Or whatever this corner of the UK is now called - it used to be Avon when I lived there, a long time ago.
Collected here is the ram component of the remaining water powered pumping equipment, mostly concentrated around Bath at the southern end of the Cotswolds.
As usual these old pumps date from the early 1900s, before electricity had arrived.
With a smallish area and a hit rate of about 40% there weren’t that many to find (8) so I can get them all into one post.
Ashwicke. A pump house here marked on maps was empty except for a plinth and some pipework.
However it’s usually worth looking around to see if there’s anything nearby and in this case there were a couple of Blakes in an underground chamber.
Compton Dando. Remains of at least two pumps here, including a little ram under a collapsing wall of local bricks.
I don’t recognise the make of the ram and partial excavation didn’t reveal a makers name.
The water to power it probably came from a spring uphill, with outlet pipe heading in the direction of the nearest farm.
Dunkerton. A Vulcan not marked on maps, again near a pump house with little inside (just a defunct modern multistage centrifugal).
Englishcombe. What looks like a Blake in a flooded hut.
There may have been a label on the far side but I didn’t wade round to check since I know from experience that the mud in places like this is likely to be too deep for wellies.
Marshfield. Another little ram of unknown make, this one with a broken airtank with some undecipherable writing on one side.
As for the previous unknown example, water came from a spring, now a muddy drinking spot for cattle, with the outlet heading in the direction of a farm.
Nimlet. A Blake without a label at the bottom of a pretty valley lined with medieval field system ridges.
The water came from a spring uphill, collected in the covered reservoir in the first picture.
Twinhoe. A long disused Blake near the partially buried remains of other pumping equipment.
And that’s it for Avon - there are a couple more shown on old maps but they were practically in people’s front gardens so I left them alone.
Collected here is the ram component of the remaining water powered pumping equipment, mostly concentrated around Bath at the southern end of the Cotswolds.
As usual these old pumps date from the early 1900s, before electricity had arrived.
With a smallish area and a hit rate of about 40% there weren’t that many to find (8) so I can get them all into one post.
Ashwicke. A pump house here marked on maps was empty except for a plinth and some pipework.
However it’s usually worth looking around to see if there’s anything nearby and in this case there were a couple of Blakes in an underground chamber.
Compton Dando. Remains of at least two pumps here, including a little ram under a collapsing wall of local bricks.
I don’t recognise the make of the ram and partial excavation didn’t reveal a makers name.
The water to power it probably came from a spring uphill, with outlet pipe heading in the direction of the nearest farm.
Dunkerton. A Vulcan not marked on maps, again near a pump house with little inside (just a defunct modern multistage centrifugal).
Englishcombe. What looks like a Blake in a flooded hut.
There may have been a label on the far side but I didn’t wade round to check since I know from experience that the mud in places like this is likely to be too deep for wellies.
Marshfield. Another little ram of unknown make, this one with a broken airtank with some undecipherable writing on one side.
As for the previous unknown example, water came from a spring, now a muddy drinking spot for cattle, with the outlet heading in the direction of a farm.
Nimlet. A Blake without a label at the bottom of a pretty valley lined with medieval field system ridges.
The water came from a spring uphill, collected in the covered reservoir in the first picture.
Twinhoe. A long disused Blake near the partially buried remains of other pumping equipment.
And that’s it for Avon - there are a couple more shown on old maps but they were practically in people’s front gardens so I left them alone.
