Buxton and Thornley Three Throw Water Pump, 1901

 

 This 1901 built water pump is one of a pair installed at Worthington & Co Brewery's pumping station at Wetmore Road Maltings, in Burton-upon-Trent, and were used on a one on, one off basis almost constantly for drawing water from a well and sending it to large iron casks in the malt houses for steeping the grain. The pumps were powered by an electric motor, and each pump could deliver 8,650 gallons an hour. Buxton and Thornley were a Buxton based firm which were favoured by the various Buxton brewers. This pump is now on display at the Museum of Brewing.

   

 

SS 'Clan Morrison', 1918

This is a 1:48 scale model of the SS 'Clan Morrison', a single screw cargo steamer built by the Ayrshire Dockyard Co Ltd at Irvine, for Messrs Cayzer, Irvine & Co Ltd. Although a civilian vessel only designed for carrying cargo, this model of 'Clan Morrison' shows one 4.7 inch quick firing gun and two 7.5 inch breech loading howitzers on the stern for self-defence, as she was built in the last year of the First World War

Pickford Delivery Van vs German Cavalry, 1914

An interesting event from early in the First World War depicted on a postcard in my collection. From the back;

 The sketch depicts an incident of the recent fighting, in which one of Pickfords' familiar motor vans figured prominently, and creditably also, thanks to the pluck of the driver and the armed escort. A small British convoy was on its way to the troops at the front at night, when a party of Uhlans, appearing suddenly, blocked the road and demanded surrender. The driver of the leading van at once put on speed and drove slap into the midst of the enemy while his armed escort stood up and made devastating use of his rifle against the German lancers. The latter, surprised by the motors' sudden assault, and placed at a disadvantage by the panic of the horses, afforded easy targets at close range, and in a few moments bolted from the scene. The convoy reached its destination without further molestation. (Drawn by Lionel Edwards, under the supervision of an Officer lately returned from the front.)

Merry Christmas!

Here's hoping everyone reading this has a happy Christmas and a great 2013 - this festive card is a 1917 postcard from my collection - I hope your Christmas dinner is better than this poor tramps!

Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway poster, 1908

Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway poster from 1908, advertising the scenic railway route via Sandringham (the Royal country house in Norfolk) to Broadland. A reproduction of the poster can be bought from - http://www.past-reflections.co.uk/Broadlands-sandringham.html

Rudge Motorcycle, 1911

Roe IV Triplane, 1910 - Airborne!

 

 Photos of the Shuttleworth Collection's Roe IV Triplane replica of the 1910 original airborne in September 2012

 

Roe IV Triplane, 1910

 

 Also known as an Avro Triplane, as the name indicates this is the fourth type of triplane built by Alliott Verdon Roe of the AV Roe and Company aircraft manufacturers, which later became known as the shorter Avro. Only one example was built, and it was used as a training aircraft at Brooklands, the famous Edwardian motor racing circuit which also had an aerodrome inside the track. As a trainer, it unsurprisingly had several accidents, but as these early aircraft were relatively slow they were easily repaired and was not uncommon. At least twice it crashed into the infamous Brooklands sewage farm, not particularly pleasant for the pilot or any rescuers. The original did not survive to preservation, but this is an airworthy replica built for the superb 1965 film 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' in which it is one of the main aircraft stars, unfortunately meeting a very comedic demise involving a train and a tunnel! Fortunately more than one replica was built, and this surviving replica still flies at the Shuttleworth Collection when the weather permits at their frequent airshows. For photos of the aircraft airborne, visit the blog in two days time

 

Edwardian Pub

These photos show a fantastic recreation of an Edwardian era pub at the Museum of Brewing, formerly the Bass Museum, in Burotn-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire. Although it does not sell beer, it does feature many typical indoor games which Edwardian pubs would provide which you can play

 

Siemens Electric Locomotive, 1913

One of at least two identical four wheeled Siemens electric locomotives supplied to the Harton Colliery Railway for hauling coal trains, this is Harton Electric Locomotive number E10, built in 1913 by Siemens. Weighing in at 14.5 tons, the little locomotive is 100hp and served up until the 1980's where it entered preservation. It is now restored to static condition at the Tanfield Railway and can be seen on some days in their five road engine shed. Harton E10 makes a very interesting comparison with another electric locomotive supplied to the same railway in 1913 - AEG built E9, a larger (but a lot lower!) BO-BO locomotive - http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/aeg-electric-locomotive-1913.html which is also preserved on the Tanfield Railway

 

Maudslay 17hp 'Sweet Seventeen' Landaulette, 1909

This large Maudslay 17hp Landaulette is a good example of a motor car that you would most likely be seen driven by a Chauffeur, with the owner riding in the rear 'saloon' in privacy and comfort, and so would be a very exclusive style of body. This Maudslay 'Sweet Seventeen' was acquired from the Maudslay Motor Company by the Coventry Transport Museum in 1962, and the decision has been taken to conserve the vehicle in it's current, possibly original, condition rather than restore it.

