News from 2007
Another award
Peter Wood, our Volunteer Co-ordinator received a massive accolade at the Cheshire Awards for Tourism Skills at a Swinging Sixties themed evening at Tatton Park on Thursday 22nd November. He was awarded the “Most Valuable Volunteer” prize for his work at the Anson Engine Museum in Poynton.
The event is now in its 7th year. Emma Clarke, Head of business development at Visit Chester and Cheshire, said “these awards highlight the quality of service and commitment made by those who work at the sharp end of the industry and it is important to recognize this.” She went on to say “The purpose of tonight’s event is to celebrate the fantastic achievements, exceptional commitment and dedication demonstrated by employees and volunteers in the Visitor Economy across Cheshire”.
At a glittering award ceremony to Celebrate the Achievements of Talented Staff (CATS), a packed room of over 500 managers, professionals and employees from the North West’s Tourism Industry, were spellbound listening as the shortlist and then winners for each category were read out.
The evening was presented by celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, Simon's television career includes Granada Breeze, Livetime, Battle of the Chefs, This Morning, Granada Tonight, A Taste for Travel, Lunchtime Live and The Afternoon Show.
Whilst reading out Peter’s nomination Chairman of Cheshire County Council Neville Price said,
“he manages to bring a warm humour and enthusiasm to everything he does. Peter also has the ability to make all visitors feel welcome, always with a pleasant disposition and never too busy to spend time to talk.”
Peter Wood first became involved with the Museum while he was the Training Manager at the nearby Mirrlees engine company. He came to know Les Cawley and Geoff Challinor (the museum’s founders) through bringing customers to the Museum and then helping to recover the old “Mirrlees” engine from the Manchester Ship Canal. He then helped on an occasional basis with the second phase of the building work and, after retiring almost three years ago, started to spend more time at the Museum. He helps with anything from restoring engines to cleaning gutters, from erecting new buildings to showing visitors around and then recently agreeing to be the co-coordinator for the band of volunteers at the Museum.
He has been a member of The Scout Association since joining 3rd Hazel Grove as a scout when he was eleven years old and after periods as Venture Scout Leader and Group Scout Leader is now its President. This experience has developed his love of the outdoors and introduced him to many new skills, including working with people, camp craft, walking, sailing, building scout huts etc. Another interest fostered during his years as a scout was long distance walking and he still enjoys helping to organise one of the country’s premier long distance events, “The Bullock Smithy Hike”. It is an annual fund raising event for the 3rd Hazel Grove Scout Group that was started 1976.
Geoff Challinor, Chairman of the Museum said “It was with great pleasure that I supported the nomination of Peter Wood as Most Valuable Volunteer. It is a description that barely describes the status he has unknowingly achieved with his work for the Anson Engine Museum. All in all Peter has been a massive boost to us. His commitment to his work and the future of the museum cannot be faulted. I am delighted he is one of our volunteers and wholeheartedly supported his nomination. I am glad the judges agreed.”
After winning Peter said “I am absolutely thrilled. It is with tremendous pride I pick up this award ….. and I know it will be great publicity for the museum and Macclesfield borough too.”
Fanfare finale & 50th birthday celebrations
To read about our closing weekend celebrations click here.
Last few days to see Colliers Exhibition
There are only 9 occasions remaining for you to visit the fascinating exhibition about the Colliers and Collieries of Poynton.
Many visitors to the exhibition tell us they hadn’t realized that Poynton used to be a thriving mining community. The pictures, maps and artefacts tell the story of the collieries from their early days, through the peak production in 1859, then the decline after the War. Coalmining had a profound effect on the village and without it; Poynton would look very different today. The Colliers and Colliery Exhibition gives people an overview of the mines in the area and what life was like for the men who mined the coal and the families they left above ground when they went on their shift.
The exhibition was visited by John M Ryan last weekend. John, who now lives in Bromborough, is one of the authors of the book Poynton: A Coalming Village. He spent a couple of hours looking at the exhibits and wrote in the visitors book “Classic Show! After 50+ years of fascination with Poynton, I learnt more today.”
3000th Visitor
There was an extra surprise for Tim Walker when he visited the Anson Engine Museum this week as part of the Chester U3A Club visit. He was welcomed by Geoff Challinor, Curator as the 3000th visitor this season.
