15 The Eastern End K&A Volunteers (an independent Community Waterway Adoption group) is authorised by CRT to carry out maintenance work on certain parts of the K&A on the 2nd Wednesday and last Saturday of each month. If you would like to join a Working Party, email Mick Savill for dates and details and to check the next one will be taking place. (micksavill@icloud.com) Branch contact is: John Swift who can be reached on 0118 941 5540 or 07533 886 917 and by email: swift.john21@gmail.com. Entry donation, including K&A members, £2.50 (to help with expenses). Further details can be found on the Website at www.katrust.org.uk
Crofton Beam Engines Future Events Thank you to all our visitors and supporters for a wonderful 2021 season. We are now closed to the public until 2022. During the winter our volunteer team will be working hard to prepare for opening again. If we are to steam again in 2022, we need to carry out work on the boiler this winter, which will cost around £30,000. Once this is completed, we would not expect any further major work for around ten years. So please help us raise the funds to meet these costs. Thank you. What has happened? The boiler at Crofton is inspected annually to make sure that it is safe to operate. A full survey was undertaken in May 2021 to identify all the work likely to be needed to enable the boiler to continue in operation for the next ten years. The recommended work includes: Replacing wasted rivets, mainly at the back end of the boiler; Restoring the rear furnace to tubeplate flanging, requiring cleaning and welding; Removal of the Galloway tubes, which have wasted and are not needed for safe operation of the boiler, and replacing the sparge tube (which ensures that the boiler feed water is distributed evenly along the full length of the boiler; Carrying out a full hydraulic test on completion, to be witnessed by our insurance surveyor. The work will be undertaken by H A McEwen, who have carried out work on the boiler previously and are the leading UK contractor for work on heritage boilers.
