settle. Behind them is the cream steam engine that drove the big compressor. In the centre is the grey/green marine engine by Fleming & Ferguson that came from a floating crane. The two big engines to its right are the Belliss and Morcom engines from Whitehall Road power Station Leeds Image Finally the cream engine on the extreme right was also from ICI Billingham. The marine engine is in the museum but all the others are either scrapped or very likely to be so in the near future.

The Paddle steamer engine is a bit of " Kidology " This particular exhibit is not running on steam at all but by a small concealed electric motor.

Large display of stationary steam engines "in steam". The connecting rod and drive wheel appear to be moving at a high speed. This is not the case however. My flash was not on and the resulting blurring and relatively long exposure gives the impression of speed. (Nice accident)

This is not the steam museum. This is the powerhouse that provides electricity to the site in winter. The workhorse is the W H Allen steam turbine on the right. This is now in a walled off area with a Sisson engine. The two Belliss & Morcom engines are plumbed in but not used as there is no switch gear. The black one came from Fine Art Wallcoverings, Holmes Chapel and the blue one is from J & E Sturge, Selby. The site's owner, Mr V T Nuttall is peering in to the Sturge Belliss.

Not a view you see every day. The re-erection of the 1909 Pollit & Wigzell horizontal tandem compound engine 'Agnes' from Washpit Mills, Holmfirth. The high pressure piston is on trestles on the right and the high pressure wristplate assembly is sitting on a pallet. The crane is supporting the low pressure dashpot assembly. The flywheel is ready for the rim segments to be fitted. The rearwards bed extension is waiting to receive the condenser/air pump assembly. This is now all finished and in steam. Although I was very sad to see it removed from Holmfirth, Markham Grange has done a magnificent job of re-erection.

This large nursery/garden centre was heated by wood fire hot water 'boilers' and it was all rather ramshackle. However it was about to be replaced by a new combined heat and power system based on steam with generation of electricity by a steam turbine and heating by steam/water calorifiers.