Report - Hydraulic Ram Pumps 18, Gloucestershire L-Y (2022 - 2023)

[urbanchemist]

The other half of the remaining pumps in Gloucs, which has a large number of these things for the reason given in a previous thread (#16).

With 56 pumps found the hit rate in this county was relatively high (ca 60%) although this number is only approximate.

There are always some not marked on maps, a few which were not accessible, and others I just may not have found.




Lodge Park Estate. A compound Blake in a tumbledown hut with a reservoir above.
At a guess the reservoir was filled by a nearby stream and the ‘pumping house’ was on the site of a spring.

Middle Duntisbourne. Probably a Vulcan in a tin hut with a reservoir up the hill behind.
Only time for a quick look as something large and bull-like was heading in my direction.

Miserden Estate 1. A pair of Blakes in a flooded pit at the site of a previous ‘force pump’.
Sited below a dam they presumably pumped lake water elsewhere on the estate.

Miserden Estate 2. A Vulcan in an underground tank with mahoosive spiders.
It probably took water from the site of what is now an electrically-powered pump house up the hill.

Moreton-in-Marsh. A torpedo-shaped air tank buried in mud with a possible reservoir uphill.
There was too much water to get down far enough to see what sort it was.

Painswick 1. There are a few in this area.
The first group were on a wooded slope with a reservoir filled by a spring at the top with three huts below.

The top hut contained a Vulcan.

Then an empty structure which may once have contained a ram, and another hut at the bottom with a Blake.
It wasn’t pumping but water was still flowing through.

continued

 

[urbanchemist]

Painswick 2. This one was memorable because while approaching across a field there was an almighty crash to my left which reverberated around the valley.
Swinging round I was just in time to see a large branch hitting the ground about 50 yards away, having just fallen off an oak tree.
This is called ‘sudden limb drop’ or ‘sudden branch drop’ and is a known thing - you sometimes see warning signs about it at the entrances to forests.
It happens on warm sunny days but nobody really knows why, and I expect it’s rarely actually witnessed.
I walked past later on the way to another site, but there was just this huge branch, comprising about a quarter of the tree and a smell of splintered wood.

When I got to the ram it was in a well hidden circular underground hut with a reservoir above.
The air tank was broken but it looks like an Easton.

Painswick 3. Another Easton next to a stream with a reservoir and the remains of another pumping house (not shown) further up.

Salperton 1. Another area with several rams, the first a nice pair of Vulcans part way up a slope.

Salperton 2. A reservoir with a ram chamber containing a Blake downhill - I spent some time looking for a manhole cover before realising there was an entrance on the other side of a wall that ran past the chamber.

Salperton 3. An early-looking Blake hidden in a pit in the middle of a bramble bush, with a similarly overgrown wooden pump house (empty) next door.
It wasn’t pumping but water was still pouring out of a couple of holes.

Sevenhampon. A battered Blake, initially mostly under rubbish.
Some largish pipes crossing a nearby stream suggest the pump house once contained other equipment as well.

Sezincote House. A Blake hiding near a bridge in Indian-themed gardens.

Sheepscombe 1. A discarded Blake besides the remains of its hut in a narrow valley.

Sheepscombe 2. A working Blake fed from a spring in a field above the woodlands.

o3

continued

 

[urbanchemist]

Stanton. The hut for this one was almost invisible in the undergrowth and at first appeared to be locked, but wasn’t really.
Inside was a recent Blake (not working) with a discarded older one nearby.

Stow-on-the-Wold. Labelled as a pumping house this contained what looked like the air tank of a ram in the undergrowth.
Alternatively it could be a ballast tank from a different pump - there was too much heavy fallen masonry to see if the rest of the ram was still there.

Stratton. A compound Blake which is not shown on maps - I came across it while looking for something else.

Sudgrove. A Blake in a hut like an overgrown grotto with a reservoir filled from a spring above.

Temple Guiting. This one was interesting since although I’ve found over a dozen compound Blakes, this was the first compound Vulcan I’d come across at the time.
A compound ram is one which pumps drinkable water from a spring but is powered by a flow of ‘dirty’ water.
There are/were several designs, but the rams made by Blake and Green & Carter have an extra double ended piston which transmits the hydraulic shock from the dirty water compartment to the clean one.
The main difference between the two makes is that the piston is retracted with a large pair of rubber bands in Blakes whereas Vulcans have an internal spring.

The tank for fresh water.

Water wheel pumps are a more natural solution to this problem since the pump can take water from any nearby source, perhaps one of the reasons they persisted as long as they did.





Westbury. A Blake buried under rubbish in a concrete tank in danger of sliding into a stream.

Woolaston1. A Blake at the bottom of a surprisingly deep pit.

continued

 

[urbanchemist]

One final spurt…


Woolaston 2. A Blake in a collapsing hut in a bog.

Yanworth 1. A rusty Blake in a pit covered by a slab of marble, downhill from what I assume is its reservoir in the foreground.

Yanworth 2. Yet another Blake in a hut in a partially felled area, one of several water-related things in this area.
The spanner was already like that.

And that concludes the survey of ram pumps marked on old OS maps in Gloucs.

Although inevitably incomplete this is likely to be the only public record of how much is left about 100 years after they were installed.

 

[HughieD]

Even by your high pump documentation standards that is a bit of a pumptastic post.

 

[The Young One]

Don't stop pumping these posts out mate

 

[dansgas1000]

Fantastic coverage, very interesting to read.

 

[mookster]

Excellent work, these need to be on some dedicated database or something equally nerdy (in a good way)

 

[urbanchemist]

Excellent work, these need to be on some dedicated database or something equally nerdy (in a good way)

Ideally these rams, along with water wheels, water turbines, engine-powered pump houses etc should eventually be put on the local HER (historic environmental record) for each county - very few are currently recorded.

However at the moment the system is too prehistoric and clunky to bother with and doesn't do pictures, so for now this site will have to do.

 

[tigger]

Another excellent post with a great selection of equipment.

To add - most English HERs are understaffed and underfunded so end up with a backlog of things to include after they are reported. Even maintaining what they have on record seems problematic. In Wales things aren't quite so bad yet, though they are getting worse as the folks in Corruption Bay devote more and more resources to lining their, and their business friend's, pockets. Couple this with the generally useless structure of the databases and I gave up with most a long time ago
I'm slowly getting my old notes in order and one day they'll perhaps make the basis of a good website if someone took on the challenge. I don't have the extensive selection of photos we can have in this digital age...film was expensive and water power was only part of my spare time!