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Our Ironstone Wagon Wheels |
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The present position. In around 2003 a pair of wheels on their axle were recovered from the Stoke Road allotment field. They were clearly the remains of a wagon used in the mining period for ironstone, 1860 to 1910. The Canal Partnership has been storing the wheel-set in one of their lockups and it has been possible recently to take some photographs. It has been suggested that the wheel-set should form the basis of a reconstructed wagon which could be placed appropriately to commemorate some of the village's history. The first picture shows the wheel-set in its present condition. The wheels are 20" in diameter and the gauge, ie. separation between rails, is 45". These proportions match very closely those in the second picture which was taken by Walter Alexander in roughly 1920. This picture shows a group of wagons in the curved cutting, commonly called "The Tip", that incises the allotment field. The wheel-set in storage is somewhat "beaten up" but would look fine once it has been sand-blasted. The wheels seem to be rusted solidly onto the axle. Note that the picture of the drum, image 17-05, shows a discarded wheel similar to the above. The Blisworth Heritage Society have assumed responsibility for the future of the wheels and have on at least one occasion reported to the Parish Council their suggestions for the relic. Various places close to the run of the railway that once accommodated the source wagon have arisen, with villagers inputting suggestions. In many cases the BHS has kept their cards close on this topic whilst their latest suggestion, February 2015, is that the relic be the basis of a village bench and that it might be placed near the Sun, Moon and Stars building. This does have the merit of adding some interest to a rather dull and run down part of the village whilst perhaps promoting a modest information board that merely states where and when the relic was rediscovered and alluding to the mining background of the village for a time. It is unfortunate, however, that the BHS has been reluctant to locate the relic in a place that is historically appropriate in favour of inducing visitors interest in the village from a location in the "church and canal" centre of the village. |
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19 February 2015 It is appropriate to list the locations suggested by villagers including the BHS in the following table. V =
villager, BHS = member of heritage society, S = an Easter
BHS survey
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