The award winning museum has seen its visitor number steadily increase over the past two years. Geoff Challinor said “it is thanks to the hard work of our volunteers who put so much of their own time and enthusiasm into the museum that visitors feel so welcome and many return again and again. We regularly have visits from clubs and societies and we have had groups visiting from as far afield as Preston and even Sussex. It was a really great atmosphere with the Chester U3A group and they told us they had not expected there to be so much at the museum. They stayed two hours longer than they had planned.”
Armchair Walks
Roy Dudley (local historian and one of the museum’s Trustees) will be giving an explanatory talk allowing people to understand the richness of the scenes before them.
For the past few years the museum has held these armchair walks as part of the Step into Cheshire campaign but due to cutbacks at the County Council, there will not be a campaign this year. Due to the popularity of the slides shows however, the local museum run by volunteers, has decided to run events anyway.
Roy, who along with Les Cawley, used to take slide shows out to clubs and homes in the area said “last year we ran three sessions and they were totally sold out. People are always asking me when I will running more of them, so this year I am ready to do four – if my voice holds out.”
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The talks are already proving to be very popular with many seats already booked. As numbers are strictly limited in the cinema area, advance booking is highly recommended. We advise visitors to arrive 30 minutes before the show starts or you may find we have released your seats to visitors who arrive without a booking. To book your seat tel 01625 874426 during office hours.
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Walks to be held on Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd, Friday 28th & Saturday 29th September at 14:00 (2.00pm) Adults £4.00 (includes entrance to museum).
Another television appearance
A film crew from Channel M came to the museum on Monday to take some footage as part of their "I Love Manchester" series. The series tours the culture, history and most prominent landmarks in Greater Manchester. This Thursday, 13th September, features the Macclesfield area and will be shown at 20:00.
Steph Elmore (the shows presenter) came to the museum with her hard working crew of Lawrence Brannon and Peter Waiting. They spent a couple of hours taking shots of engines running and interviewing Geoff about the museum and the engines from the Manchester area. Steph added to the Visitors Book "I thought this place would be just for boys, but I loved it. Fascinating. Thanks."
The programme can be viewed by clicking here (we are near the end of episode 23)
Competition
Channel M are offering you the opportunity to nominate your favourite place in Manchester for a special 'I Love Manchester' Award at the Manchester Tourism Awards.
All you have to do is write to them with your favourite place in Manchester and explain why. Add your name and contact details and either send them to I Love Manchester, Urbis, Cathedral Gardens, Manchester M4 3BG or you can email them at ilovemanchester@channelm.co.uk.
Very Busy Bank Holiday Weekend
We are saying weekend but it has been a almost a week of non-stop activity for the museum. During August we have been open on a Wednesday from 14:00 - 20:00 and this week was no exception. On the Thursday evening we had a club visit from the Sale Photographic Society who had a marvellous time taking pictures of engines as well as some unusual shots of flywheels, oil barrels and lubricators. Click here for an example.
The museum was then open from Friday through Monday with engines running every day. Geoff Challinor and Jon Leigh also took a stall down to the Poynton Show as well as a Russell Newberry engine running a Boothroyd generator and switchboard.
Geoff once again presented the Les Cawley Memorial Trophy, this year to a delighted John Cooper, member of the Macclesfield and District Vintage Machinery Group.
Les Cawley was one of the founders of the Anson Engine Museum in Poynton. Very sadly, he died in July five years ago, but his memory and love for the Poynton Show lives on with his memorial trophy. “Les never missed the Poynton Show” said Geoff “and I thought he would have been tickled pink with this lovely Boulton and Paul engine as one of his very first engines was this type.” The engine, one of many in the Vintage Machinery area of the show, ran faultlessly during the day driving a generator and keeping four lights glowing.
Where can you go on a nice summer’s evening?
During August the museum is opening every Wednesday from 14:00 – 20:00 to give people somewhere to go on a nice summer’s evening. That was the thinking behind the idea, but Geoff Challinor now says maybe people will want to come along to the museum to get in out of the rain. “We don’t normally open in the evening but when some of our visitors told me they have really busy weekends, I thought it might be a good idea to open one evening in the week to give them the opportunity to come along and see us. Trust me to chose this summer which has not been the best weather-wise but being undercover might suit our visitors this year after all” he said grinning.
