I have just spotted this post languishing in Drafts. Lovely pics I took on my weekend away with my old school friends to Belper. This was our walk from the Arkwright Mill at Cromford along the canal to the Lea House pumping station. So sunny and carefree.
My pal Jenny who I have known since our first night at school back in September 1980!
The pumping station was going to be in steam that day so Kirsten and I (both daughters of engineers) dragged Jenny and Steph (bemused daughters of farmers) to see.
It was fascinating. I collared an old bloke from the group of dedicated volunteers to explain what was going on. Apparently they needed the pump to duck water from the river below into the canal to power the Mill. But they could only take water on Sundays when other mills and factories downstream were not work so the engine had to be huge. It is the oldest such pump still operating for its original purposes anywhere in the world and just tucked away in rural Derbyshire, manned by volunteers.
While we were peering over the edge from the top, the furnace must have heated sufficiently for the head of steam to build up and the giant lever started moving. Nearly taking Steph's head off in the process. Each stroke sucks 4.5 tonnes of water up from the river. Awesome.
Then back to sunny Cromford and the ducks which seemed as far as it could possibly be from the birthplace of the industrial revolution. It's a strange country, England.
Oh and....ICECREAM!
1 comment:
I laughed when you revealed how recently you had met your oldest friends. You're so young! I regularly meet up with four friends with whom I started (primary) school in 1955...
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