The Crossness Pumping Station was built by Sir Joseph Bazalgette as part of Victorian London's urgently needed main sewerage system.
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Introducing Mhairi - volunteer and artist - who will be sharing her work with us on Sunday, 8th September during our Open Day celebrating the Thames.
For info and tickets to this unique event, see our website: https://crossness.org.uk/event/crossness-open-day-celebrating-the-thames/
ThamesFestival
10 years ago, this 1960s plan of the Thames Southern Outfall was put on show. It still has pride of place by the Beam Engine House doors
Stored away somewhere in a dusty corner on the Thames Water site was this plan of the original Thames Southern Outfall in the 60's. Tea stained, dirty and nearly unrecognisable it was handed over to the Trust. Simon Hodges then took on the challenge of cleaning and restoring it with acetone, cotton bud and sponge to remove oily finger marks, with as much care as if it was a Matisse or Renoir.
Finally with a new Perspex cover and a coat of wax to the frame, it was ready to go on display in the Boiler House.
Raymondo Arnoldopoulis - Crossness Courier
Another excellent photoshoot at Crossness Pumping Station
The Pumping Styaion has featured in a number of TV and movie series.
The most recent shoot was for a video game Civilization featuring the actor Gwendoline Christie.
Now, it’s your turn. Introducing your in-game narrator for Civilization VII, Gwendoline Christie!► Watch the Official Gameplay Showcase: https://2kgam.es/Civ...
As the Thomas Crapper collection goes for auction, we take a moment to enjoy a highlight from our display (and if anyone has an avocado toilet they don’t want, our Collections volunteer manager would love to hear from you).
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgweykp4e2o
This month’s star of the Crossness Steaming Day is Knarler and her friends, including volunteer Jed.
Some final adjustments to our sewer model by volunteer Petra before the start of our Steaming Day today.
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Warming Boiler up in preparation for Crossness Sunday steaming open day
The restoration team taking full advantage of the scaffolding to access those hard-to-reach areas around the Victoria beam engine, removing rust and then painting. You can check on their progress on our Open Days - the next two are 18th August and 8th September (details in our biog).
📷Mhairi
The deadline is approaching and they’re so close! Just a bit more help needed.
Visit our stand in the Community area of the Thamesmead Festival for the chance to join our competition to win 4 free tickets to our Thames Festival Open Day taking place 8th September.
Come to the stand, recreate your version of our Monster Soup image (we have props!) and post on socials with .
The wining pic will be the one that impresses the Stand volunteers the most (judges decision is final)
If you’re at the today in Sothmere Park, why not come over to the Community area to meet us? Find out some about the Crossness Pumping Station and indulge in some Victorian cosplay
Something for everyone at this unique event merging music, engineering, architecture and art on Sunday, 8th September. For more information see our website https://crossness.org.uk/event/crossness-open-day-celebrating-the-thames/
See the magnificent Beam Engine House at Crossness Pumping Station, with special performances from PWOS Musical Theatre and artwork from Francis Payne.
One of our volunteers, Ray, spotted and photographed, a large group of these caterpillars by the side of the Valve House.
Thanks to , who also have them, we know they will become Cinnabar moths (also pictured). These will overwinter in the ground as pupa and emerge late next Spring to lay their eggs in the underside of ragwort leaves.
We were honoured to welcome Dartford’s Mayor and Mayoress to the Crossness Engines Trust’s stand at the Dartford's Big Day Out
If you’d like to know more about visiting Crossness or volunteering with us, why not come down to Dartford's Big Day Out tomorrow? You can meet some of our volunteers and learn all about the work we do.
New Event for Sunday, 8th September:
We will be taking part in this year's Thames Festival with a unique open day blending our Victorian design and engineering with music courtesy of PWOS Theatre Group and works by artists Francis Payne and Anna Keen.
For tickets, see our listing:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/crossness-pumping-station-celebrates-the-thames-tickets-918436035907
Thames Festival TrustPWOS Musical Theatre for Petts Wood, Orpington & Sidcup Anna Keen
A unique Open Day featuring performances by PWOS Musical Theatre and art from Francis Payne and Anna Keen.
Tripadvisor’s “Traveller’s Choice Awards” for 2024 have been announced and we’re very proud to be placed among the top 10% of listings around the world on .
Thank you to all our supporters, visitors and volunteers who helped us reach this point.
Thank you to all our visitors today - your support helps us with the restoration and conservation work. We had a great day today and we hope everyone enjoyed their time at Crossness, including Darla and Henry (pictured here)
Introducing a VIP visitor - this is Ruby enjoying her visit to our Steaming Day
Oiling the Prince Consort engine in readiness for our Steaming Day on Sunday - 2 done, just 208 more to do
And finally, to round off our celebration of , we’ve just launched our new YouTube channel with a new film - The True Engines of Crossness
youtu.be/E8UCU_Wf_98
Meet Jurgita, Bob and Ray. They are just three of Crossness Pumping Station's many active volunteers who give up their time to Crossness week in, week out.If...
