Seems the residents – down at Bath Riverside – are starting to take a keen interest in the re-painting job a bunch of dedicated volunteers are gradually carrying out upon an old Stothert and Pitt built steam crane ‘parked’ nearby.
It stands proudly in front of the Crest Nicholson residential development on this old brown-field site beside the River Avon.
There has been a lot of effort put in to preserve this relic from Bath’s industrial past. A mechanical marvel rescued from obscurity and brought – at Crest Nicholson’s expense – to be a lasting symbol of the land’s former occupants. A machine made here in the huge factory of one of the world’s greatest crane makers.
It’s conservation is being organised by Bryan Chalker – a former Mayor of Bath and Heritage Champion while he was a B&NES councillor.
Bryan is eager to promote the industrial history of a city that – some might think – is keener to push its more profitable Roman and Georgian past .
I asked him how things were going.
