The Tangye water pumps

Two oil-driven beam pumps that had been working practically continuously since their installation in 1922 became redundant with the opening of the new £350,000 water pumping station at Bourne in February 1974.

Both engines had been made by the world famous firm, Tangye Limited of Birmingham, and subsequently gave Trojan service for the next half a century. One of them (pictured above) was sold but it was decided that the other was worth preserving in its original position in front of the control building as a permanent monument to the engineering skills of an earlier generation. The base was concreted and all metal parts treated to resist rust and then given a fresh coat of paint and it remained on show until the engine was sold to a private collector and the landmark relic of our industrial history was removed from Bourne on Friday 9th October 2009.

A heavy duty crane and low loader arrived to dismantle the unit and move it to its new location at Aldeby, near Beccles, Suffolk. The new owner is Stephen Green, aged 48, an engineer who runs his own business and also collects large engines. He already has nine similar units weighing from five to forty tons and is excited at the prospect of acquiring the Tangye pump and for the future prospects for his museum. “It is like a dream come true”, he said. “The engine is extremely rare both in type and size. There are only about five others of these early cold start type units known to have survived for preservation but the others are all much smaller in size, the biggest being only 20 hp whereas the Bourne unit is rated 120 hp and the largest built by the company.

“All of the engines I have are unusual, even unique, the last surviving examples of an almost forgotten time when British engineering was the best in the world. They are currently in store and not available for public inspection but they are recognised as a very important and historical collection and I am currently completing a move to a more suitable property where I plan to open them up as a museum. The Bourne engine will be a remarkable addition and I have been trying to buy it for twenty years. It has done its turn for the water authority and will now have a whole load of money thrown at it in the hope that it will run once again."

THE PRESERVED TANGYE ENGINE

AFTER PRESERVATION

Stephen Green completed his restoration work the summer of 2010, returning the engine to its original pristine condition.

REVISED OCTOBER 2010

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