Although many of our volunteers focus on specific roles from gardening to guiding, restoration to maintenance, what sets them apart is their willingness to help wherever they’re needed
Are you looking for a school visit that will really get your class pumped up? Here at Crossness Pumping Station, we offer visits for primary, secondary and SEND schools linked to the National Curriculum in science, history, geography and maths. Pupils can explore the amazing Beam Engine House, get hands on with Victorian artefacts, and learn all about how London has dealt with sewage throughout history. And to keep things flowing smoothly on your visit we’ll provide you with exclusive use of the site, onsite coach parking if required and plenty of indoor lunch space. For more information, costs and bookings, please contact our new Learning Officer - Laura, at [email protected]
We’re celebrating and reminding ourselves how lucky we are to have such a dedicated team of people to keep Crossness going
The last of the old lifting beams above Victoria being moved and the new ones in situ - tests have all been completed and work can restart on Victoria’s restoration.
If you’re walking or cycling to our Steaming Day today, don’t forget that we’ll have our gate to the Thames Path open. We’ll also be running the vintage bus from and to Abbey Wood station.
Thanks to one of our volunteers, we now have the best image yet of the heron that stalks our cooling pond.
📷RTovey
Belvedere Road, Bazalgette Way, Abbey Wood
London
SE29AQ
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We still have some tickets for our art and music celebration Open Day this Sunday, 8th September. Why not join us for this unique event? Link in biog #totallythames #thamesmead #bexley
Introducing Mhairi - volunteer and artist - who will be sharing her work with us on Sunday, 8th September during our Open Day celebrating the Thames. For info and tickets to this unique event, see our website: https://crossness.org.uk/event/crossness-open-day-celebrating-the-thames/ ThamesFestival
Steams Up! All ready for our Steaming Day today. #steam #pumpingstation #victorianengineering #bexley #thamesmead
Although many of our volunteers focus on specific roles from gardening to guiding, restoration to maintenance, what sets them apart is their willingness to help wherever they’re needed #volunteersweek #simplythebest #sharingskills
We continue our celebration of #VolunteersWeek introducing some of our team. Jurgita joined us after visiting Crossness and is on the restoration team currently working on the decorative ironwork. Without such dedicated volunteers, the Crossness Pumping Station would be lost to rust and ruin. #restoration #pumpingstation #ironwork #victorianengineering
As well as being a tour guide, Ray also does all the plumbing, a lot of gardening and is a wildlife champion at Crossness. We are fortunate to have such multi-skilled volunteers happy to lend a hand where it’s needed. If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with u, DM us or send us an email at [email protected] 📹R.Harris #VolunteersWeek #volunteering #thamesmead #bexley #victorianengineering #museum
It’s been a while since we celebrated #machinemonday so here’s the Stewart Engine in action. Built by Duncan Stewart & Co. in Glasgow (1902-1911), this diagonal duplex has the two cylinders offset - one on each leg of the A frame. This is just one of the engines restored by volunteers and housed in the Grade II listed Valve House at Crossness. #restoration #steamengines #mesmerising
As well as the world’s largest rotative beam engines, a collection of restored smaller engines and three Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, you can also see “The Great Stink” exhibition which shows why Crossness and the sewerage system designed by Bazalgette was so badly needed. #MuseumDay #museum4education #victorianengineering #bexley #thamesmead
Territorial disputes at Crossness: Moorhen: 1 Duck: 0 #mine
More preparations for our Steaming on Sunday with a final check of the safety valves in the basement. #steam
Will you be my volunteer? Why not use this ‘extra’ day to take that next step and join us at Crossness? There are lots of opportunities … guiding, gardening, catering as well as helping with boilers, steam engines and our narrow gauge railway. See our website for more details or DM us for the start of a beautiful relationship. http://crossness.org.uk/volunteer/
This Henry Watson pump, manufactured in the 1920s - 1930s by Henry Watson & Sons in Newcastle, is one of a pair once used in the Palace of Westminster for their heating system. It’s one one of the many small engines restored by our volunteers and on show in the Valve House at Crossness. #MachineMonday
#OnThisDay in 1953, a storm surged combined with a high Spring tide caused catastrophic flooding across the UK’s East coat, Netherlands and Belgium. Although the Victorian engines were no longer in use, Prince Consort was was temporarily put back into steam to help clear the floodwaters from Abbey Wood and Royal Arsenal. By 1956, the engines had been decommissioned and the Beam Engine House was abandoned. Fifty years after it was last in use, a restored Prince Consort was restarted by the Prince of Wales.
As well as the world’s largest rotative beam engines, we also have a collection of smaller engines restored by volunteers - these need regular maintenance to ensure they’re in working order for visitors #machinemonday
Thank you to the visitors and volunteers who made our last Open Day of 2023 such a good day. Our next Open Day will be in March next year as we’re going to be carrying out essential maintenance during January and February - we’ll keep you posted on progress. #steam #beamengine
Thank you to everybody who visited Crossness today - without your support, we wouldn’t be able to conserve and restore this extraordinary example of our industrial heritage #ThankYou
There will be Steam! Some great news: after nearly two years, we are finally able to run the Prince Consort beam engine at our next Open Day on Sunday, 20th August. For more information and tickets, please see our website: https://www.crossness.org.uk/visit.html
The pump and motors have been fitted and Bazalgette is running! It’s been tested and commissioned - still lots to get done but the RANG team are hopeful it will run for our Sunday Open Day. Tickets are still available via our website https://www.crossness.org.uk/visit.html
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