tarboat's photos with the keyword: claymills

Shovelling coal into the feed hoppers of the automatic stokers at Claymills pumping station. The blocks on the floor are made from compressed rapeseed waste and are being trialled as an alternative to very expensive coal. Clearly these are unsuitable for the stokers and therefore have to be hand fired. They burn very hot but do not have enough surface area to volume to raise steam as well as coal. If they could be broken down to pieces the same size as the coal used, then maybe they would be a worthwhile substitute.

Safety valve weights hold down the lagging covers on the boiler backs at the Claymills Pumping Station.

I always find watching a beam engine in action to be a very emotional experience. Yesterday I was able to see two working side by side. Claymills pumping station, Burton-on-Trent. 'C' Engine: Two cylinder condensing Woolf compound rotative beam engine built by Gimsons of Leicester in 1885. Driving two ram pumps and capable of pumping about 3 million gallons of sewage per day through a head of 110ft.

In business for the first time in preservation was the No.4 boiler at the Claymills pumping station. This Lancashire boiler, complete with automatic stoker, proved to be a rather better steamer than No.5 (beyond) which is close to the end of its 10 year ticket. This caused some embarassment for the boilerman as the safety valve lifted and filled the house with steam for a while.