Early 20th Century Pumping Station

On my adventures along the Lostock there are always interesting things if it be animals, flowers or history. Near to Leyland Trucks I found what I believe is an old abandoned Pumping Station from the 19th Century. You can see from the instagram photos that it is now just a shell with Balsam and a tree growing through the middle of it. There are a few pipes etc which look to me like they could be used for pumping.The brick hole next to it has a metal cap on it presumably to stop people falling into it. The location seems to link up to an old map from late 19th early 20th century maps on NLS (see below) but I am not sure what this was used for. Maybe irrigation or land drainage? (info on pumping stations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumping_station)

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I believe an abandoned pump house from 19th century? #leyland #lancashire #river #riverlostock #pumphouse #abandoneduk now being overrun by #balsam

A post shared by Luke Cat (@luketcat) on Jun 16, 2019 at 3:40pm PDT

Here you can see the area on a map marked 1888-1913. However on an earlier map marked 1885-1900 there seems no sign of it. (https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=53.7124&lon=-2.7064&layers=161&b=1)

Borders

Borders

(First poem about the river)

When I was younger

This was always my border

Between home and what ever was beyond

but I did not know it was you.

You meandered around my world

Being ignored and unnamed

I met you often 

but did not recognise.

Sorry for me back then

but your worth I can now see

Here I can grow with the plants

and run and sing with the birds

So now I am older

you are now a well known friend

Not a border across

but a  place for my journeys to flow along...

Poem and photo by If - June 2019

Welcome

Hello and welcome to the blog part of my info on the River Lostock. Here I will add some creative things, some news and thoughts. The main site is currently at : https://sites.google.com/view/riverlostock/blog