The volunteers busy painting a crane at Bath Riverside are making good progress on what has now been described as a ‘painting marathon.’
They are helping to brighten up a ‘city treasure’ under the direction of Bryan Chalker – a Bath man who might just as well have oil and grease running around in his veins instead of blood.
An ex-Mayor and councillor, he was Heritage Champion for B&NES during his years of public service and keen to promote the industrial history of a city – better known for Roman remains and Georgian architecture.
Fresh from organising the seventh Bath Industrial Heritage Exhibition – held at BCFC’s Twerton Park home – he’s now leading a group of volunteers who have given up their time to re-paint an industrial landmark.
It’s an old steam crane – originally made at the city’s famous Stothert and Pitt factory – and rescued from the breaker’s yard by Brian – with the help of Crest Nicholson.
They are busy regenerating Bath’s former industrial riverside footprint and installed the crane as a symbol of past meeting future.
Now they’ve given Bryan a bit of cash to help towards the cost of repainting the crane – and he’s also managed to get the paint for free.
It’s not just the volunteers helping with the job who are coming in for praise – though Bryan is very grateful to them all.
He told me today – Wednesday, October 26th – that many materials had been very generously donated.
‘The company supplying the special enamel paint is Hempel, based at Llantarnam Park, Cwmbran, South Wales, and they donated a total of 14 cans of primer, thinners and paint, without charge.
Homebase have given us the loan of a flat-bed trolley to transport the paint back and forth from storage to the crane, and a local and old-established Bath engineering firm, who want no credit, donated a drum of industrial grease for the jib’s cables.
Thanks to the poor weather, what began as an estimated 4-day project, has developed into a painting marathon – but we’re slowly getting there.
The crane is a superb example of Stothert & Pitt’s early engineering skills – built to last – and a credit to Bath’s great industrial past.’
