Amberley Stationary Engines Day – 9th June 2019

by Sean Murrell

Due to re-shuffling and communication issues among the event organisers inside Amberley Museum, what is normally April’s season opener event for many was pushed back into June. This lead to entries being lower than previous years, (or at least last year, I have to take peoples’ word on years before that!) with a total of 37 engines entered and of course a few no-shows. I had planned on showing one engine and a newly-refurbished Joseph Evans & Son water pump, however I’m still not quite happy with the intake hose on it, so I ended up taking both of my Nelson engines, a 1914 Model C and a 1924 Model U. My van was loaded up the night before, and as my wife was volunteering as a train driver at Amberley for the day we both set off bright and early. The weather was mercifully much better than last year, which seems lucky now considering the downpours that have happened since!

There was once again a good variety of engines on display, despite a lower entry sheet than previous years. Exhibits included a 1900 BR Wheatley 1HP gas engine which was the oldest exhibit on show, a 1911 Pilter 2HP YA, a 1924 Lister N, 1924 Petter S and a 3HP Petter Light set adding the wonderful aroma of paraffin to the air surrounding it.

Although it was a fairly quiet day at the museum the visitors that were there seemed interested in the engines on display and I spoke to many myself who appreciated learning a little more about the history and mechanics of the machines.

Unfortunately once again the event had not been advertised well by the museum, mainly due to upheaval on the administrative side. Despite this it seemed that those attending both to exhibit and to visit had a very pleasant and interesting day. Hopefully the museum will be on a better footing next year and we will be invited back to exhibit, as they have several displays of stationary engines on site and we have been exhibiting there for many years.