The ladies have control.

During our recent Early May Steaming Weekend. Two of our Crofton lady volunteers had control of the driving platform on the Harveys of Hale 1846 beam engine. They both Demonstrated their driving skills with great confidence, and had fun at the same time.

If you missed them, they will be back for our next end of May steaming weekend. And who knows next time they could well be driving the worlds oldest working beam engine, the legendary 1812  Boulton Watt.

There was an unusually high level of excitement for four and a half days at Crofton Beam Engines last week.  On Wednesday a request for help was received from Canal and River Trust, the water level in the Summit Pound of the Kennet and Avon Canal was found to have reached an unacceptably low level in the middle of the week.  Boaters were stranded and the fish had very little water in which to survive.  Following some swift communication with Crofton Beam Engine Volunteers, by 9.00 a.m. on Thursday morning ‘warm through’, the process for warming the boiler was getting underway. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday a dedicated team of Volunteers and a member of staff leapt into action for three days of steaming to replenish the water level in the canal.

Over the four days, one day for ‘warm through’ and three days of steaming, with the help of 23 Volunteers giving a total of 364 hours of commitment the task was completed.   As a result of the effort put in over the three days of pumping, around 19.5 million litres of water (18,000 tons) were pumped over 27.9 hours, enabling the Summit Pound to be reopened earlier than expected.

“Hard work, but a lot of fun for all.  Back to do it again tomorrow” Duty Engineer after Saturday steaming

“All in all it was a hard 3 days of work. Flexible working was required each day which was carefully managed and I think all the Volunteers enjoyed the challenge.” Duty Engineer after three days steaming

“My sister and I visited Crofton last Sunday when, as good luck would have it, steam was up on both engines.  We met with volunteers who explained everything with enthusiasm.  We had a very enjoyable, and unexpected, time at Crofton Beam Engines” Richard Jackson, visitor

Kennet & Avon Canal Fish Rescue

The Canal & River Trust’s project to replace the pumping system at Crofton, which ensures the charity can keep the summit of the Kennet & Avon Canal topped-up with water for boats, will be completed this winter. 

The works, started in September and will continue through to March 2023.  Costing £1.8 million, the project will see the canal’s 40-year-old pumps, pipes and electrics at Crofton replaced with a modern, more efficient and reliable system.

Draining a stretch of canal is a rare event, and hundreds of pounds of fish, were collected including some very large and ecologically important specimens.  The species rescued included roach, pike, bream, gudgeon and perch.

The fish rescue was carried out by specialist contractors who use electrofishing. This involves passing an electric current through the water to temporarily disengage the ability of the fish to swim.

They can then be easily netted, placed in large containers of water where they can recover for a few minutes, before being rehomed in a nearby section of canal that isn’t being drained.