The museum is normally open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 – 17:00 until the end of October 2007. The Wednesday evenings in August is an unusual opportunity to see the museum for those too busy at weekends to see the many things we have on offer.
Update on the Engine Testing for the Replica Roe Triplane
The museum is providing the equipment and facilities to allow engine testing for the JAP engine that is to be fitted to the replica Roe Triplane being built by the Roe Heritage Group. Here is the latest story about the trials written by Mike Taylor, Project Co-ordinator.
In July 1909. A V Roe, the aviation pioneer, successfully flew his first Triplane, becoming the first Englishman to fly an all British aircraft.
To celebrate the Centenary of this event, the Roe Heritage Group, made up of former employees of British Aerospace, Woodford, have undertaken to build a working replica of what has become known as the Roe 1 Triplane.
This aircraft is of light wooden construction, weighing around 375lb, with wings of equal 20ft. span, rectangular in planform and a triple tailplane of 10 ft span. The fuselage is about 20ft long with room only for the pilot who controls the aircraft in an unconventional manner when compared with the universal modern practice. Lateral control is by wing warping and longitudinal control is achieved by altering the incidence of the mainplanes.
This aeroplane is powered by a Vee Twin J.A.P. motorcycle engine of 1000cc capacity, belt driving a four bladed propeller. The original engine was said to be of 9hp, whereas A V Roe had been hoping for a 10hp motor. The Roe Heritage Group, funded by the family of descendants of A V Roe, have been fortunate to procure a 1912 Vee Twin J.A.P. engine, fitted with a Cox-Atmos carburettor and a Bosch magneto, both of contemporary origin.
Whilst the construction of the airframe has proceeded steadily at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester, initial engine running took place at the home of one of the team members. After a magneto rebuild in Germany, the engine, which was in remarkably good condition, ran successfully, so it was time to measure the power output to see if there was any possibility of re-creating the events of 100 years ago.
It was here that the Group were fortunate to be offered the chance of using a Heenan and Froude Dynamometer which had been stored for some time at the Anson Engine Museum at Poynton. When the Anson team had lifted and positioned the Dynamometer, it was found to be connected to a British Leyland 1600cc engine which was good enough to be fired up and used for the re-commissioning of the Dynamometer. This consisted largely of repacking bearing glands which were leaking copious amounts of water. When these were fixed, a rig suitable for belt driving the Dynamometer from the J.A.P. engine was devised and after one or two teething troubles had been overcome, successful running was achieved. Steady measurements of 8.5bhp were recorded and briefly, just over 11bhp was seen but continuous running for, say, ten minutes was not immediately possible. One of the problems was the high level of vibration experienced, although reading eyewitness accounts from 1909 it appears that this was not untypical of that experienced by A V Roe.
A modern Amal Carburettor was then fitted and after starting problems had been overcome it was possible to achieve sustained running at just over 11bhp. This is now thought to be as far as it is possible to develop this engine power output and should be just enough to replicate the early success of July 1909. It is hoped to achieve a successful operational trial in the second half of 2008.
The Anson Engine Museum was kind enough to supply a suitable oiler to feed the total loss lubrication system and another Museum, namely the British Lawnmower Museum at Southport are sourcing a suitable fuel tank appropriate to the 1909 period. Whilst the vibration level experienced was sufficient to loosen various bolts and attachments and to break the (Motor Cycle) exhaust pipe which was fitted, it is intended to employ high integrity locking methods to avoid the loosening of fasteners and to incorporate substantial bracing from cylinder heads to airframe. New exhaust pipes are in any case needed to direct exhaust gases away from the airframe.
The Roe Heritage Group would like to express their gratitude to the Members of the Anson Engine Museum who have been ever helpful and cheerful in the face of our adversities! Thanks Gentlemen, we will keep you updated.
Mike Taylor, Project Co-ordinator
We will be adding photographs of the trials to our Gallery area soon. For more information about A V Roe click here or here.
Last week of the Poynton Collieries Exhibition
The succesful Collieries Exhibition on has only one more weekend to run.
