I love this place, it’s so much like a day out at the seaside, I wanted to send a postcard back home. The beam engines were decommissioned in the early 70’s and suffered from neglect, vandalism and metal theft throughout the 80’s until a group of people came together to form a trust with the objective of saving these magnificent giants from the past.

The museum now opens on a weekly basis and runs two of the engines on steam throughout the year.

What I find so fascinating about this place is, had you have seen it ten years ago, you would not have been unreasonable in your thoughts to think that restoring this place to its former glory, was a playground for dreamers.

I am so glad that the shear tenacity of these people showed us the way. It is one of the finest examples of people power, showing how a group of volunteers, from all warps of life, have come together and achieved the impossible. This is a community project at it’s best, I love talking to the young people there, who work so dammed hard to preserve this, our heritage, our past and our culture and share it with others, so that they may enjoy it.

Claymills Pumping Station is a living monument to the volunteers who freely give their time; protecting the past, so that you may enjoy its future.