For members in the SW who may find Newark a bit of a hike you may like a small late season do in this part of the country. We came across this site last year. http://www.thegoldenswan.co.uk A decent amount of space behind the pub. Not far from here. http://www.croftonbeamengines.org And short walk to the canal from the quiet village. I'll add more detail idc but please post here if interested. Simon
Small update. Have booked directly with the pub and costs are £6/person/night. 01672 562289 There will also be a DoE group there (as there was last year). Other than that there is quite a bit of room available. Just keeping fingers crossed and praying to the weather gods. If anyone is tempted it's a lovely area of Wiltshire with many local highlights, hopefully the wasps nest in the canal bank has gone this year. Simon
Awwwwwww! I thought that this event was not happening and I am now booked for other things on that weekend. I am sure that you will have a great time anyway.
Never mind Trevor, perhaps next year. As you may remember we have previously camped over at Porlock in Sept where few local members have popped in. Perhaps being a bit more organised myself next year might help as well.
The principle reason for choice of weekend. http://www.croftonbeamengines.org/w...7/05/Crofton-steam-gala-banner-2017-small.jpg No prizes but guesses welcome for the number of oil engines on show.
A couple of pics from Crofton today. First pic is the engine house viewed from the canal it was built to supply water with from the nearby river. The alternative was a much more expensive tunnelling exercise as the higher route meant it would be above the natural water supply on this stretch between London and Bristol. Engines still working date from around the mid 1800's. 2 engines capable of lifting approx 1 ton of water per stroke. Second image is of a visitor from Illinois, the only oil engine present.
I had realized reading @Marc thread on steam I hadn't posted further images from the weekend. The technical details of the beam engines can be found in the links above. The pub from the front. Majority of houses in the village are thatched. A few pictures of the Kennet and Avon canal. The weather was kind again. Ladies Bridge, numerous names carved into it dating from the building of the canal. Some shots from Crofton The musical entertainment on the day. That is a boiler, Lancashire one. And the valve gear Cylinder head. View from the canal. Kitchen And complete setup.
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing. Looks like quite a spread. What does the little sign in the last photo read?
@Marc iirc something like 'Happy campers live here' Both beam engines were working that weekend, which has been a phenomenol job to do. And the boiler is low pressure riveted plate construction. Efficiency not huge but they'll lift a few tons of water in a single stroke up to canal level. Seond hand from Cornish tin mines.