Poynton used to be a thriving mining community, the museum itself is build on the site of the old Anson Colliery. The pit was named to commemorate the marriage of the Vernon and Anson families. The pit was named to commemorate the marriage of the Vernon and Anson families and the land was bought from Lord Vernon by Les Cawley (one of the museum founders) in 1947. He cleared the spoil tip from a great deal of the land to make room for his lumber business and in 1986 the first foundations were built for the museum. One large piece of the spoil tip remains today at the far end of the museum car park. This is the only visual reminder to the days of yesteryear when collieries flourished around Poynton.
At one point Poynton collieries produced 244,516 tons of coal or about 1/3 of all coal produced in Cheshire with over 400 men working underground. There were over 60 mine shafts dotted around Poynton. After being the main industry for 150 years the last Poynton pits were closed in 1935.
The Exhibition includes pictures, maps, artefacts and a unique collection of pastels painted by the late David Collier. Many of the artefacts were discovered hidden in the spoil by Les Cawley while he was clearing the land. These have been lovingly restored by Roy Dudley, one of the museum’s Trustees and a small band of volunteers.
The Colliery Exhibition is open until 22 July every Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 – 17:00. There is no additional charge for the Exhibition, normal museum entry fees apply.
That was a week that was!!!
It started with a last minute decision by Geoff and Margaret to fly off to Pennsylvania to visit the spring rally at Coolspring Power Museum. The other volunteers worked out a rota to cover the weekend and how the various preparation jobs for the 1000 Engine Rally (the next weekend) would be managed in their absence. So off they went.
The flying visit to Coolspring’s went well (photographs will appear in the Gallery soon) and when Geoff received a text saying how well the Fathers Day promotion was going – 274 visitors that day – he commented that maybe he ought to go away more often, as this was a huge increase on our numbers for Fathers Day last year.
Also happening back at the museum that weekend were the broadcasts for the International Museums Weekend courtesy of Rob Linton one of the “Friends” of the museum. Bad weather was against the broadcasts that weekend however, but Rob did say that he heard many attractions trying hard to get on line including Internal Fire down in Tanygroes. Rob’s efforts were much appreciated by the many visitors that weekend and he was hoarse from talking by the end of the Sunday evening.
Geoff flew back into Manchester airport on the Monday and on Tuesday was down at Birmingham Science Museum collecting the engines and models they have kindly agreed to loan to the museum for the Tangye Exhibition (starts 8th July).
Thursday was the Midsummer Mingle from midday until 20:00. The visitor numbers were 47% increased on last year and the shop/café takings were healthily increased on previous years too. The BBQ from 18:00 proved very popular and the last visitors went reluctantly back to their cars well after 21:00. More photographs of the event will appear on the Gallery soon.
As well as keeping the museum open and running all over the weekend of the 23rd/24th, we had to take engines, etc down to Astle Park, unpack everything, then man the stall, run engines, set up for a film show and sell tickets for our coach trip to the museum on the Saturday evening. It was certainly a hectic weekend.
The weather was not kind and it poured for most of the weekend. Luckily the ground at Astle Park is sandy and has good drainage so most people were able to make it on and off the field. There were almost 500 engines on show over the weekend and when the sun did shine the atmosphere was good. A great deal of effort had been made by most exhibitors to provide interesting displays with good interpretive materials. It was lovely to see.
The museum donated welcome packs (via the booking-in stall) to all engine exhibitors and it has been nice to hear that these are appreciated. Our volunteers had been busy collecting the sweets/tea bags/etc and stuffing envelopes for the occasion.
On the Friday evening, as soon as it was dark enough, Geoff ran films and videos including footage from the Coolspring Rally, Crossley promotional film, the story of heat engines and one about the first ever Hornsby tractor. It was almost midnight when the last film was over.
Due to the success of last years coach trip, we had ordered three buses for this year and tickets were snapped up. Our thanks to McCarthy Coaches of Macclesfield who gave us a generous discount, allowing the price of the tickets to be held at 2006 prices. The stall at the rally field also sold museum memorabilia and displayed the replica Otto, Langen & Roosen atmospheric engine built by Wayne Timms and Dave Allen. The engine ran several times over the weekend and attracted many onlookers to marvel at its design.
Also on display was the Blackstone Type JPI, HP 16, RPM 800, Engine Number JPL 83L 301. It had been sent to the African Water Technology Exhibition, Nairobi, Kenya in 1982 where it was on Stand No 109 driving a water pump. It was recently found (still crated) having been returned from the Exhibition to the Mirrlees factory in 1982. It had lain forgotten about for 25 years!
