Before the arrival of the National Grid it was not uncommon for isolated hamlets or farms to generate their own electricity, either with oil or diesel engines or sometimes with water turbines.
Water-powered mills also began to replace their wheels with turbines from the late 1800s onwards because they weren’t as susceptible to variations in the water supply and required less maintenance.
All of which means there are quite a few derelict remains of water turbines to be found, mainly in the regions where they were most common - wet, hilly places like Wales and the Lake District.
So while out on the hunt for mills I usually check databases and old maps of the surrounding area for possible turbine sites.
Quite often there is nothing left, or just the odd relic such as the electrical panel and governor shown below (from different locations in mid-Wales)
But here’s one up a valley near Ruthin (Wales) where there was a bit more to see - a double Pelton wheel, used to generate electricity for a nearby farm.
Maker’s plate for the top generator - I forgot to look if the bottom one was AC or DC.
More Pelton remains in a field not far away - this originally transferred power to a farm by an endless wire rope running on pulleys mounted on wooden poles.
The outbuilding it supplied has since been renovated so nothing electrical to find there.
Next a former corn mill near Uttoxeter. The building looked like it may be occupied or in use, but the turbine was still in place outside.
This sort of machine, dating from around 1900, operates by sitting at the bottom of a water filled chamber, funnelling the water through moveable guide vanes onto a central rotor.
The rotor as well as the bottom part of the draft tube have gone - I didn’t notice a maker’s plate.
Finally a rather colourful turbine near Watendlath in Cumbria, used to provide electricity for the village in the 1920s, although the generator is missing.
Water was extracted from a stream higher up the hill and carried down in a pipe, bypassing some small waterfalls.
There are bound to be more of these little hydropower setups to find if anyone cares to look.
Anyway, it’s a good excuse to put on wellies and go for walks in the countryside.
Water-powered mills also began to replace their wheels with turbines from the late 1800s onwards because they weren’t as susceptible to variations in the water supply and required less maintenance.
All of which means there are quite a few derelict remains of water turbines to be found, mainly in the regions where they were most common - wet, hilly places like Wales and the Lake District.
So while out on the hunt for mills I usually check databases and old maps of the surrounding area for possible turbine sites.
Quite often there is nothing left, or just the odd relic such as the electrical panel and governor shown below (from different locations in mid-Wales)
But here’s one up a valley near Ruthin (Wales) where there was a bit more to see - a double Pelton wheel, used to generate electricity for a nearby farm.
Maker’s plate for the top generator - I forgot to look if the bottom one was AC or DC.
More Pelton remains in a field not far away - this originally transferred power to a farm by an endless wire rope running on pulleys mounted on wooden poles.
The outbuilding it supplied has since been renovated so nothing electrical to find there.
Next a former corn mill near Uttoxeter. The building looked like it may be occupied or in use, but the turbine was still in place outside.
This sort of machine, dating from around 1900, operates by sitting at the bottom of a water filled chamber, funnelling the water through moveable guide vanes onto a central rotor.
The rotor as well as the bottom part of the draft tube have gone - I didn’t notice a maker’s plate.
Finally a rather colourful turbine near Watendlath in Cumbria, used to provide electricity for the village in the 1920s, although the generator is missing.
Water was extracted from a stream higher up the hill and carried down in a pipe, bypassing some small waterfalls.
There are bound to be more of these little hydropower setups to find if anyone cares to look.
Anyway, it’s a good excuse to put on wellies and go for walks in the countryside.
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