Beam Engine

The Cornish beam engine at Prestongrange. The detail reads "Harvey & Co, Hayle, Cornwall, 1874"

This engine had served 4 Cornish mines before it was bought, dismantled, transported and reassembled in Scotland. It's purpose was to pump water from the coal mine at Prestongrange. It continued to work efficiently until it was decommissioned in the 1950's, when electric pumps were brought in to take over the task. A fine example of Victorian engineering. Harvey & Co would be justifiably proud.

I walked the first section of the John Muir Way this morning, which passes Prestongrange Museum, a place I've been meaning to visit for ages. The Museum seems to be in need of some TLC, or perhaps I was just too early in the season. There's an MP3 audio guide, to download from the web, which I rather liked.