On display between the crate and the replica was the Tangye ‘Inverted’ Gas Engine, Built c1903, Engine No 888. Presented to Birmingham Science Museum by Tangye Ltd, Smethwick. Thought to be the only surviving example of the inverted vertical. Has typical Tangye mechanical oiler. Has been in store for several years and is now on loan for the Tangye Exhibition at the museum. Our sincere thanks to the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery for permission to take the engine to the 1000 Engine Rally.
Between showers the committee of the Five Counties Vintage Machinery Organisation (FCVMO) wanted to present the cheques to ourselves and representatives from the Internal Fire museum. In the wind it was quite difficult to keep the large presentation cheques under control. It was very generous of the committee and we are extremely grateful for all their help and support. See pictures below and in our Gallery section.
Among the many people who dropped by our stall, we were delighted to have Charles Wendel visit (and museum on the Saturday night) and to share his views on engines with some of our visitors.
It was a great Saturday night at the museum with more visitors than ever crowding the aisles between 6pm and 9pm. All the volunteers were called into service to man the shop/café, organize the car park and to get the engines running. It was a little overwhelming at times but we coped and the feedback and comments in the Visitor’s Book are fantastic. Our thanks to everyone who helped make the evening such a success.
Over the course of the evening many engines were running including two atmospherics, the huge Gardner 4T5 four cylinder/two stroke, the Atkinson-cycle engine and our only American engine Les’s Ingeco which he used in his timber felling days. The latter made a nice addition to our crafts/bodgers area where Peter Wood entertained visitors during the evening with his “whittling” skills. Films played in the cinema area and videos kept guests entertained while they enjoyed their hot-pot supper and teas.
All too quickly it was time to “get back on bus" and the visitors made sure they checked their raffle tickets before disappearing. Many vowing to buy their bus tickets early next year so they can come again.
Geoff took the Atkinson-cycle engine down to the rally on the Sunday. It proved very popular with visitors and he had to explain its workings and run it several times over the course of the day. It was built c1883, Engine No 643. One of only two known to have survived, (the other is at the Henry Ford Museum in America). It does 4 strokes of the piston to 1 revolution of the crankshaft. It is on loan to the Anson Engine Museum from the Techniek Museum Delft. Our sincere thanks to Dr Korving for permission to take the engine to the 1000 Engine Rally, Astle Park.
Overall the museum is already 53% up on our visitor numbers from last year (which was 52% up on the year before) so we are delighted with this progress and hope the Tangye Exhibition and the new Local History Exhibition prove to be popular with visitors for the rest of the season.
More photographs of our hectic week will appear soon in our Gallery section.
Wing Walk hits it's fundraising total
After collecting in some outstanding sponsorship money and generous donations from "Friends of the Museum" we are delighted to announce that Margaret has now reached the £2,500 total she set herself for the deed. We have also had some excelent publicity for her antics so she has met all the goals she set for the task.
Many, many thanks to everyone who sponsored Margaret's efforts.
Museum meets rigorous standards and passes its VAQAS inspection
A mystery shopper dropped into the museum on Friday to carry out an inspection and we were later told about our mystery guest and the fact we had been passed as a quality attraction.
The Visit Britain’s Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service (VAQAS) looks at all areas that impact on the quality of the visitor experience, ranging from the enquiry through to the departure. The assessment recognises areas that may be unique as well as common areas. The service does not attempt to grade attractions but assesses each on its own merits using objective quality benchmarks, provided by the industry. The assessment is an annual visit at any time when the attraction is open to the public. The visit, by an experienced quality assurance assessor, is unannounced. VAQAS was launched nationally in 2001. It is a consumer focused quality assessment service for visitor attractions.
As the VAQAS standard states "A high quality visitor experience is seldom achieved by chance. It is almost invariably the outcome of careful planning and anticipation of visitor needs at all levels, allied to a genuine concern for the convencience and enjoyment of the visitor and the enduring memory of the visit."
The museum can now proudly display the quality assurance badge.
Votes from visitors give museum top award
Hundreds of votes poured into the offices of the Messenger newsgroup to put us at the top of the list as Visitors' Choice attraction. People had been asked “If you had a friend visiting you in the Macclesfield Borough, where would you take them?” The public have responded overwhelmingly by saying – the Anson Engine Museum.
