The volunteers at Crofton Beam Engines are delighted to be able to welcome visitors from the 18th July. During the lockdown period work has been going on to give visitors an even better experience during their visit.
Even though we won’t be in steam for the remainder of this season there will be lots of new things to see. The Engine House and grounds have a brand new set of informative interpretation panels helping all ages to get the most from their visit to Crofton and there will be additional video displays in the Engine House showing more detail of the working and history of the site.
Crofton has been working with Bath University and AWE Aldermaston on a revolutionary scheme to make detailed measurements on our engines at work. This information will allow us to better plan the conservation tasks and, in what is possibly a world first, we are showing a live playback of data collected during a steaming run with some analysis applied.
The picnic tables will be out in the grounds for visitors to use and there is a playpark for our younger friends based on canal themed activities. If you want to learn how a lock really works then play here. Just come to relax in our wonderful setting by the side of the Kennet & Avon Canal.
Entry to the grounds is free and we have our normal charges for the Engine House of £4.50 for adults. Children under 16 are free at Crofton. Excellent value to explore this world class example of Britain’s industrial heritage.
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We owe a lot to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and in recognition of this one adult per party can have free access to the Engine House if they can present a current lottery ticket. Crofton is open from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday plus Bank Holiday Mondays from Saturday the 18th July.
Crofton’s Branch Chairman, Graham Snook, pointed out that this has been a very difficult year for many heritage venues. “We had a great year of fantastic events planned for 2020 and this has had to be re-thought to allow us to handle the current Covid-19 situation.
“A lot of effort has gone in behind the scenes to allow visitors to explore Crofton and enjoy all of the new features we now have in safety. There are negatives of course but there is a whole lot of positive things that our work with the industrial partners and The Heritage Lottery Fund have provided. There is plenty of reason to visit Crofton during this summer.”
