Some Questions Answered

The other day a proper letter arrived.  You remember the sort of thing?   With a proper stamp on it and my name and address written on it in ink!   It was postmarked Swindon.  It turned out to be from Philip Harrison from Luckington, Chipenham - a follower of this Blog.   It was NINE pages long too!

Philip has an interest in water towers and a specific interest in the watering arrangements at Garsdale, near to the summit of the S and C,  Garsdale had not only a tank house and water tower, more or less identical to ours here at Settle, but also the water troughs between he rails for expresses to pick up water without stopping.  Here are the Garsdale troughs with their own water tank.  Built in 1907 and now long since gone.

It was always a spectacle to see the troughs in use as when the tender was full, surplus water would often overflow, to the delight of line-side photographers but to the dismay of diners in the first class carriages behind:

But back to Philip Harrison.  His scholarly letter addressed questions posed in this Blog.

Q1  Could Settle Station Tank House have been built earlier than 1876?  Answer (backed up with numerous extracts from contemporary reports) - most probably.  Settle station's site was hugely important as an accessible construction base, covering some 10 acres of land.  Three tank engines operated along the line well before 1876 and it was important to avoid road haulage for massively heavy supplies.  Settle station itself was completed by June 1876 when it was reported that 'a water tank is erected some 30 feet above the level of the rails, which will hold  200 tons of water'.

Q2  Why is Settle Station tank house so large?  Answer -  uncertain but optimism about future through and local traffic may have been the key.  There was local concern about where the precious water would come from.  In the end it came from Stainforth higher up the line.

Q3  How was the Garsdale Tank House heated?    Answer - It was used for local social functions and had two big coal fired stoves which may have been later amenities fitted for these occasions.

My precis of the answers condenses page after page of evidence, or lack of it.

The letter concludes with a  number of drawings of Midland Railway water tanks such as this one:

Thank you so much Philip Harrison.

Fiat Lux

 The evenings are certainly drawing in now which puts a different perspective on our habit of siting outside on the tank decks or inside if it is too cold or raining.  The automatic LED lights of the station's lovely neoVictorian street lights come on well before dusk.  We can see eleven of them from our perch and a jolly fine spectacle they make.  The picture below was in fact almost approaching darkness on a wet and horrible late evening earlier this week.   Unfortunately, modern cameras do their best to turn night into day so imagine this as nearly dark.  So, mentally darken it considerably and fiat lux.

Evgeniia and David

 We have had the privilege of hosting our Ukrainian refugee family for the past year already.  Doesn't time fly?   There has been only passing reference to them in this Blog.  They have in fact been able to return to Ukraine to see their family twice during the year to 'test the temperature' as it were.  We hope we have been able to give them a home from home yet to respect their privacy.  Evgeniia has even got a Facebook presence which shows her home as Settle, which is nice.  She has just published her profile picture, taken in Ukraine, on it too - 

On their return from Ukraine this month I asked how things were back home.  No bombs I hope? I enquired.  "Only one" she matter of factually replied.

They are about to move on to another house, very nearby in Settle in early October and we shall still be here for them if ever needed, of course.

Re-roofing

 Water ingress has defied more than a year's worth of investigation and attempted cures.  It has now become clear that the main ingress is not from that gap between the tank and the walls, though that was part of the problem and is now comprehensively fixed.

In fact the water has been coming in above the tank base plates where is has accumulated.  That can only mean that the fibreglass roof inside the tank has failed, either locally, near the one and only outlet, or more generally.  A new roof, over the old one is necessary.   Inevitably this has meant total clearance of whatever sits on the old roof   In other words the decked area above.   It has been quite a task to dismantle the decks and a problem was how to store the lengthy components - mainly decking planks and supporting rafters.   The obvious place for temporary storage would have been on the ground which would involve lowering them piece by piece and raising them back again.  Then, inspiration struck.  Why not secure them across the corners of the massively strong tank itself?

For a week of so, the photographers will have to put up with the results but reassembly will be so much more straightforward and the components will be exactly where they are needed.  The stacks are tied together securely with tensioned straps and at the western corners the planks are interwoven with the horizontal steel cables of the safety fences.   The new roof begins next Monday, 16th September when a week of high pressure if forecast over the UK.   Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention.

West Really IS West

 Here's Sir Nigel Gresley flying through Settle station last evening:

We spend many of our early evenings sitting on top of the tower marvelling at the views.  Who wouldn't?   Compass directions are important, particularly as Pat has become a Planefinder fan so we need to see what direction a given vapour trail is heading.   There is not room for a horizontal compass rose in front of our indoors bench swing-seat to the compromise if a vertical one.

SWMBO is forever suggesting that it is axially wrong.  Subtle comments like "They've moved Blackpool again" and not unknown.   Last evening gave me an opportunity to verify the position.   Here's the sun most definitely setting in THE WEST.  Not the best photograph in the world but enough for me to be able to rest my case I think.

Sky View of Settle Station and Water Tower

 I have mentioned before on this Blog that when we lived at The Folly in Settle we had no view of the railway.   Frustrating.  The water tower more than makes up for it as seen here:

A Round Table at Last

Here is a picture of our south deck including a rather fine cast iron circular table.  It used to have a wooden top, long since perished.  I have been searching on and off for years for a circular replacement without success.  Meantime I have used a square or oblong temporary table top which had been functional but ugly.

Inspiration eventually struck.  Maybe you can buy circular paint barrel tops that might do the trick.  You can and I did.  Its the inverted top of a 210 litre ginormous paint tin, complete with locking ring:

Not too bad a  result eh?

From that deck there is a superb view of the comings and goings at the station, steam trains and all - see next Blog entry.