September 2025
For the Kerne volunteers the words of the Scottish bard, Rabbie Burns - ‘The best laid plans of mice and men….’ could not have been more appropriate to the events of September and the plans for October. We started the month with work on the crosshead condenser pumps at an advanced stage, so much so that a steaming was pencilled in for the last week of September with high hopes that this would allow the successful navigation of the River Weaver to the Leigh Arms Steam Party at the beginning of October. Regular followers will be aware of previous repairs necessitated by numerous groundings in the Weaver over the years. Mud and silt get into the condenser and associated pumps due to the siting of the saltwater suction by the keel. The answer was to install a secondary high-level suction and pipework but the prohibitive cost of dry-docking and installation put this on hold. However, due to a generous bequest from our late Chairman George Coles, we now had the funds to have the work carried...