27th July 2009

Just catching up on the blog for last week…

We were donated the remains of the two chaldron waggons that once stood on display at the Head Wrightson works at Thornaby, Teesside. These had been acquired from Seaham (ex Londonderry) and were restored with the lettering HW in place of the ‘L’. They were later moved to Preston Hall when donated to Stockton Museum before deteriorating to the state that they were removed to Stockton’s storage facility.
Now surplus to requirements, I was able to collect the remains for Beamish. This includes some useful metalwork including the brake handle and pivot casting.

On the chaldron waggon front, we have been awarded £14,000 from the Association for Industrial Archaeology towards a project to record, conserve and restore the ex Londonderry chaldron waggon, pretty much the epitome of the wooden chaldron waggon. This supports £20,ooo from PRISM and £2500 from the Ken Hoole Trust. My thanks to all of the funders for supporting this project. Tender documents are now being issued and a full survey is underway.

Also in the Stockton collection is this wonderful overhead crane from Brown’s Foundry, Teesside. Built by Smith Rodley of Leeds, it retains its steam powered cradle and vertical boiler. It is hoped to cosmetically restore the crane for eventual display in the area, possibly at Preston Hall.