Steaming Away

Today it rained a lot; but we didn't mind, because we had planned to visit the Markfield Beam Engine in Markfield Park, a Grade II listed (i.e. historically protected) steam pumping engine from the great days of Victorian sewage engineering. (The website has, under the "History of the Site" tab, a detailed exposition of not just the engine's history but also the history of the struggle to bring adequate sanitation to late nineteenth and early twentieth century London. Who'd have thought that poo -- the stuff that comes out of botties -- could have such heritage value, eh?) The engine is not now connected to the sewage system, having been decommissioned in 1964, but was recently restored to working order with money from the Heritage Lottery Fund (which also built the cafe alongside and installed modern toilets) and now steams a couple of times a month -- the beam rocking back and forth, the pressure cylinders being pumped up and down, the flywheel spinning. It all looks suitably majestic, and here are some photographs to prove it -- a general view of the beam engine house, with (in the foreground) the gardens where the sewage filter beds used to be; a view of one end of the beam support structure, with the flywheel to the right; the flywheel itself, with added Judith for scale; the pressure cylinders in operation; and a view of the other end of the beam support structure, showing the stairs to the upper deck and (descending) one end of the beam itself. (The beam can be seen from above on the website, under "The Engine" tab -- a view denied to ordinary visitors.)

In a separate post, I shall upload some video I took of the engine in operation.