ISSUE 121 Autumn 2018 The dredger in steam - Dylan Montell The ‘Friends’ is Registered Charity No. 800282 Editor Angela Marks 13 Six Acres, Upton-St. Leonards, Gloucester GL4 8AY Email: [email protected] The Friends’ website: www.friendsofgwm.co.uk 2 In some respects, “time flies by”, yet at other times I look back to think of things I did a few months ago and it seems a lifetime away. Editors are always chasing contributors to supply their copy to meet the deadline and Angela, our editor of Llanthony Log, is no different. Last week the dreaded email arrived reminding me that it was time I wrote and submitted my Chairman’s report. I groaned and told her “it can’t be that time already!” So, I thought about what news I could tell you and realized that our first ‘Friends Event’ of 2018 took place since the last publication of our magazine. For me it seemed an age ago. Yet, it was only in May on a gloriously hot sunny Saturday morning that quite a few of us walked across the Severn Bridge. We were given exclusive rights to park adjacent to the Bridge Maintenance depot at Aust and so with ease we enjoyed the walk out onto the bridge, across to the far end above Beachley and back. A few brave souls carried on to walk across the Wye Bridge as well. Some of the group then visited the Boar Inn at Aust for lunch. 3 During July we held our second event, a personal guided tour of Gloucester Cathedral. It is one of my favourite Cathedrals and is certainly packed with history. In this edition of Llanthony log there is more about these and other exciting new events planned for the future. Not giving too much away, there is a report later on about Braunston. Back in June the Friends’ Craft Group were invited to exhibit at the prestigious Historic Narrowboat Rally. My thanks to these Friends and indeed all the Friends, who continually give support as it does make the hard work in arranging events worthwhile. Our ‘Ladies’ from the Craft Group are proving very popular as public speakers. During the very popular Gloucester History Festival they have been booked to appear at the EdShed, (the building at the rear of Gloucester Life Museum), to speak on “The Lives of the Narrowboat Women”. Finally, I’ll end as I started, with time “flying by”. On Sunday 5th August the Museum celebrated the 30th anniversary of the official opening by His Royal Highness, Charles, Prince of Wales. Although the Museum had been open to the public for a while before this date and the Friends had been formed, it is felt that this date signifies the beginning of the Museum. The date was marked with a special cake, balloons and refreshments by staff with the help of Friends too. It was nice to see three familiar faces, who were present on the day that Prince Charles came to carry out the official opening: Hugh Conway-Jones, Trevor Hill and Glenys Pickersgill. Who knows where we will be in thirty years’ time? 4 Sunday 5th August 2018 5 With the Fielding engine now running regularly again at the Museum we felt that this is a good time to remind Friends of its history. The Fielding engine was built in Gloucester in 1929 and was installed at Godwin Pumps of Quinington, Cirencester, to run approximately 500ft of line shaft to power machinery in the machine shop and pattern making shop. During the wartime it was fitted out to drive a 60KVA generator and with the introduction of mains electricity was used as a standby unit to provide electricity in the event of power cuts, etc. and was last running long term during the miners’ strike in 1974. After this the engine was used occasionally until the engine house and machine shops were burnt down in May 1980 leaving the engine exposed to the elements in the corner of the car park. Members of the Mid Glos Engine Preservation Society undertook to dismantle and restore the engine to its former glory when it was accepted as an exhibit at the National waterways Museum, Gloucester. The engine is a single cylinder, 14” bore, 23” stroke compression ignition, delivering 80BHP at 22p rpm. Cooling water is held in two round tanks in the corner of the building, beneath which is the fuel tank. It is running on gas oil and if it was working under full load would use about two and a half gallons per hour. At the 6 moment it is running light and is using about a gallon an hour. The engine is called an Oil Engine because it could be set up to run on whatever oil was available in the area where the engine would be working. Fielding’s stopped manufacturing engines in 1938 after a span of 50 years production. A large number of the engines have met an untimely end in scrapyards. The engine is