Volunteers are needed to get the historic pumping station at Claverton, near Bath, ready for action, as plans are revealed for new visitor facilities at the site.
Built over 200 years ago to pump water from the River Avon into the Kennet & Avon Canal, the pumping station – including the wooden water wheels inside it – is being lovingly restored by volunteers working with the Canal & River Trust, the charity that looks after 2,000 miles of waterways in England and Wales.
Plans are in place to make the historic site more accessible for visitors, with the installation of a visitor car park hoped to take place before summer next year. While there's a dedicated group of volunteers working on restoring the mechanism of the pump itself, more are needed to help spruce up the surrounding gardens and picnic area.
The pumping station at Claverton opened in 1812, and was part of the solution to a problem that had faced famed waterway engineer John Rennie since the canal's conception: how to supply it with water. Though no longer used for its original purpose, the site remains a valuable link to the canal's industrial past, and brings the technology of the Regency period to life.