Saturday 6^th July 2019

We had another very interesting morning, with a visit to Claverton Pumping Station. This utilises a water wheel to pump water from the River Avon to the canal, 48 feet above.

Water supplies were always problematic on the K&A Canal. In Bath alone there were two pumps, one took water from the river and delivered it into the pound in the middle of the lock flight, the other pumped from there to the top of the flight. Between Bath and Bradford-on-Avon, there is a 9-mile pound that is supplied with water by Claverton.

Built in 1813, Claverton pumped water 24 hours a day, almost continuously until 1952 when damage forced its closure and replacement, first with a diesel engine powered pump and later with electric pumps. A long restoration project took place in the 1960’s and 70’s and the pump reopened in 1978.

Its design would have been cutting edge technology in its day and the thought process behind it, ingenious. A curved, copper-plated sluice passes water to a wheel 24 feet wide and 17 feet in diameter at a rate of 2 tons per second. This passes the driving power through a series of wooden teethed gear wheels and two beams to two bucket, lift pumps. These each deliver 50 gallons of water per stroke, equating to 98,500 gallons per hour.

A fascinating place. If ever we lived close to anything like this, Brenda would hardly ever see me.

            

     

It had been our intention to move, but it was such a glorious day and we were enjoying the countryside, we decided to stay.

 

We watched rabbits in the field opposite and the water was so clear we could see all the fish passing. We had shears and a garden trowel on board, with which we had cut steps into the bank and cut grass enough to put the chairs out. Had our first BBQ of the season. All in all, a lovely day.

Weather: hot.