Wonders to behold from steam to pen

Wednesday, 15 February 2012 21:00

One of the places we had not been to in Birmingham was the thinktank at Millennium Point. This is the modern science museum with lots to see.

From one level the old Curzon Street station is visible

So off we went and spotting this old station was a bonus. But there was one exhibit I was really wanting to see and it had a real connection with canals .....

It was once located at Smethwick, but not in this pumping house which was built in 1892

Smethwick Pumping House

It was made in Matthew Bolton's Soho foundry and designed by James Watt. It was an improvement on all that had proceeded it. It was brought into service in 1799 and was used to pump water back up to the summit level of the Old BCN Main Line or Birmingham Canal.

Now it is a museum exhibit and a sad reminder of its glory days, but at least it is still running. I expect by now you have guessed that I am writing about the "oldest working steam engine in the world" - the Smethwick Engine. It now pumps water into a small holding tank that empties every 8 minutes. I managed to catch the.action.

The Smethwick engine at the museum

There are quite a number of other old steam engines and some caught my imagination - but I will save them for another time! 

We saw what was once the fastest car in the world, too. In 1947, the Railton world land speed record breaker went at an average of 394 mph over 2 runs. An iced cooled engine and an ice cool driver named James Cobb had a record that would not be broken until 1964 and Donald Campbell came on the scene. It was built at Brooklands (see my blog - "A quick look back") in 1937 and this is a photo of it there.

Railton Mobil Special

So what is this about a "pen"? Pen nib manufacturing was one of Birmingham's industries in the C19th. Apparently almost all that was written in the world during that time was written by a Birmingham pen. There is another museum we have not visited - The Pen Room, but the thinktank had an exhibition of pens, or rather pen nibs. This rather spectacular collage caught our eye.

Pen nib collage

There was much more to see - again I may share more with you on our "non-cruising" days. Our cruising days begin again tomorrow, as we plan to move out of the city and begin our journeys again - but to where and how long will it take us? You will have to come back to follow narrowboat Epiphany's cruises on canals and rivers. We have both "planned" for this year!