Although it might seem from our social media that all we are doing is crowdfunding to complete the restoration of our historic boiler, there is a lot more happening at the Museum.
The crowdfunder to restore our historic boiler ends in five days!
Can you help? After the repair work on our heritage boiler began, we discovered additional problems and we need a further £14,508 to replace the caps on the boiler tubes and install a new fire grate. We are looking to you for help, so that we can run our steam engines again and bring the pumping station back to life. We are offering unique and exciting rewards for supporting our campaign - go to www.crowdfunder.co.uk/restore-our-boiler to make a pledge and receive yours!
About the project
What has happened recently
In June, Boiler No. 4 underwent the final part of its non-destructive testing. The tests used ultrasonic examination (a process that uses sound waves) to check for defects and damage to the rivets and survey the thickness of the boiler tubes and steam drum. They also used magnetic particle inspection (a process for detecting breaks on or below the surface of magnetic materials) to examine the tube plate ligaments for defects and cracking. Happily, the latest tests have not thrown up any more issues with the boiler! If our crowdfunder is successful, we are on track to complete the boiler’s restoration and once again run our magnificent steam engines. Please help us make this happen by making a pledge at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/restore-our-boiler.
Some of our large, outdoor exhibits are being conserved and restored. Although large parts of our site are under construction, we have been restoring the things we can. In particular, the valves in our front garden (which control the engines) are being stripped and repainted to restore them to how they looked when the Pumping Station was in use. If you would like to have a look before the Museum reopens, you can enjoy refreshments amongst the valves at our Riverside Tea Garden this summer.
We have finalised the list of objects to go on display and we are close to finishing the exhibition designs. The Museum's curatorial team have been working closely with former employees of Pye and Cambridge Instrument Company to choose objects that best illustrate the companies' histories. Our designers, Richard Fowler Associates, have used them to show what the cases will look like. They have also designed other elements of the exhibitions, such as an interactive model of the Pumping Station.
Meanwhile... We have released new dates for the Floating Museum river tour, we launched a virtual exhibition of Anglia Ruskin Interior Design students' work, and we are preparing for the Summer at the Museums events we are running: Family Engineering Mornings and Family Papercraft Mornings.
