Lower Padnal Pumping Station
All I seem to report on is old pumps at the moment. Similar to my other finds, this was an old OS maps find which I stuck on the map, me and @dansgas1000 drove to have a look at along with some others one sunny Saturday.
Not a massive amount can be found about this one. K.S.G Hinde's book ‘Fenland Pumping Engines’ names this as Lower Padnal Pumping Station. This was originally a steam pumping station. Estimated construction in 1881. Originally, it had an Easton & Anderson horizontal single beam engine 12" x 26" with a flywheel 8' 1". A single boiler by makers, 60 psi. These were then later replaced by a Cornish boiler in 1925 by Dodman which ran at 79 rpm. Bevel gearing drive to a turbine pump in an annexe.
This was scrapped in 1937 and replaced by an Allen S27 two-cylinder diesel engine, which is still in place. There is now an active electric pump in a new building situated just next to the old pump on the same channel.
I managed to find a small extract from the ‘Cambridgeshire Fen Drainage Scrapbook” from author and Cambridgeshire historian Mike Petty. It states “Last year Padnal had asked for a new engine, but it was turned down. As a result the old engine had broken and the fens were under water. Unless something was done the South Level was heading for the greatest calamity it had ever faced. 5th April 1937”
This snippet ties in with the earlier information found that Lower Padnal pump did eventually get a replacement engine in late 1937.
Entrance onto the site was easy enough, there is a new fence around the site which is very tall so can't climb it! Walked all the way around to where the fence ended, and it was right next to the channel. Luckily, the fence had some handy makeshift grab handles so you could kind of pull yourself round as the bank had given away where the fence meets the channel. Once this was navigated, the pump itself was unlocked. Opening the door did scare off an owl who was living inside. We spent a good hour or so inside and then moved on to the next ones on our list. One of which looked very active still, and the other two being secure.
All I seem to report on is old pumps at the moment. Similar to my other finds, this was an old OS maps find which I stuck on the map, me and @dansgas1000 drove to have a look at along with some others one sunny Saturday.
Not a massive amount can be found about this one. K.S.G Hinde's book ‘Fenland Pumping Engines’ names this as Lower Padnal Pumping Station. This was originally a steam pumping station. Estimated construction in 1881. Originally, it had an Easton & Anderson horizontal single beam engine 12" x 26" with a flywheel 8' 1". A single boiler by makers, 60 psi. These were then later replaced by a Cornish boiler in 1925 by Dodman which ran at 79 rpm. Bevel gearing drive to a turbine pump in an annexe.
This was scrapped in 1937 and replaced by an Allen S27 two-cylinder diesel engine, which is still in place. There is now an active electric pump in a new building situated just next to the old pump on the same channel.
I managed to find a small extract from the ‘Cambridgeshire Fen Drainage Scrapbook” from author and Cambridgeshire historian Mike Petty. It states “Last year Padnal had asked for a new engine, but it was turned down. As a result the old engine had broken and the fens were under water. Unless something was done the South Level was heading for the greatest calamity it had ever faced. 5th April 1937”
This snippet ties in with the earlier information found that Lower Padnal pump did eventually get a replacement engine in late 1937.
Entrance onto the site was easy enough, there is a new fence around the site which is very tall so can't climb it! Walked all the way around to where the fence ended, and it was right next to the channel. Luckily, the fence had some handy makeshift grab handles so you could kind of pull yourself round as the bank had given away where the fence meets the channel. Once this was navigated, the pump itself was unlocked. Opening the door did scare off an owl who was living inside. We spent a good hour or so inside and then moved on to the next ones on our list. One of which looked very active still, and the other two being secure.
