Report - Hydraulic Ram Pumps 15, South/East/West Yorkshire (2021-2023)

[urbanchemist]

Below are most of the remaining ram pumps in Yorkshire, bringing the total to 53 pumps in this county.
This excludes a few which were either locked, in someone’s garden, or otherwise awkward to access.

Overall just under 50% of the pumps indicated on old maps of Yorks were still there although it’s hard to be precise because labelling is not always reliable, and some are probably not recorded at all.

The source of the water being pumped can usually be guessed, but its destination, apart from being ‘uphill somewhere’, is hard to determine.
Luckily the two major manufacturer’s (John Blake and Green&Carter) have fairly complete records and will usually provide further details given a serial number.
I only made this sort of enquiry for one of the sites below (one of a couple near Pocklington).

Photos are phone and sites are ordered alphabetically with the date range for installation in brackets.



Aberford (1890 - 1906). Two rams, an Easton and a Blake in a sunken chamber with a hole in its roof.
The source of the water seems to have been a spring.
Reservoirs with ram pit in the distance.

Dalton Magna (1921 - 1934). A little ‘Caliban’ ram, which are not that common, fed from a spring.
This one was hard to find as it was getting dark and only the top of the air tank was visible in the undergrowth.
I excavated a bit before giving up due to darkness and mosquitoes.

Halifax (1892 - 1905). A small Blake lying on its side under ferns and rubbish, fed from a spring.

Harewood (1891- 1893). A munted Blake on the Harewood estate, probably powered by and pumping lake water.

Lindrick (1901 - 1916). A fairly hefty Blake in pieces, fed from a spring.
Reservoir and overflow pipe.

Before and after a bit of excavation.

Londesborough (1890 - 1908). A little Warner (I think), next to and below a lake so probably pumping lake water.

Pocklington (1909 - 1926). A Blake, fed from a spring.
This site has featured before in a recent compilation of pump houses because the right hand part of the hut contained a Godwin pump.
Reservoir with hut in the background.

continued

 

[urbanchemist]

Pocklington (1925 and 1948). Two Blakes, fed from a stream and used to top up ornamental ponds.
A reservoir tank and the ram hut next to the dried-up stream.

The ram was installed in 1925 is unusual because it has three waste valves (this is the one the right in the first picture below, on the left in second).

Multiple waste valves seem to have been an early attempt to get more throughput from a normal-sized ram when the fall is only modest, about 3 feet in this location.
Other strategies are to make the ram bigger, or just have several smaller ones - examples of both approaches have appeared in previous posts.




Sheffield (1948-1955). A Blake in a well disguised and rather cramped pit next to a stream, locals looking on with interest.

Silsden (1914 - 1934). This was an interesting one - two ram sites are marked below Silsden reservoir.
The higher one had gone, and at first I though the lower one had as well - what was left looked like the remains of an engine-powered pump house.

However a bit of excavation revealed the bases of three extremely large rams, one of them partly under fallen masonry.

This must have been a setup like the below, picture taken from a 1938 catalogue, capable of supplying an entire village.

Quite what this thing was for I have no idea - the reservoir and rams are above Sildsen so it must have pumped elsewhere.
Maybe there’s some local folk memory of distant thumping oop t’valley.





Wike (before 1888). Three rams are shown on early maps but I only found one, unless there’s one down the bottom of this well.

It was getting dark by the time I found an old Easton.

As in previous collections, these pictures are the likely to be the first, and last, record of any of these things.

 

[dweeb]

I wish I had a well, just paid a £300 water bill. I might get on and dig a bugger one day!

Some nice little structures to accommodate the pumps there. As enjoyable as ever.

 

[HughieD]

One of your best pump reports so far. Keep them flowing in...

 

[mingerocket]

Excellent. I particularly like the one in Londesborough