a Diesel and is started using compressed air to start the flywheel turning and when enough speed is achieved fuel is injected using Direct Injection and engine starts. When the engine reaches running speed, the Direct Injector is turned off and then fuel is injected using Indirect Injection. The engine is used to recharge the air receiver in preparation for the next start using a valve arrangement on the far side of the cylinder head. The unit on the side of the engine is the lubricator which contains eight pump elements which are adjusted to deliver the correct amount of oil to each moving part. The Fielding engine is run by members of the Mid Glos Engine Preservation Society and the Friends of the National waterways Museum, Gloucester. The funding of the engine has been helped by the winning of the Dorothea award in 1988 which included a cheque for £500. The Fielding Engine runs most Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm and from 2 to 3pm. Anyone and any group interested in engines will want to look at this engine running, and if a Tuesday is not convenient, we are pleased to make special arrangements for them. For further information please contact the museum on 01452 318200. 7 Another interesting entry in the almost 800 pages of Joseph Priestly’s 1831 is that for the Hereford and Gloucester Canal. 31 George III, Cap. 89, Royal Assent 11th April, 1791 3 George III, Cap. 119, Royal Assent 11th July, 1793 This useful branch of inland navigation, which is about thirty-five miles and a half in length from its commencement at Hereford to the tideway of the Severn at Gloucester, was projected under the superintendence of Mr. Joseph Clowes, civil engineer, in the latter end of 1790; and the first act obtained for the execution of the work, was passed the following year, under the title of The act being obtained, the necessary works were soon after commenced; but it having been found necessary to vary the original line, and to make other alterations, a second act was obtained in 1793, entitled The canal pursues a northerly direction from Byster’s Gate in Hereford, near to the banks of the Wye, till it comes to the River Lugg, near Sulton St. Michael and Sulton St. Nicholas; having crossed this river, it takes an 8 easterly course to Munsley; thence crossing the River Leadon, it proceeds in a southerly direction, till it again crosses the Leadon, two miles below Ledbury; after pursuing its course to Denimoch easterly, it crosses the same river for a third and fourth time at four miles from the last- mentioned place; proceeding onwards to its termination, it passes by Pountley, Newent, Rudford and Lassington, crossing for the last time the Leadon, and also a branch of the Severn, in which river, after going through a cut across Alney Island, it terminates opposite to Gloucester. By the first act the proprietors of this canal were authorized to demand the following TONNAGE RATES For Manure, Bricks, Rubble, Lime and Clay ……………………………… 1d per Ton, per Mile For Coals ………………………………………………………………………..………………… 2d ditto. ditto For Corn, Meal, Hewn-stone, Hops, Wool and other Goods, Merchandize and Wares .… …………………………………………………………………………………………….3d ditto. ditto And so on in Proportion for different Distances. The original sum granted by the act for completing this work was £25,000, with the power to raise £30,000 more, if necessary; shares to be £100 each. The advantages of the amended act are, the nearer approach to Hereford and a tunnel at Oxenhall, which saves the collateral cut to Newent, and avoids a great deal of circuitous navigation. We have stated above that the length of the canal, when finished, will be thirty-five miles and a half, which is on the following levels, -- from Hereford to Withington March, six miles of level canal; from thence to Monkhide, (which is a summit level at an elevation of 195½ feet above low water of the Severn), there is a rise of 30 feet in a distance of three 9 miles: the canal continues on the summit level for eight miles and a half to Ledbury; from that place to Gloucester, where it terminates, there is a fall of 195½ feet in the remaining eighteen miles. The proposed cut from Newent to the canal has a fall into it of 10 feet in a length of three miles. The total lockage is 226 feet nearly; and the number of the tunnels on the canal three, all of considerable size; the first, near Hereford, being four hundred and forty yards long; the second on the high ground at Asperton, near Frome Cannon, the middle of the summit level, thirteen hundred and twenty yards; and the third at Oxenhall, two thousand one hundred and ninety-two yards.