Some remains in a wooded valley south of Chester, consisting of a former timer yard A, and two little pump houses B and C.
There was less to see here than in a similar valley in the Edge region, but this report does serve to introduce one of the major local manufacturers.
Mostly phone pictures from this outing.
Not much left of the timber yard except decomposing sheds, the largest of which was the sawmill.
Most of the rear wall of B has been demolished by a tree.
Inside are the remains of a water pump, probably driven by an engine on an empty plinth behind where this photo was taken.
The axle and wheels originally sat on top of the curved frame turning a crank, now gone.
The pump was made by W H Smith of Whitchurch.
This a familiar name in these parts because they made all sorts of things out of iron, summarised by the phrase ‘anything his neighbour might want’.
The firm’s last casting was in the late 1970s and it was finally wound up in 1983.
They’re probably best known for cheese presses and barns - here’s a barn I happened to be parked next to the other day.
A bit further south is another small building C marked on older maps as a ‘meter house’.
But it seems to be another pump house, maybe earlier than other one and driven by a water wheel, also made by W H Smith.
Like hydraulic rams, these water wheel pumps are quite common.
The following picture on the left is supposed to show a bearing box in the far wall.
The mechanism below it on the right has mostly gone, but what’s left could be the base of a pump.
Old maps show a couple of hydraulic rams further south, but these have disappeared - not too surprising as they were right next to the track.
Still, a nice place for a walk with a series of pools, weirs and overflows.
There was less to see here than in a similar valley in the Edge region, but this report does serve to introduce one of the major local manufacturers.
Mostly phone pictures from this outing.
Not much left of the timber yard except decomposing sheds, the largest of which was the sawmill.
Most of the rear wall of B has been demolished by a tree.
Inside are the remains of a water pump, probably driven by an engine on an empty plinth behind where this photo was taken.
The axle and wheels originally sat on top of the curved frame turning a crank, now gone.
The pump was made by W H Smith of Whitchurch.
This a familiar name in these parts because they made all sorts of things out of iron, summarised by the phrase ‘anything his neighbour might want’.
The firm’s last casting was in the late 1970s and it was finally wound up in 1983.
They’re probably best known for cheese presses and barns - here’s a barn I happened to be parked next to the other day.
A bit further south is another small building C marked on older maps as a ‘meter house’.
But it seems to be another pump house, maybe earlier than other one and driven by a water wheel, also made by W H Smith.
Like hydraulic rams, these water wheel pumps are quite common.
The following picture on the left is supposed to show a bearing box in the far wall.
The mechanism below it on the right has mostly gone, but what’s left could be the base of a pump.
Old maps show a couple of hydraulic rams further south, but these have disappeared - not too surprising as they were right next to the track.
Still, a nice place for a walk with a series of pools, weirs and overflows.
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