Visitors flock to pumping station
It will be full steam ahead at a Shrewsbury visitor's attraction when it throws open its doors this weekend.
Coleham Pumping Station will be firing on all cylinders on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 am until 4pm.
The station is rated by English Heritage as one of the finest and most complete examples of its kind in the UK.
It takes the volunteers three days to light the boiler and get it up to full operating temperature and pressure.
The two massive steam-powered beam engines drive 16-foot flywheels and four pumps, silently and smoothly. Children attending can helping to start the engines and stoke the boiler:
Also on show will be live steam-powered machines, stationary engines, vintage equipment and vehicles, and a large steam powered model railway layouts.
Severn Trent Water, which still uses the pumping station, will have an exhibit on site on the day which will explain the modern problems of water management and how Coleham still plays its part.
The basement had been sealed off since 1970 before a band of volunteers took it over in 1990 and carried out a major renovation programme.
It will be open this weekend for small groups of hard-hatted visitors to see the network of enormous pipes and the four pumps which are the heart of the station, all housed in a church-like space with a 20 foot high ceiling.
Entrance costs £3 for adults, £1 per child aged five and over and a family ticket is £7.
The pumping station is operated on behalf of Shrewsbury Museum Service by volunteer members of Shrewsbury Steam Trust. The station is mainly funded by voluntary contributions.
