After my wander up the Greenway last year, it was exciting to finally see Crossness pumping station in action this weekend. Bazalgette’s sewers were/are gravity-fed, so by the time south London’s sewage reaches the Thames at distant Crossness, it’s some thirty feet underground, and needed to be pumped up to surface level before it could be discharged into the Thames. Fear not, those plucky Victorians waited until the tide was going out; in the meantime, it was stored in a giant sewage reservoir onsite.
While the lake of sewage has been replaced by a field of solar panels*, much of the original building and mechanisms remain, restored by volunteers over a number of years. And yesterday was steaming day, so we got to see one of four giant and colourful beam engines in action.
The building itself is home to some beautiful Victorian ironwork. From April next year, they will be open much more regularly, but until then, there is a list of open days on their website.
*I’ll leave you to insert your preferred glib comparison, or more nuanced insight about bountiful resources and centralised infrastructure, here
Sociable Physics 