Dogdyke Pumping Station

Tattershall

Lincolnshire

 

The Engine House on a recent steam day. The chimney was sadly demolished in 1941.

Click on pictures to enlarge

This little land drainage station has  lot in common with the Pinchbeck Marsh station near Spalding. The major difference is that, where Pinchbeck is a static museum engine in the care of the Local Authority, Dogdyke was restored to steam as early as 1977 by an enthusiastic Trust and is now steamed regularly on open days. The downside is that, where Pinchbeck remains substantially as left, Dogdyke has been substantially altered to fit it for its new role. The partial demolition of the Lancashire boiler to permit the insertion of a small vertical boiler makes little impact on the visual appearance of the site but the Health'n'Safety changes to the engine house and scoopwheel in my opinion seriously alter the ambience of the buildings . Still it is at least alive which forgives a multitude of sins.

The engine seen through the engine house door. The staircase and gate are modern    The Lancashire Boiler is by Foster of Lincoln and replaced the original in 1909. Note the Weir pump leaning against the setting.      The connecting rod and crank from above.

The engine was built in 1855/6 by Bradley & Craven of Wakefield. It worked until 1940 when it was replaced by a Ruston & Hornsby 40hp horizontal Diesel engine driving a Gwynnes centrifugal  pump. The chimney was demolished in 1941, presumably to reduce hazards to RAF Coningsby. The diesel has been superceded in its turn and is now part of the preservation operation .

The crankshaft and eccentric. The engine is in steam hence the blurred flywheel spokes.  Beam, connecting rod and crank from the viewing platform.  The engine from the front. The view is rather dominated by the recent access stairs , security gate and wooden railings.  The cylinder and slide valve from the viewing platform.

Technical Details:

Low Pressure Double Acting Condensing A frame Engine driving a Scoop Wheel.

Single Cylinder 24" x 3' 6"  slide valve  18-20 rpm at 10 psi   approx 16 hp

Cast Iron Beam 12' long   Flywheel 16' diameter

Scoop wheel 23' diameter  36 wooden floats 5'6" x 1'3"  raising about 25 tons of water per minute    geared down to 7 rpm

Beam and cylinder from above. This end is fitted with Watt parallel motion.  Cylinder and valve from above.  The new package boiler has been fitted into the rear of the boiler house by cutting away the rear of the Lancashire Boiler. It replaces an earlier vertical boiler by Clayton Ltd. of Leeds built in 1952 and installed by the Trust in 1977.

The scoop wheel and driving gear. The wire mesh is a recent Health and Safety intrusion.  The pinion driving the scoop wheel gear is mounted on the crankshaft of the engine.  The scoop wheel showing the paddles and the counter balanced exit gates.

The boiler was fed from a cast iron tank mounted in the roof. This probably dates back to the original 1856 boiler.  The flow of water from the scoop wheel opened these gates to reach the river. The gates were counterbalanced to close against a flow in the opposite direction. A simple one way valve.

 

The building on the right houses the Ruston diesel which superseded the old engine. In its turn it has been replaced by electric pumps.

The official Dogdyke website has been defunct for some time and the site seems to be poorly served by even the area tourist guides. According to the latest leaflet they open to the public on Easter Sunday and then the first Sunday of  the month May to October. The site is open 2.00-5.00pm and entrance is via Bridge Farm on the East bank of the river Witham just by the bridge carrying the A153.  1 mile  west of Tattershall Castle and church (both well worth a visit also). Large board signs are put out when the site is open otherwise it can be difficult to find.

Entrance is by donation

They do a really good cup of tea.

 

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