Southery Pumping Station
While bored one evening, researching old pumps and mills as usual, I stumbled upon a possible pumping station situated in Southery, Norfolk. Being fairly local, me and @dansgas1000 decided to take a drive and see if it was still there. The reference I found to it was from 2004, so I wasn't holding up much hope of it still standing. I hadn't seen any photos of it, so really didn't know what to expect.
Once parked up, we had a 20-minute walk adjacent to the river down to it. On the walk we really were exposed to all elements of the weather, the sun was beaming initially, then a massive rain shower soaked us to the bone, and we even saw a small tornado flying across the open fields!
Much to my relief, once we got closer, it was still there. Peeking into one of the broken windows, we got very excited. Proper hidden gem. The main building is of brick construction with a tin roof, which surprisingly is in excellent condition, only one small section of roof had a hole in, letting the downpour in. There is a small tin outbuilding which didn't have much of interest inside. Around the side is a strange, very tall wooden structure with a ladder to the top, the metal sign on the side reads 'Premier Water Cooler'.
All the machinery inside is still in place. This includes the main centrepiece, a single cylinder Ruston 10HRE engine with a submersible pump. There are a few other smaller pieces of machinery dotted about, including a tiny static engine in the corner which appeared to be petrol powered. On the other end of the Ruston engine, is a small Gwynnes centrifugal pump, the large hand wheel next to it still turned surprisingly. I'm not too clued-up on what all the machinery does, so if you can help, please comment, as I'd be interested.
The Pumping Station dates to 1943, but there was a smaller, more rudimentary drainage pump on the site before this one was constructed. It was lovely to see a place like this still exists with no graffiti, and only mostly natural decay. Being so far from any major town probably helps this.
Very glad we managed to see this one, there are a few more local to this which I'm yet to check out, if they're anything like this one, I'll be very excited! This is quite photo heavy, I do apologize, I did get a bit excited....
While bored one evening, researching old pumps and mills as usual, I stumbled upon a possible pumping station situated in Southery, Norfolk. Being fairly local, me and @dansgas1000 decided to take a drive and see if it was still there. The reference I found to it was from 2004, so I wasn't holding up much hope of it still standing. I hadn't seen any photos of it, so really didn't know what to expect.
Once parked up, we had a 20-minute walk adjacent to the river down to it. On the walk we really were exposed to all elements of the weather, the sun was beaming initially, then a massive rain shower soaked us to the bone, and we even saw a small tornado flying across the open fields!
Much to my relief, once we got closer, it was still there. Peeking into one of the broken windows, we got very excited. Proper hidden gem. The main building is of brick construction with a tin roof, which surprisingly is in excellent condition, only one small section of roof had a hole in, letting the downpour in. There is a small tin outbuilding which didn't have much of interest inside. Around the side is a strange, very tall wooden structure with a ladder to the top, the metal sign on the side reads 'Premier Water Cooler'.
All the machinery inside is still in place. This includes the main centrepiece, a single cylinder Ruston 10HRE engine with a submersible pump. There are a few other smaller pieces of machinery dotted about, including a tiny static engine in the corner which appeared to be petrol powered. On the other end of the Ruston engine, is a small Gwynnes centrifugal pump, the large hand wheel next to it still turned surprisingly. I'm not too clued-up on what all the machinery does, so if you can help, please comment, as I'd be interested.
The Pumping Station dates to 1943, but there was a smaller, more rudimentary drainage pump on the site before this one was constructed. It was lovely to see a place like this still exists with no graffiti, and only mostly natural decay. Being so far from any major town probably helps this.
Very glad we managed to see this one, there are a few more local to this which I'm yet to check out, if they're anything like this one, I'll be very excited! This is quite photo heavy, I do apologize, I did get a bit excited....
