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Claymills Victorian Pumping Station, Burton-Upon-Trent added to Historic Buildings in West Midlands by D0c.Col on 05/09/2024

Claymills Pumping Station is a fascinating example of Victorian industrial engineering located in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. It was built to pump sewage from the town to the sewage farms in the countryside, serving an important role in the sanitation and public health of the area.
Claymills Pumping Station was constructed between 1885 and 1889 by the Burton-upon-Trent Corporation as part of a broader effort to improve sanitation. The town was experiencing rapid growth due to its brewing industry, which necessitated a modern sewage system to cope with increasing waste.
The station was designed by the civil engineer James Mansergh, who was known for his work on water and sewage projects. The station is a striking example of Victorian engineering, with impressive brickwork, tall chimneys, and large engine houses.
It was fully operational from 1889 until it was decommissioned in 1971. During this time, it played a crucial role in managing sewage and wastewater, preventing the contamination of the River Trent and maintaining public health.
After its closure, the station fell into disrepair, but thanks to the efforts of volunteers and the Claymills Pumping Engines Trust, it has been restored and is now a museum and working heritage site that is designated as Grade II* listed.
The pumping station is powered by four massive beam engines, built by Gimson and Company of Leicester. These engines are named “Victoria,” “Prince Consort,” “Queen Mary,” and “Marquis Wellington.” And they are each capable of pumping around 3 million gallons of sewage per day.
The 120 horsepower compound beam engines are so called as they use steam twice for greater efficiency. The steam first enters the high-pressure cylinder and then the low-pressure cylinder before being exhausted.
The engines have a stroke of 10 feet and a bore of 32 inches for the high-pressure cylinders and 54 inches for the low-pressure cylinders.
They were originally powered by five Lancashire boilers, which generated the steam needed to drive the beam engines. These boilers were fired with coal, which was delivered to the site by rail.
The beam engines in turn drove large reciprocating pumps, which moved the sewage through large cast-iron pipes. The pumps had double-acting pistons, meaning they could pump on both the forward and return stroke thus increasing efficiency.
In addition to the main beam engines, the site also housed several smaller steam engines for auxiliary tasks, including pumping clean water to the boilers and driving workshop machinery.
Claymills is one of the most complete surviving examples of a Victorian pumping station, with much of the original machinery still intact and operational. The site now functions as a museum, offering educational tours, events that showcase the engineering marvels of the Victorian era including steam days, where visitors can see the engines in action.
The site also has a collection of other historical machinery and tools used in maintaining the station.
Due to its well-preserved state, Claymills has been used as a filming location for various documentaries and historical films, offering a glimpse into the industrial past.
Claymills Pumping Station is not just an industrial relic but a living museum that continues to educate and inspire those interested in engineering, history, and the industrial revolution. Its preservation allows visitors to step back in time and witness the power and ingenuity of Victorian engineering firsthand.

Claymills Pumping Station is inside the Derby Aerodrome FRZ so you will have to get authorisation to fly. Best to apply via email at least 24 hrs in advance to [email protected], although they have given me authorisation over the phone on occasions. In the email you'll need to include the following details:

1. Provide a map with the intended area of flight circled ie on a google map, or similar.
2. Time and date of flight.
3. Flight Duration.
4. Your Op ID and Flyer ID (if applicable).
5. UAS Device(s) to be used.
6. Your Name!

You will also be asked to contact them on the intended day just before and after your flight on Tel: 01283 733803. Sounds a lot but it really is easy and I've never been refused yet.

There are plenty of places to park, depending on the day you visit and check before you go on their website (https://www.claymills.org.uk/) as the pumping station is not always open. Best time to go are on thier STEAM days, when 2 of their 4 beam engines are fully operational, usually in conjunction with many more steam powered engines and quirky devices!

Word of Warning, there is a trainline running adjacent to the Station along with a level crossing with barrier. Not an issue really but I'm a belt and braces sort of guy!

View and discuss this location in more detail on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 52.82966, -1.611278 • what3words: ///glue.hangs.windy

The originator declared that this location was inside a flight restriction zone at the time of being flown. Permission to fly was obtained from Derby Aerodrome ATC. It remains the responsibility of any pilot to check for any changes before flying at the same location. Landowner permission may be required before taking off.

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Monkey Forest Trentham, Stafford (By D0c.Col)

I flew around the fringe of the Monkey Forest in order not to disturb them and the views over Trentham Park Lake are great.

Trentham Monkey Forest is home to 140 free-roaming Barbary macaques, allowing visitors to experience these endangered monkeys living as they would in the wild. A 3/4-mile pathway offers an immersive experience, with no cages or bars, where guests can walk, observe, and learn about the monkeys’ natural behaviors. Located in an ancient Staffordshire forest, it’s a perfect day out for visitors of all ages, providing a unique chance to see the monkeys live freely and learn about their conservation. After a year-long rejuvenation project, the forest officially opened its doors on July 19, 2005, showcasing the vast woodland once landscaped by Capability Brown.

A great day out for the family and right next door the the fabulous Trentham Park.

Carparking is free but there is a charge for entry into the Mankey Forest itself.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 52.94986, -2.198881 • what3words: ///fool.drives.nodded

Garth Mountain, Cardiff (By TheJohnster)

Mountain to the NW of Cardiff, visible from pretty much everywhere in the city. Open moorland between the villages of Pentyrch & Taff's Well, the location for the romcom 'The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill And Came Down A Mountain', which is a local legend but I have no idea if there is any truth to it! Superb viewpoint, bit hazy when I went up on Monday evening (when there was a gorse fire as well which didn't help)

Easy walk up from Mountain Road, parking for half a dozen vehicles at the start of a farm track, or at various locations further east along that road. No restrictions.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.5432, -3.294199 • what3words: ///procures.premature.dimes

Roddlesworth Reservoir, Chorley (By Seadog)

A nice scenic location close to Abbey Village, Nestled between Chorley & Blackburn. Good walking, bird watching area.

