Bartimaeus

We've been to Etruria a number of times, but never managed to get to the museum here.  The Etruria Industrial Museum is currently only open on Fridays, so it was a "must see" this time.  The site is at the junction of the Trent and Mersey Canal with the Caldon Canal and is slightly hard to find except by canal.  We nearly turned back when we arrived and found the door blocked off with temporary fencing.  Luckily we persevered and found the main door perfectly accessible.

The Museum is the home of Shirley's Bone and Flint Mill, built for Jesse Shirley in 1857 to provide materials for making pottery.  We were welcomed by enthusiastic volunteers and explored the exhibits in the visitor centre before heading to the mill itself.  It is the only remaining operational steam driven potters mill in the world, sadly we have missed all the steaming days for this year.  That made for a quieter visit though.

The entire building has sunk several feet below the level of the canal since it was built - the walls seem incredibly straight for all that.  Upstairs were the giant pans that were loaded with bones or flint and water. Large stones in the pans crushed and ground the material to a slurry as it was stirred.  The pans were perhaps 10 feet across - there were two rows of five.

On the floor below, we could see the enormous cog wheels that drove the stirring mechanisms.  The main shaft was turned by a steam engine and each pan had its own gear to connect it.

The mill was still in commercial use until 1972, driven by the beam engine "Princess".  The engine is older than the mill - it was bought second hand and installed when the mill was built.

The volunteers have obtained a replacement boiler from a nearby swimming pool, it was originally used to provide hot water for the baths rather than the pool itself. When the mill is set up for steaming it takes a week for the boiler to come to temperature - and two weeks to cool down.

By the time we had seen everything, the heavy rain had abated and we were able to go back to Bartimaeus in the dry.  We had some lunch and then got on with the important tasks of the day.  We had intended to use the pump-out machine that happens to be just outside the museum.  On our way past we noticed a sign that didn't quite say it was broken, but suggesting that we use the nearby boat hire company instead.

We were moored directly opposite the boat hire company (other boat hire companies are available), but I had winded yesterday so we were now facing the wrong way for a convenient pump-out.  I reversed back to the nearby winding hole, turned and reversed back to get the pump-out done.  The staff were very efficient and helpful and the price was the same as the Canal and River Trust self-service pump.

I had to wind for a third time before heading back to the junction to get to the water point.  Once we'd filled the water tank we moved on to a convenient mooring, immediately outside the museum.  From our window we can see the Goodwin Ball Mill.  This more modern mill uses a different mechanism to achieve the same end - crushing bone and flint.  It was in use for most of the last century.