(In progress upated regularly)

This weekend I visited Kempton Steam Museum in Hanworth and I had the most wonderful time, I absolutely loved it. Here is me doing a little live vid of what goes on at these tremendous steaming weekends.

After I had covered Ellen Road Steam museum one of my wonderful subscribers said I just had to visit Kempton Steam Museum and they were not wrong! I contacted the museum and they told me their next steaming weekend when they would be steaming their awesome engine Sir William Prescott I said we were travelling over 4 hrs and they explained that it was easy to find and that there was loads of free parking so come on down! My mum likes to know she can pull up with no problems after along drive without parking restrictions so we could have a little snooze in Maureen our Micra ready for the big day!

The steam museum is home to the worlds largest working steam engine Sir William Prescott. The ‘Sir William Prescott’ and ‘Lady Bessie Prescott’ engines are inverted marine-type triple-expansion engines. They were built by Worthington Simpson in Newark-on-Trent and named after the Chairman of the Metropolitan Water Board and his wife. The engines were installed to each pump 12 to 19 million gallons of drinking water per day to reservoirs in North London for the supply of fresh water to The City,  Central, East and West London.

The triple-expansion engines stand 62 feet tall and weigh 800 tons. They have a top speed of 25.4 revolutions per minute and generate 1008 water horsepower.  Each engine has three double-acting cylinders known as the high, intermediate and low-pressure cylinders. Each measures 29, 54 and 86 inches, respectively.  In service days, steam entered the high-pressure cylinder at 200 pounds per square inch. The pressure has been reduced to 60 psi for operation in preservation.  The remaining two cylinders reuse the steam before being exhausted into a separate condenser which produces a vacuum. A bank of Coal Fired Boilers in an adjacent boiler house originally produced the steam. Steam is now generated by a small gas-fired boiler.

The crank webs are set 120 degrees apart, providing smooth, balanced operation to the engine motion and a steady discharge from the pumps into the water mains.  There is no point in the engines’ rotation where no pump delivers water.

The triple-expansion engines were commissioned in 1929 by the Minister of Health, Arthur Greenwood and ceased operating in 1980 when Kempton Park became an electric pumping station.

The ‘Sir William Prescott’  (No. 6) & the Lady Bessie Prescott (No.7) triple-expansion engines are mirror images of one another. 
Here is the first video, I talk to a very informative volunteer called Colin who tells me about the engine. I also speak to Jerry the chief engineer, who speaks in great detail about this awesome machine. He also tells me about a sighting 😱

After the first day I went a few hundred yards to the Hampton Kempton Waterworks Railway to see the steam engines I had a wonderful time having a ride on a very small steamengine.

And then on a larger one called Thomas Wicksteed

We then waited whilst they doubled up two steam engines and it was a wonderful sight and I had never seen that before https://youtu.be/-4QCavYYV7c


After a very busy full on day we left to get some tea and to get ready for the next day at the steam museum. We arrived early on the Saturday morning for the exciting steaming weekend, I just couldn’t wait to see the awesome steam engine Sir William Prescott in steam.

We were informed by chief engineer Jerry that the engine would not start until 11.30 a.m. This gave us time to have a leisurely look around all the exhibits and WOW there were loads! There were small steam engines, steam powered boats and railway sets and so much more. We watched the boats and it was hilarious as one boat powered by a skeleton chased another boat 🤣 there was even a submarine

We then went into the main building which houses both of the magnificent steam engines under the original outstanding maple wood roof. The building is a masterpiece in itself, with its tiled floor and glazed tiles and bricks the quality and time and care that the builders took is breath taking. The engines are so large they had to be brought in in parts and assembled in the building. Here is the Sir William Prescott in steam, it’s a magnificent sight and you won’t be disappointed in the video 😍

I to.d you you wouldn’t be disappointed wasn’t it wonderful? After seeing the engine steam twice we went outside and heard a recognisable rumbling and in came Lewis with his awesome Aveling and Porter steam engine, he had driven it down the road to get there

I had a wonderful time at the steam museum and was welcomed by the very knowledgeable and helpful volunteers, I would recommend anyone to go there, but make sure you leave plenty of time! Hope you enjoy our gallery of pictures 😍 and thanks for watching 😍😍😍😍😍😍