The hotly contested category at the recent Macclesfield Business Awards was short listed to three – Arley Hall, Macclesfield Silk Museum and ourselves. When the announcement was made at the gala dinner at the Tytherington Club, Macclesfield the applause was deafening as Geoff Challinor and Margaret Hacking made their way through the packed room to collect the award. Chris Brown, Chairman of the Visit Chester and Cheshire Tourist Board presented the Visitors' Choice award. The judges commented on the comments the readers had put on their voting slips commenting on the museum and the volunteers as they expressed their praise and rationale for why they had voted for the museum.
Geoff said “I feel so honoured to win this award. To receive such support from our visitors means a great deal to us and we feel that all our hard work is worthwhile. The Volunteers will be absolutely delighted to have the museum recognised in this way. Many, many thanks to everyone who voted for us."
The glittering evening was attended by the sponsors of the six awards and the many businesses from across the borough who had been nominated. Sir Nicholas Winterton gave a rousing speech showing his devotion and belief in the Borough of Macclesfield.
Margaret goes out on wing and a prayer
Margaret Hacking, one of our volunteers chose a very unusual way of raising funds for us, she went Wing Walking. During the flight Margaret was on top of the biplane as it looped, rolled and turned through the sky against 150 mph wind pressure.
It sounds terrifying but Margaret said she loved it. “I felt free as a bird and the air was so clean it quite took my breath away. You could see for miles and I loved the opportunity to wave to Geoff and my friends as the pilot swooped low for them to take pictures.” Margaret had agreed to this incredible adventure to raise money and awareness for the museum so she sported a museum tee-shirt as she scrambled out onto the wing of the plane.
The flight took place at Rendcomb airfield in Gloucestershire, the only place in the country that has a Wing Walking team. The planes used to be sponsored by Utterly Butterly but are now painted red and white, the livery of their new sponsors Guinot. Geoff Challinor went along to watch the flight, along with Margaret’s sister and friends. “She is far braver than I am” said Geoff, “my stomach was in my mouth just watching her.” So far Margaret has raised over £1600 for the museum but still welcomes any more donations to the museum funds. Click here to make a donation.
More photographs can be found in our Gallery under the Volunteers at work area.
Thursday 10th May - News we are shortlisted for two awards
We are delighted to announce that our website has once again been shortlisted for this years Best Tourism Website Award by Visit Chester & Cheshire. We do not yet know the other sites shortlisted with us and will now have to wait eagerly for the announcement at the glittering ceremony planned for 8th June at Chester Racecourse. Our thanks go to our great website designers IF Consultancy for all their hard work and support in getting us to the shortlist.
We also heard today that we have been shortlisted for the "Visitors Choice" Macclesfield Business Award. The category is hotly contested with voters asked the question “If you had a friend visiting you in the Macclesfield Borough, where would you take them?” . We are proud and honoured to hear they voted for us. We will hear on Friday 25th May the winner of this category. Many thanks to everyone who voted for us.
Museums and Galleries Month - May 2007 
The Museums and Galleries Month is the UK-wide celebration of museums and galleries which takes place in May. Last year the theme for Museums month was - Past, Present and Future and we linked our Rattling Monster Exhibition to this theme. This year the theme is People - our Colliery Exhibition provides an insight into the miners of old Poynton and is our contribution to this nationwide celebration.
On Saturday 19th May museums around the world are opening in the evening allowing visitors an unusual look at the museums out off hours. You can join this global night out at your local museum. We will have our local historian Roy Dudley on hand that evening to talk to you about the miners and show you around the Collieries Exhibition.
Check our Events an
more details on the Collieries Exhibition and our Night of the Museum.
14th April 2007 - Gardner Forum AGM
The museum was host to the AGM of the Gardner Forum for the third time. The meeting was due to start at 2.30 with many members turning up early to make the most of having a look around the museum to see the many changes and additions.
Having enjoyed the engines running, a group then went up to the local hostelry "The Boars Head" to enjoy a home-cooked lunch and a pint before coming back for the meeting. The attendees greatly admired the new cinema/meeting room, where after the meeting we ran the Making the Doxford video which attracted many viewers.