Parking a bit of a pain, I parked just up Brinscall road (limited), popular with fell and dog walkers.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.69574, -2.529216 • what3words: ///sapping.bridges.island

The Tollard Royal Folly, North Dorset (By gasbag43)

The Tollard Royal folly, a 65-foot-high, rendered concrete structure in an Indian Mogul style, is located on the Rushmore Estate in Tollard Royal, Wiltshire.

Built in 2009, it was originally intended to accommodate and hide 5 mobile phone masts to be installed by O2, but the phone company pulled out before it was built and the landowner went ahead and built it anyway.

At the time of construction, it was thought to be the tallest folly built in the UK for more than a century.

Parking was a small dirt layby (space for 2 cars only) and the TOAL point a public footpath

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 50.95046, -2.074743 • what3words: ///steered.homeward.tops

Cheesefoot Head, Winchester (By OzoneVibe)

Following a meetup here (https://greyarro.ws/t/meetup-southampton-area-cheesefoot-head-winchester-10am-on-30th-march-2025/93365), popped back and took the 360.

Car park is small - and you need to climb past some barbed wire to get to the field beyond the end of the car park, and there's a trig-point located in that field.

On the day of the meet (a Sunday), there was a coffee van in the car park, too .. but not on the following day.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.04611, -1.243719 • what3words: ///segregate.scorpions.geologist

Stanton Drew ancient stone circle, Bath and North East Somerset (By gasbag43)

The Stanton Drew stone circles are just outside the village of Stanton Drew in Somerset.

The largest stone circle is the Great Circle, 113 metres in diameter and the second largest stone circle in Britain - it is widely considered to be one of the largest Neolithic monuments to have been built.

The date of construction is not known, but is thought to be between 3000 and 2000 BC, which places it in the Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age. It was made a scheduled monument in 1982

The Great Circle was surrounded by a ditch and is accompanied by smaller stone circles to the northeast and southwest. There is also a group of three stones, known as The Cove, in the garden of the local pub. The Cove has been shown to be around 1000 years older than the stone circles, and so date from 4000–3000 BC

Parking close by (see icon) - honesty box £1 charge

TOAL from public footpath running parallel to site

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.36697, -2.576024 • what3words: ///tripling.detection.duck

Somerset Memorial, South Gloucestershire (By gasbag43)

The Somerset Monument north of the village of Hawkesbury Upton, Gloucestershire, was built in 1846 to commemorate Lord Robert Edward Somerset. It is a Grade II listed building, and on the Heritage at Risk register.

Lord Robert Edward Somerset was a British soldier who fought during the Peninsular War and the War of the Seventh Coalition. From 1830 he sat in the House of Parliament for Gloucestershire and from 1834 to 1837 was MP for Cirencester.

The stone tower is around 100 feet (30 m) high and has a viewing platform at the top. However, the structure is considered unsafe and not open to visitors so the only view from the top is via drone(!).

The structure tapers slightly and has four panelled sides. On the southern panel is the arms of the Somerset family.

TOAL point was from a public footpath running close to the monument (part of the Cotswold Way)

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.58717, -2.330134 • what3words: ///paint.swoop.most

Worcester Lodge at Badminton House, Cotswold (By gasbag43)

Worcester Lodge is a Grade I listed building designed by William Kent, with southern facing parkland, leading towards the three-mile avenue to Badminton House.

It was completed in 1746 and served as a banqueting hall, a central feature in the landscape, a gatehouse with accommodation for a gatekeeper and a place to watch the Beaufort Hunt based on the estate of Badminton House . Today the grand room inside can be hired as a private dining space and the park in front for weddings and large outdoor events.

The Badminton estate is perhaps best known as the location for the much televised annual Badminton Horse trials

TOAL is from the grass verge that runs alongside the main road that passes in front of the building

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 51.58278, -2.275308 • what3words: ///ducks.altering.reduction

Jervaulx Abbey, Richmondshire (By ChrisM)

Jervaulx Abbey in East Witton in North Yorkshire, 14 mi (23 km) north-west of the city of Ripon, was one of the great Cistercian abbeys of Yorkshire, England, dedicated to St Mary in 1156. It is a Grade I listed building.
It has been owned by the Burdon family since 1971.
Car parking is over the road and is by honesty box £1
Access to the abbey is 24 hours and is by honesty box £5
There are tearooms adjacent to the car parking.
I gained permission to fly through the owner's daughter, Anna Burdon. ( [email protected] ). It was suggested that I flew before 10.00 a.m or after 4.00 p.m.
I've visited a number of times over the years and have never found it to be very busy.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 54.26713, -1.737342 • what3words: ///than.dumplings.compacts

River Ribble and Roman baths, Ribble Valley (By Seadog)

From this location there are excellent views up Ribble Valley towards Clitheroe & Pendle. A short walk up the creek you come to the remains of a Roman Baths.

Need to be considerate of the school adjacent to the river.

Best to fly here out of season (early spring). To avoid traffic chaos. I parked in pay and display car park in village (about 1/4 mile walk). Some nice benches to sit on near by overlooking river and catch some sun.

View and discuss this location on Grey Arrows.

Co-ordinates: 53.81149, -2.530975 • what3words: ///oven.plots.restores


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