Museums
The future of the Steel City’s premier industrial museum was plunged into grave doubt in June 2007, after the adjacent River Don burst its banks, submerging the premises under more than a metre of water. As a result, many of the historic displays of working engines were water-damaged and clogged with a thick layer of oil and silt.
But now, four years on, the museum and its displays have been beautifully restored thanks in no small way to an immense amount of hard work from volunteers and machinery experts from local heavy engineering companies such as Sheffield Forgemasters.
Their efforts have paid handsome dividends. Kelham Island Museum does a mighty fine job of recounting Sheffield’s proud industrial past, telling the story from light trades and skilled workmanship through to mass production. There are numerous displays outlining Sheffield’s renowned contribution to steel making, which resulted in booming cutlery and toolmaking industries for which the city remains famous today.
But the real stars of the show are the wide range of engines and other equipment. First up is a fantastic working Crossley horizontal gas engine, a rare example of its type, which powered a rolling mill in the city from 1915 to 1970. The rolling mill shaped steel into rods and bars to be sold on and made into finished products.
The engine was the largest single-cylinder model to be made by Crossley Brothers of Manchester. It originally used gas as its fuel, requiring four strokes of the piston to complete its cycle. These days the engine is run on electricity, but it has been restored to a very high standard and when in operation during regular periods every day it remains a marvellous sight to behold.
The next big piece of kit to be seen is a Stephenson-Howe link reversing gear, made in 1849, and fitted to a steam engine at the Clay Cross Colliery in Derby for much of its working life. Reversing gears of this type were used to enable steam engines to change direction and they were masterfully simple in their design: by moving a hand lever, the flow of steam was reversed and the engine would turn a large wheel in the opposite direction. The lever switched between two eccentrics, which worked the connection rods, which moved the valves, allowing steam to enter the cylinder in the opposite side of the chamber.
As impressive as these pieces of kit are, there’s no doubt about which display is the daddy of them all at Kelham Island. In a room on its own is the truly gigantic River Don engine, claimed to be the most powerful surviving steam engine in the world. Built by Davy Brothers in Sheffield in 1905, the River Don engine powered Charles Cammell’s rolling mill at his Grimesthorpe Works for more than 50 years, making armour plate for the first dreadnought battleships. The engine was then transferred to what was formerly known as the British Steel Corporation’s River Don Works. Here it continued to drive a heavy plate mill, producing products such as stainless steel reactor shields and steel plates for North Sea oil rigs. In 1978, the engine ceased production and was transferred to Kelham Island Museum.
So how did it work? A valve gear would let high-pressure steam into the three vertical cylinders in turn. Inside each cylinder is a piston. The steam pushes the piston up and down in sequence. The piston pushes down rods connected to a huge crankshaft below. The rods make the crankshaft rotate, turning the up and down movement into circular motion. The crankshaft turns the engine’s enormous gearwheel, which is attached to the rolling mill. The engine is a brute: it produces 12,000hp and weighs a staggering 427 tonnes.
These three exhibits alone make Kelham Island a rewarding place to spend some time. But if you happen to be a fan of real ale then there’s an additional reason to visit the museum. Right next door is the Kelham Island Brewery, the city’s largest remaining brewery producing cask-conditioned real ale. And just a few yards down the road is the Kelham Island Tavern, named Camra national pub of the year in 2008 and 2009. It’s a delightful place to have a quiet pint and to reflect on the majesty of the industrial heritage that you have just seen.
- Kelham Island Museum is open Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm, and Sunday 11am-4.45pm. Admission £4. Visit www.simt.co.uk for more information.