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An Aveling re-union at Rothbury

This was one of the very few occasions since their working days ended that the two Avelings have been together in the Northumberland town of Rothbury, where they had both  once been part of the local council fleet. I took the opportunity to speak to Andrew Black and David Walker, who own the rollers, about their history and the many years spent working on their restorations.

Andrew’s engine is the ‘baby’ of the pair, a 1922 6-ton A Class single-cylinder roller built as No 10014 and delivered new to Rothbury Rural District Council. Apparently the surveyor to the council had earlier attempted to buy a similar machine from the Eddison Steam Rolling Co which had been on hire to the council. However, Eddisons refused to part with their engine and so the local authority placed an order with Avelings for a brand new machine at a cost of £670 and this was delivered in June 1922. The new roller was registered as NL 3701 and for the next few years worked on the many small roads in the area around Rothbury – its small size making it suitable for working the narrow country lanes.

By 1930, the local authorities had been reorganised and all machines then operated by the rural district council were transferred to the larger fleet operated by Northumberland County Council. No 10014 was allocated fleet No 35 and although it was still the smallest engine on the fleet, continued to work up until 1960. The roller did become something of a wanderer and worked all over the area while the larger Aveling remained in Coquetdale all through its working life. By this time, No 35 was in rather poor condition and having been retired from the working fleet, the Aveling was subsequently sold in 1962 to Morpeth Round Table and was installed at the Kirkhill children’s playground. Here it remained for almost 20 years, painted in a variety of bright colours and used and abused by local children.

Andrew visited Morpeth in 1980 and inspected the engine, which was still in the playground but was now in a rather sorry, if not downright dangerous condition. He approached the council in May 1980 and explained his concerns and enquired if the authority would be prepared to discuss a possible sale. After all, it was more of an eyesore than a useful piece of playground equipment and surely the council would be keen to get rid of it? However, they didn’t exactly jump at the chance of selling it to Andrew, but the wheels of bureaucracy did begin to turn, albeit rather slowly.

Some time later, Andrew was notified that the Aveling was to be sold by tender and he duly prepared his bid. There were other tenders submitted and in August 1980 Andrew received a letter confirming that his offer had been the successful tender and would he now make arrangements to remove it from the playground. The first task was to free the Aveling from its concrete setting and then winch it onto Hubert Nixon’s low loader. He had agreed to take the roller back to his yard at Haydon Bridge where the initial restoration work began.

All the pipework, fixtures and fittings were missing and in fact anything that could be taken off had already disappeared over the years. Andrew set to work dismantling the Aveling at the beginning of what would be six years of hard work before it returned to steam. The work on the boiler and firebox, which included a complete retube, was contracted out and a new smokebox was also made. As Andrew recalls:

“The roller was basically derelict and it took six years before the still far from complete machine took to the roads again. As well as repairs to the boiler and firebox, the restoration has included reboring of the cylinder and replacement of the piston and safety valves. With all removable fittings having long since gone, all the pipework and boiler fittings had to be replaced, as did the canopy, scraper gear and most of the tender, which had been filled with concrete when it was at the playground.

“Many parts were unobtainable and had to be manufactured from drawings and these included the lagging, motion covers, gear levers and ashpan and, as an added complication, most work had to be undertaken outdoors. It also had to be moved a few times during the course of the restoration which did little to speed things up. I was fortunate to have the invaluable help of a good number of people, including the late Andy Thompson, a much-missed friend and an inspired engineer who could make almost anything. Although the roller never carried a name during its working days, it now carries the name Old Andy in his memory.”

In May 1986, the Aveling passed its boiler test and although far from finished, still in grey primer and with no lagging, it was steamed to its first event, the Corbridge Rally. It was hardly a head turner but for Andrew and all those involved in the rebuild, it marked a notable milestone in the project. Following that debut, three more years' work followed sorting out the big end bearing, fitting the toolbox and pump gear and completing the lagging and boiler tins. Finally the engine was painted in Light Brunswick Green, the colour having been confirmed from the original Aveling build, and delivery sheets and the traditional lining completed the job. However, as Andrew observes: “Having owned the engine for nigh on 30 years, the restoration work just carries on, as there is always something to attend to, be it regular maintenance or a repair.”

