Gloucester Waterways Museum
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4.1  Cranes

Balmforth Steam Crane
     This self propelled steam crane is typical of those used around major canalside wharfs around the beginning of the twentieth century. It was built by William Balmforth & Co of Rodley near Leeds in the 1880's, and it was supplied to the Kirkstall Forge on the banks of the River Aire in Leeds for moving castings and forgings around the works. After a good working life, it was sent to a scrap yard in the 1920's and remained there until rescued in 1988. It was painstakingly restored by the engineers at Dorothea Restorations and was delivered to the Museum in 1989.
     The body of the crane is mounted on a bogie which runs on rails which have been specially laid on the quayside. A platform at the back supports a modern vertical coal fired boiler providing steam at a pressure of 100 pounds per square inch. Make up water for the boiler is held in the cast frame of the platform and is fed into the boiler through either a mechanical ram pump operating from the main drive shaft or via a steam injector. Steam from the boiler passes to two small cylinders mounted vertically on the body of the crane, and these drive a horizontal shaft which has gears and clutches to provide the required motions. The drive for movement along the rails is carried by a shaft passing down through the hollow central column of the crane, and another vertical shaft carries gears acting on a ring on the bogie to provide the slewing motion. Other gears operate the horizontal winch drum which can wind up but not down - the weight of the load provides the unwinding motion and this is controlled by a brake.
     The lack of unwinding motion was highlighted in the initial trial at the Museum when the winch drum was operated inadvertently and the lifting hook went right up to the top of the jib. The weight of the hook alone was not then sufficient to make the drum unwind, and a volunteer had to climb the jib to get the hook down again. To avoid this happening again, the offending bearings were given a good oiling.
     The restoration has included some minor modifications to improve safety. In  particular, the platform supporting the boiler has been strengthened, and welded brackets have been added to take the load off some original castings that are badly wasted. The restored crane is capable of lifting one ton, and it is used on occasions to demonstrate transferring things from a railway wagon into a boat and back again.

Tardebigge Crane Beside the Barge Arm
     This crane came from Tardebigge Yard on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal and formerly stood on the corner of the basin and the arm there. It is typical of canalside cranes from the early nineteenth century, although this one was rebuilt in 1941. It is very similar to a crane that appears in a photograph of Tardebigge Old Wharf, which was moved from Tardebigge New Wharf in 1885. It is very likely, therefore, that the crane at Gloucester is a rebuilding of the crane erected at Tardebigge New Wharf when it was opened to traffic in 1811 following the completion of Tardebigge Tunnel.

Ellis Crane
     This manually operated crane on the quay in front of the Museum office was built by Ellis & Co of Manchester, probably in the 1880's, with a likely 5 ton lifting capacity. It came from a former LMS goods yard, being rescued by a private owner who had it in his garden by the Ashby Canal near Shackerstone Railway yard for many years.

Gibbins Mobile Crane
     This crane was made by R C Gibbins & Co of Birmingham and was intended to lift one and a quarter tons. It was used for maintenance work on the wooden piers at Sharpness.

Henderson Mobile Crane
     This crane (behind the Gibbins crane) was built by John M Henderson & Co of Aberdeen. It was rescued from the lock-gate making department of the Clacknaharry Maintenance Yard at the Inverness end of the Caledonian Canal. The crane is mounted on a wheeled platform and can be slewed round. It has a jib capable of lifting up to one ton, and a balance box behind can be moved along on rails to provide whatever counter-balance is needed.

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