After the official meeting Geoff gave the members a talk on early engines and engine development then ran the "Rattling Monsters" followed by the Atkinson-cycle engine. The group then went into the "Gardner Exhibition" room where we ran several engines including the 4T5 which is much admired as the four blow-lamps roar away in readiness to start it.
Several other engines were run again in the afternoon and the visitors said they were amazed at the transformation we had made since last year.
As well as the AGM attendees, regular visitors kept us busy with one visitor arriving via public transport from Australia!!! Well he arrived at us from London, but you know what we meant. He was most impressed and was only sorry that his connections meant he could not spend as much time as he would have liked admiring the engines.
Everyone had enjoyed the afternoon and expressed their great admiration for the work that has been done since last year.
Probus Club Visit
Twenty-one members of the Alderley and District Probus club visited the museum midweek to hear about the development of the site from when it was the Anson Colliery through to the museum it is today.
During the tour the group enjoyed watching the video clips of when the museum had appeared on TV and then explanations and demonstrations of engines running provided by Geoff Challinor. A welcome cup of tea was provided then visitors were free to walk around to explore on their own and to ask any questions.
The organiser thanked Geoff profusely saying he was not an engine enthusiast personally but he had very much enjoyed the visit and had learned a lot. Several members of the club commented they were amazed at how much we had to offer and were sorry they had not been before.
Easter Opening
The Easter opening of the museum is always something we look forward to, and this year was a great success with visitor numbers for the weekend up 55% on last Easter.
As usual we had lots of last minute scurrying about to get the place looking pristine for opening. The huge amount of work the team put in over the winter months was appreciated by the visitors with lots of positive comments on the vastly improved car park and the bright, repainted look of the main buildings. The sun had done its part too attracting a large crowd of visitors on both days.
The Milk Van was in attendance keeping everyone well fueled with drinks and bacon butties. Our thanks to Cheryl and Eric for all their hard work.
Visitors strolled between the buildings taking in all the new additions to the museum and admiring the Collieries Exhibition in the Local History area. The new cinema and cafe areas were also much admired and provided people with a welcome sit down for a breather. Videos were running throughout the day to add to the proceedings.
A large crowd gathered on the Sunday afternoon to watch the Atkinson-cycle engine being run for the first time in living memory. Geoff Challinor explained the significance of the engine in the history of engine development then he and a couple of enthusiasts coaxed the engine into life. Instead of the loud bang many people expected it ran smooth and quiet as if it had been doing this every day. A total contrast to the "Rattling Monsters" which share the room with the engine.
One visitor took detailed photographs and measurements of the engine as he is just about to build a model of it. "It is fantastic, no - unbelievable, that I was able to come here today and see this engine running" he told us, saying it will greatly enhance his model building.
To further add to his enjoyment there were model engines running over the weekend as well as many of the museum's full size exhibits. On the Monday there was also a Waller Steam engine in full steam as well as another early A frame steam engine. Among the visiting rally engines was also a small steam engine that had been used at a bobbin manufacturers.
A great many comments were received too about the addition of the iconic engines from London Science Museum. One gentleman told us he was about to go down to London to the Power Hall as he had been unaware that the engines were off display. Imagine his surprise when during a visit to his father-in-law he was brought to the Anson Engine Museum and here were the very engines he had been planning to go and see.
For photographs of the weekend see our Gallery area.
Fantastic news for engine enthusiasts
After years of delicate negotiations, the museum has taken delivery of some unique and rarely-seen engines from the Science Museum, London. We are very grateful to the staff at the Science Museum, who have been extremely helpful in arranging the cleaning work needed before the engines were released from storage. They were delighted to hear the engines would once again be on public display after their years in store.
Crossley No1
One of the engines now sitting at the Anson Engine Museum is the first Crossley engine ever built. Geoff says he is honoured to have the engine back in the North West, so close to where it was originally built c1869. The engine was presented to the Science Museum by W J Crossley in 1897. It is a tribute to Crossley Brothers of Manchester that over 130 years after it was built it has survived and is now going to help tell the story of the men and the company that made it.
Griffin 6-stroke
Another very rare engine on display is a Griffin six-stroke gas engine. Very few people even knew of its existence, it has been out off public domain for so long. Geoff says it has not been on public display as far back as he can ever remember. The Griffin was designed to get around the Otto patent restriction. Made in 1889, it is a solution allowing another manufacturer to build power units.