Whitby Swing Bridge, 1909 - Part Two

First covered on the blog here http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/whitby-swing-bridge-1909.html these are some more images, mainly showing the underneath of the bridge taken from the Whitby old Lifeboat 'Mary Ann Hepworth', a Watson class Lifeboat built in 1938 (see http://www.oldlifeboatwhitby.co.uk/) which gives rides around Whitby harbour and harbour mouth (highly reccomended!) , and another image taken showing the Lifeboat underneath the bridge

 

Great Western Railway Poster, 1907

Great Western Railway poster from 1907 advertising tourism in north Wales. A reproduction of the poster can be bought from - http://www.past-reflections.co.uk/North_wales.html

De Dion Bouton 8-12hp Car (Lambert & Butler Motors, 8 of 25)

This is 8 of 25 in the Lambert & Butler Motors Series of Cigarette Cards, issued in 1908. From the back of the card;

"This De Dion Bouton Car is made with 1, 2, or 4 cylinders, of 8, 10 and 12hp respectively. The manufacturers have made automobiles for over 25 years. Their vehicles have always bourne the highest reputation for reliability and durability. Two of their cars successfully accomplished the journey from Pekin to Paris in 1907, and one took part in the still more arduous trial of the New York - Paris drive"

Darlington Tram 16, 1904

Darlington moved to electric trams in 1904 after having horse drawn trams operate in the city since 1880. A power station was built as early as 1900 in anticipation of the introduction of electric trams, and on June 1 1904 the electric tramway service opened for public use. The system was operated at first by a fleet of 16 single deck trams built by GF Milnes & Co, but they were so popular that in 1912 an additional two 56 seater double deck trams were bought from the United Electric Car Company of Preston, which itself was a combination of the popular tram manufacturer Dick Kerr and GF Milnes. A further 8 second hand trams were bought from the closed Sheerness and District Tramways Company which closed in 1917, with 6 being put into service. The Darlington tramway shut in 1926, and none of the tram cars survive - this large scale model of Tram 16, one of the original 16 GF Milnes single deck tram cars of 1904, is on display at the Crich Tramway Museum in Derbyshire

Watch 'Making Christmas Crackers', 1910

This suitable festive film from 1910 shows Christmas Crackers being made

Cast Iron Urinal, 1902

Not your normal Edwardian preserved item - this is a cast iron urinal for men, originally located at New Street in the centre of Burton-Upon-Trent in Staffordshire, across the road from the General Hospital and near the Bass brewery's railway line. It was one of twenty-two new 'water closets' provided to the males of Burton in 1902/3 as part of Burton Town Council's sanitisation scheme. It is built in cast iron with a louvred glass roof. Urinals like this were common on the urban streets of Britain in the Edwardian era, however public conveniences for women were not to be provided until much later in the century.

   

 

SS 'Virginian', 1904

This is a 1:48 scale model of the triple screw steam ship 'Virginian', built in 1904 by Messrs. Alexander Stephen and Sons Ltd of Glasgow for the Allan Line, to operate between Liverpool in England and Halifax in Canada.

2800 Class Locomotive No 2818, 1905

 

 This 1905 built locomotive, number 2818 of the Great Western Railway, is an early example of GJ Churchward's 2800 (or 28XX) class heavy freight steam locomotives, with a 2-8-0 wheel configuration. The first, originally numbered 97 and soon renumbered 2800 (hence the class name), was built in 1903 and underwent two years of trials before the first batch of locomotives was built. They were an extremely successful freight locomotive and during the First World War were used on the 'Jellicoe Specials', hauling heavy, lengthy coal trains to the north east coast of Scotland from where they were put on ships to power the Royal Navy Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow.

The 2800 class were built up until 1919, and a modified version was built from 1938 until 1942. During the life of the 2800 class, most had the frames changed to a curved front, however 2818 retained the 'straight' frames, with a visible step between the main footplate and the footplate above the 'pony' two wheeled truck at the front of the locomotive, which is why it was chosen for preservation as part of the National Collection. It is seen here on display at the National Railway Museum's Shildon outstation known as 'Locomotion'