A talk by Stephen Fielding, Trustee of the Kempton Great Engines Trust.
Kempton Park Pumping Station has been supplying fresh water to London continuously since 1906. Steam power once dominated the works, including the use of two gigantic triple-expansion steam engines which are today preserved by the Kempton Great Engines Trust. Hear about the history of the waterworks, the impact it had on London during war and peace, and learn about the operation of the world’s largest working steam engine.
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Very interesting indeed! I used to regularly go past on the A316 in the 1970s, but had no idea there were those engines still working for their living in there. The route of the huge water mains from Kempton to Cricklewood is an interesting route to follow between houses and across trading estates and roads, most of it a green corridor, but all of it unbuilt-on, apart from the odd road or bit of concrete, for obvious reasons.
This was an extremely interesting presentation. I was particularly struck by the fact that the steam engine preserved at Kempton Park is a 'Triple Expansion' engine. I thought that this type of engine was used exclusively for late 19th and early 20th steam ships like the Titanic!