Crossley ½hp
Crossley ½hp engine or commonly called the over-hung Crossley. It gets its name because the crank pin is only supported on one side, making it a very attractive and unusual looking engine.
Hugon gas engine
Possibly the prize in the jackpot of latest arrivals is the Hugon made by F B Vallance in London in 1868. Lenoir made the very first commercially available internal combustion engine but one of its failings was the ignition by spark The Hugon engine is basically a Lenoir but uses flame ignition. It was the first engine in which ignition by flame was successfully accomplished. The consumption in gases was still very high however, and the engine did not find much favour, even in France.
Mirrlees No1
Over in the Memorial building another recent arrival lies horizontal – the first Mirrlees engine ever to be made in Great Britain. It was also the third ever made in the world. It is currently on its side for transport purposes but the plan is to stand it upright and re-assemble.
Until this week, it has been at the Science Museum since 1939. The Science Museum had been asking Charles Day (of Mirrlees, Bickerton & Day) for a number of years to have this engine for display. After refusing several times he eventually relented but said he could use the fly wheel on something else and, as it was going to be a static display, they didn’t need it. When the engine was on display in London they made a wooden replica flywheel painted to resemble the real thing. The wooden flywheel is being sent from London for display at the Anson Engine Museum.
More photographs will be appearing in our Galleries section very soon - these are to whet your appetite.
RTE Radio 1 interviews Geoff
Geoff Challinor was interviewed by Irish RTE Radio 1 on Wednesday 28th March when they were trying to help a listener locate parts for his Hornsby Ackroyd engine.
The leading Irish station had received an email from one of their listeners and, having found our name on the Internet, phoned Geoff to ask if he could provide some pointers on where their listener could track down parts for his restoration project. The interview can be heard on Radio Interview. Click to listen to Wednesday’s broadcast. The interview starts at 48:30 minutes and finishes (including the news break) at 1:14:00. During the phone in Geoff spoke to John Dungan as well as Fiacc O'Brolchain, the owner of the engine and presenter Derek Mooney. Click here to read the original email the radio station had received.
This is the second time recently that our website has led the media to contact Geoff for help. The Daily Telegraph did something similar recently when they were responding to a readers query concerning Herbert Akroyd Stuart.
Many hands make light work
With only two weeks before the Easter opening, the museum received a spring clean and fresh lick of paint over the weekend thanks to an army of “Friends”. Donning overalls, hard hats and paint brushes they were soon dispatched to tackle the many jobs waiting for them.
Volunteer Co-ordinator, Peter Wood who organised the working weekend said “It was pleasant to see so many people working together and the results are fantastic. Pity we weren’t asked to do the Wembley Stadium, we’d have done it in no time!”
Around 35 people turned up over the weekend to help – Chris, Fiona and Jay even travelled all the way from Suffolk.
Among the jobs the working party undertook over the weekend were:-
- Repaint walls in the toilets
- Painting the walls and ceiling joists in the main building
- Fresh paint job for the front of the museum
- Painting the posts for the main perimeter fence
- Repainting the engine beds
- Fixing the steam cleaner
- Producing new interpretive materials
- Sealing draft holes in the eaves
- Erecting shelving in the archive room
One of the volunteers even took on the job of providing teas, burgers and soup to the army of helpers.
Over the tea break someone was heard to say Rome wasn’t built in a day, Geoff Baker replied “No, we weren’t on that job!”
Many thanks to everyone who turned up to help. More photographs in the Gallery area "Our Volunteers at Work".
More arrivals for the new year
The museum has taken delivery of another Crossley engine, a BWB6 84bhp, serial number 132628. It originally left Crossley works in Jul 1945 as one of several being shipped to the Clerk of Works, RAF 35 Maintenance Unit, Broadfield, Heywood. It was later sold to London Airport, Feltham, Middlesex in the No7 Sub Station before it found its way back north. The engine was very kindly donated to the museum by Swizzels Matlow in High Peak, Derbyshire.
Another piece of good news for the museum this week was the decision by the Peak District Mines Historical Society that instead of extending their loan of the Robey Gas Engine, which was due for renewal this year, they would donate the engine to the museum. This is terrific news and will allow us to invest in the long term future running of this popular engine. Our thanks to the members of the management council.
