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Info on China clay piers at Fowey


DavidMatthewson
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Also of interest is this current Google maps view... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Fowey/@50.3418712,-4.6336937,105m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486b61524fbefeb7:0x47b8af07aeac1f78!8m2!3d50.33499!4d-4.636525

 

114548283_2020-11-1511_26_23-Fowey-GoogleMaps.png.f6ec970f1e59775ca3fc8e439f22b4e2.png

 

The red marked building towards the top is the power house I'm pretty sure. 30m long, 10m wide, right place etc - even the 'joint' between the engine & generation halves. So what'sthe second red marked building? To far away to be the chimney base and it looks like a glazed roof.. maybe something modern ...??

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The construction photos are from the early 70s when Keir had the contract to build the new Jetty and a storage linhay. At some point one of the cranes in the photo overbalanced and fell in the river. I'm not sure how they numbered the new Jetty, I think maybe no.5, but I know it wasn't no.8, as that was the designation given to the GWR loader. Jetties 3 thru 7 were originally a mixture of conveyor belts and cranes, with the electricity obviously coming from the powerhouse. When No.8 was built the powerhouse was substantially expanded to increase output. I think I'm right in saying there was more juice used by no.8 alone than all the other jetties combined!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

That turned out cracking David! What a difference google maps measuring tool and a few reference photos make, eh? Wasn't so long ago that none of that was possible for the average chap, 3D printing included.

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On 15/11/2020 at 11:30, DavidMatthewson said:

So what's the second red marked building? To far away to be the chimney base and it looks like a glazed roof.. maybe something modern ...??

 

It might be the Fowey Harbour Pilots' office? They have a landing stage and pontoon close to there for the Pilot boat and other smaller craft. The bigger tugs (Cannis and Morgawr) are kept upstream near Mixtow Pill. Not to be confused with the Harbour Master's Office which is on Albert Quay.

 

https://foweyharbour.co.uk/commercial-information/

 

 

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On 11/12/2020 at 00:48, KeithMacdonald said:

Not much help with drawings or diagrams, but here's a nice amateur silent film of a DMU working to and from Fowey station in the 1960's, past the docks and china clay jetties.

 

http://cornishmemory.com/item/MISC_260_02

While it is opposite the Pilots Pontoon it is not the Pilots' office according to information on the 'net.  Their office is just south of the larrge building belonging to South Coast UK  which makes it much nearer the landward end of the pontoon than the building in question.  The Pilots office is marked on this extract of the chart although the exact position does not correspond with the buildings on Google Maps.   However Google shows a small building almost at the pontoon which might well be a relocation of the office and on the other side of the south Coast UK building?

Pilots.jpg.2d4482b2d9f56b9b24d8f8973dbfb083.jpg

 

The building in question now surrounded by trees certainly appears to have been a railway building at one time because older maps show it, and the powerhouse.  but in a slightly different position from their sites on Google Maps.

 

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  • 5 months later...

Better late than never. I am into pottery not model RR, but recently purchased this due to the pottery connection. It was printed by the Railway Gazette of Westminster in 1924 and distributed out of Easton, here in Pennsylvania.  There are 15 pages in the booklet and it indicates the #8 Jetty loading equipment was put into service September 27, 1923. Here are the first 5 pages and the jetty layout back in 1924. 

clay1a.jpg

clay2a.jpg

clay3a.jpg

clay4a.jpg

clay5a.jpg

clay6a.jpg

clay7a.jpg

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That's a real gem! - thanks very much for sharing. (How did we ever manage this sort of stuff prior to the Internet??)

 

Great photos including some which are new to me - many thanks.

 

Can I be really cheeky and ask if there is any railway related stuff in the remaining pages?

 

best wishes

 

 

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  • 7 months later...
On 15/11/2020 at 03:30, DavidMatthewson said:

Also of interest is this current Google maps view... https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Fowey/@50.3418712,-4.6336937,105m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x486b61524fbefeb7:0x47b8af07aeac1f78!8m2!3d50.33499!4d-4.636525

 

114548283_2020-11-1511_26_23-Fowey-GoogleMaps.png.f6ec970f1e59775ca3fc8e439f22b4e2.png

 

The red marked building towards the top is the power house I'm pretty sure. 30m long, 10m wide, right place etc - even the 'joint' between the engine & generation halves. So what'sthe second red marked building? To far away to be the chimney base and it looks like a glazed roof.. maybe something modern ...??


If anyone is interested, I've now found the answer to this question. That building was the battery house, it stored just enough juice to keep the harbour running and the lights on during occasions when the generators were shut down.

Also it seems that by the 1950s, possibly earlier, the water tank was removed from in front of the power house and substituted for a larger tank up the hillside.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 01/02/2022 at 01:27, DavidMatthewson said:

Thanks for that. Might i ask what the reference for this is? - a book or photo perhaps? or aural history?


I'm in touch with a handful of chaps who used to work in the industry, and stuff like this comes up in conversation occasionally. A photo of Fowey was being discussed and the powerhouse just happened to be in the background, so it got a mention - I remembered that you'd asked about these buildings so I took the opportunity to ask. One of them was an electrician, and the old electrical system at Fowey was a maintenance nightmare, so he was involved in doing a lot of upgrades which included taking things like the battery house and powerhouse out of circuit.

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