A collection of old water-powered water pumping equipment in Warwickshire - the previous report covered the less interesting conventionally powered pumps.
Most of these are hydraulic rams appearing in the late 1800s to early 1900s, before the water mains reached rural areas.
I’ve left out a few examples since they were either fragmentary or underwater - there were quite a lot of flooded ones in Warwickshire for some reason.
All rams except the last were probably made by John Blake Ltd, although the labels are either missing or indecipherable.
Photos are phone.
a. Starting with a typical wet one, under a collapsed hut just outside Coventry.
What seems to have happened here is that the water outlet from the ram pit got blocked so it was allowed to fill with water and then just used as a reservoir.
There’s a pipe leading from the flooded pit to a little hut nearby contain a modern (Worthington Simpson) centrifugal pump, now also defunct.
b. A couple of rams in the grounds of Upton House, near Banbury.
The first one is pretending to be a drain, some distance away from where it was supposed to be.
The second was powered by water from a dammed stream and has an unusual domed concrete runoff around the outlet valve.
c. Two rams are shown near Furnace End, probably pumping to a farm - only one was still there, hiding in a hedgerow.
d. A couple of rams, rather incongruously situated in the middle of a golf course just outside Birmingham.
These were driven from a pond via a filter tank, both of which are still there, and probably served a house, now part of a hotel.
The ram at the back may be an older model of Blake - the water was too deep to have a proper look in wellies.
e. The final site is the most interesting, containing two sorts of water powered pump.
This setup was installed sometime before 1885 for a villa which has since been demolished.
The water came from a weir and seems to have run through an open section before arriving at the pump house.
Inside is an Easton and Anderson No 4 ram, with water coming down a short tunnel.
Easton and Co were eventually taken over by Green and Carter, the other major ram manufacturer.
Next to it is a water wheel driving a three cylinder pump.
I didn’t notice a maker’s name on either the wheel or the pump, but it’s a nicely engineered thing and apart from a broken ballast tank, in quite good condition.
Most of these are hydraulic rams appearing in the late 1800s to early 1900s, before the water mains reached rural areas.
I’ve left out a few examples since they were either fragmentary or underwater - there were quite a lot of flooded ones in Warwickshire for some reason.
All rams except the last were probably made by John Blake Ltd, although the labels are either missing or indecipherable.
Photos are phone.
a. Starting with a typical wet one, under a collapsed hut just outside Coventry.
What seems to have happened here is that the water outlet from the ram pit got blocked so it was allowed to fill with water and then just used as a reservoir.
There’s a pipe leading from the flooded pit to a little hut nearby contain a modern (Worthington Simpson) centrifugal pump, now also defunct.
b. A couple of rams in the grounds of Upton House, near Banbury.
The first one is pretending to be a drain, some distance away from where it was supposed to be.
The second was powered by water from a dammed stream and has an unusual domed concrete runoff around the outlet valve.
c. Two rams are shown near Furnace End, probably pumping to a farm - only one was still there, hiding in a hedgerow.
d. A couple of rams, rather incongruously situated in the middle of a golf course just outside Birmingham.
These were driven from a pond via a filter tank, both of which are still there, and probably served a house, now part of a hotel.
The ram at the back may be an older model of Blake - the water was too deep to have a proper look in wellies.
e. The final site is the most interesting, containing two sorts of water powered pump.
This setup was installed sometime before 1885 for a villa which has since been demolished.
The water came from a weir and seems to have run through an open section before arriving at the pump house.
Inside is an Easton and Anderson No 4 ram, with water coming down a short tunnel.
Easton and Co were eventually taken over by Green and Carter, the other major ram manufacturer.
Next to it is a water wheel driving a three cylinder pump.
I didn’t notice a maker’s name on either the wheel or the pump, but it’s a nicely engineered thing and apart from a broken ballast tank, in quite good condition.
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