Steam'n'gleam

Markfield Beam Engine museum (wiki) was open today for the first time this year. To be honest, I expected something semi-abandoned (you know, a small museum in the area with no tourists etc.) and boringly dusty, but surprisingly the well lighted building was full of people.

The engine which had been pumping sewage for the Tottenham till 1905 is a perfect piece of Victorian era engineering. Really, seeing and being able to touch that is a great entertainment:



Now the main thing - today, after the reconstruction at 1970s, it's fully operational. Moving pivots and plungers are greased with oil (threatening your clothes), and tools with spare parts seen around aren't just a decoration:



On April 5th it will the first so-called Steam Day of 2010 - the engine will be working, again available for public access. Woo-hoo! We were offered of steam clouds and authentic noise, and I only regret for not being a child.