Ireland and UK Holiday 2015, 17th JuneHayle in Cornwall
Bad day, cold and cloudy, luckily no rain. First a quick visit to a cider making place, a bit disappointing as though it was advertised as free, you had to pay to see anything relevant to current operation, we didn't bother. Then more industrial investigation, National Trust beam engines, one a huge pumping engine and the other across the road a smaller winding engine. Those visits are slow and consume most of the day, so much to look at. Last thing we went on a quick visit to Penzance, then back to "home" and start getting ready to move on to Gloucester tomorrow. Long story but this biggest in England beam engine below was going to be scrapped and a generous (and far sighted) American saved it and it eventually was acquired by the National Trust. This monster has a single acting steam cylinder of 90 inches diameter and was built in 1892 for another mine and later moved to this site to continue as a pumping engine here from 1924 to 1945 when the mine closed. Later it was needed to keep the water out of a neighbouring mine so was kept going until 1954. The beam lifts a vertical shaft weighing 180 tons which has various pump stages attached to it as deep at 1700 feet and the operation varied from maybe one stroke per minute to somewhat faster as the water rose and fell with rain conditions. It is fixed now and does not move at all......  The beam is in the down position, drawn there by the weight of the pump shaft. The steam piston pulled down the other end of the beam and raised this end thus lifting water up stage by stage to the surface. The pump shaft stroke was 9 feet and the piston stroke 10 feet. Inside the engine building showing the cylinder top, rather large......  Up on the top floor next to the massive beam where the piston rod connects via a complex parallel motion arrangement below the beam. Weird to stand near it, so huge that it is overwhelming....  The jacketed cylinder and the valve control gear.......  For the animal lovers out there, the best material found for the water pump valve shown here was hippopotamus hide.....  Left that site and over the road is the smaller winding engine (was used to lift/lower men and lift ore and rubble), that was being driven by an electric motor so the action could be seen properly. This picture below shows the top of the 30 inch diameter cylinder and this time the action is double acting as the engine drives a rotary winding drum and needs to stop and start and go forward and reverse at any point whereas the bigger pump engines only need to lift that enormous pump shaft and it drops back down with its own weight. OK too much information for many, but it interests me. The piston rod connection is blurred because it was going up and down at a fairly fast rate......  The business end of the beam outside the building drives the rod that turns the winding drums, steel cables of course went from these drums over a pulley at the top of an adjacent tower to connect to the lifts.......  Later, on to Penzance (saw no pirates there) this is just one street, mostly could be anywhere in England.....  The 'Egyptian House' is a bit weird and unlike anything else in town.....  Lots of pleasure boats in the small harbour........  And from Penzance we could see St Michael's Mount across the water......  |