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	ALEX DEN OUDEN EINDHOVEN - NEDERLAND
1024×768    (min.)	Oude techniek en werktuigbouw, industriële geschiedenis en archeologie	Historical engineering and technology, industrial archaeology and history
© AdO 1998 ... 2004

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Mill Engine Preservation - 20 Years' Work of the Northern Mill Engine Society

Author: NMES

The Northern Mill Engine Society was formed in 1966. One of its original aims was to preserve examples of the imposing steam engines from the mills and factories of the textile industry in Lancashire and Yorkshire. In 1986, they owned a museum full of engines, the result of 20 years of sheer backbreaking hard work. The story behind this museum is told in this book.

The NMES was one of the very first groups of enthusiasts to carry out this kind of preservation work. It was not easy to play such a pioneering role. Much had to be tried out, many avenues had to be explored. Only think of fund-raising for steam, a subject almost unheard-of by the general public in the 1960s. And that in an area already hit by a heavy slump in its major industry! One thing - the actual work was always done by amateur professionals, i.e. by volunteers.

In the 20 years between 1966 and 1986, a tremendous amount of hard work was put into various preservation projects, both on-site and in dismantling engines for re-erection elsewhere. Many photo's in the book show NMES-members at work, handling large pieces of machinery, often with improvised gear. They all have one thing in common: they are dirty. These chaps are prepared to tire themselves out with heavy, sometimes dangerous, work. Dismantling and rebuilding of mill engines is not achieved by talking. At first, it is not easy to see why such a dirty job appeals to people - until you get involved. Then you find there is a difference between Wilesco, or Mamod, or Meccano, and the real thing. Wielding heavy hammers, or spanners, or sanding and polishing, or doing one of the other thousand jobs making up full-scale preservation is fun - even if you will get exasperated, it goes so slow.

This book, small though it may be, shows you how the NMES has been involved in the preservation of large steam engines - it might also make clear why the society's members got involved. Reading it is a form of armchair-preservation.