When we walked past the Leawood Pumphouse on the Cromford Canal just before Easter the gate from the towpath was unlocked. I went down the steps to photograph the chimney from underneath, and then walked round to the main doors. These were open, and the engine was being worked on, presumably in readiness for steaming over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
The pumping engine was installed because water to the summit level could not be guaranteed after the Cromford Canal Company was denied access to its original supply, from Sir Richard Arkwright's mill just to the north. It was built in 1850, and pumped water from the River Derwent up to the canal.
(edit to correct name of canal - thanks, BigJohn)
3 comments:
A wonderful piece of history there. I'm always amazed at how ornate and attractive these very functional constructions were...and still are. I do sometimes wonder when it became compulsory to make working buildings look as prosaic and dull as possible!
Finger trouble! I think you meant to type "Cromford Canal", not Crofton Canal. Were you thinking of the Crofton Pumphouse on the K&A?
Oops! Thanks, BigJohn, corrected now. Yes, it's too confusing, isn't it? Fancy having two pumphouses, one called Crofton and the other at Cromford.
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