David Walker’s Aveling is 12-ton roller No 4307 of 1899 and like its smaller cousin, spent all its working life in Northumberland. In fact it hardly ventured out of the Coquetdale valley and was usually based in the village of Thropton, a couple of miles from Rothbury. The 5nhp roller was ordered by Rothbury District Council in April 1899 and the specification called for the new roller to be fitted with optional extras which included a winch drum, differential gear water lifter and nameplates. The engine was delivered by rail to Rothbury later that year and christened Coquet Lass, was put to work with the council’s road maintenance department.

When first delivered, the Aveling was not fitted with a canopy – not particularly driver friendly when you consider Northumberland’s weather conditions. When ownership of the roller passed to Northumberland County Council, she continued to work out of Thropton and in the early 1930s a canopy was finally fitted and the engine received a new boiler in 1934. It is believed that this new boiler and the non-original front rolls were built at the Hawthorn-Leslie locomotive works in Newcastle, as the firm’s records would indicate that they were responsible for the overhaul of several local road steam engines during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

During her working years, the regular driver of Coquet Lass’ was Jack Telford of Thropton, who basically took the roller home when it had finished for the day. The roller continued to be part of the Northumberland CC fleet, allocated fleet No 36, and remained in regular use until 1967 when both the engine and Mr Telford retired. The planned retirement for the Aveling did not really go according to plan as it had been intended that the historic roller would become an exhibit at Beamish Museum. However, it was apparently damaged upon arrival and remained stored in pieces for some 20 years.

As David told me: “I bought the Aveling in 1987 in a totally derelict condition – just a pile of bits really – and I had to bring her home in a skip, which was the easiest way to keep all the parts together. Because of the terrible state she was in, the restoration turned out to be a mammoth task involving a complete strip-down and ground-up rebuild. This task was not helped by the fact that all the work had to be done outside. However dedicated you are, it is still not very pleasant to work on a boiler with rain trickling down the back of your neck! The restoration took 14 years, almost to the day, with thousands of hours of work, great understanding from my family, although two children also appeared during the project so I must have had a couple of days off.

“Replacement parts came from a great variety of sources, probably the most unusual being the whistle that came from a large railway locomotive in Zimbabwe – I know it’s non authentic but it does sound really good! The major work on the boiler repairs was left to the professionals but I completed the rest of the work myself so if anything goes wrong I only have myself to blame. Coquet Lass eventually returned to steam in 2001 and since then has attended many local rallies and wherever possible the roller is roaded to the event. One of her memorable first outings, apart from a trip to the pub, was her first return to Rothbury in June 2002 where the Aveling certainly attracted a great deal of interest.

Many residents of the town have fond memories of their old roller, none more so than Dick Charlton, who accompanied me when the Aveling was driven to the town. Dick had been an occasional driver of the roller during its working days, when Jack Telford was unavailable. At the time of this visit, he was 78 years old but was delighted to be back on the footplate after so many years and it certainly brought back many memories for him and I am sure that there was a tear in his eye when we arrived in Rothbury.

“At the time of that first return visit, the canopy had not been built; and so, rather fittingly, she had returned to Rothbury in the condition she’d been delivered to the town in 1899. Nothing remained of the canopy when I bought the roller so it was very much a case of building a new one. With no plans or drawings, I had to use old photographs during the design and build, but I think it’s pretty close to the one fitted by Northumberland County Council.

“The ‘Lass’ and her ‘little sister’ were also reunited at Rothbury in 2002 and again this year and these are the only occasions when the two Rothbury rollers have been together since their council days. Hopefully it will not be the last time. I road the engine to most events and probably cover 150-200 miles each year at an average speed of a quite stately two and a half miles an hour. With all the major work completed, it is now a matter of keeping the regular maintenance and occasional repair work up to date so that the Lass is ready for each new season.”

At the end of the gathering and with the spectators and exhibitors getting ready to leave, David was preparing his roller for the run home. The route to be taken started out along the road to Hexham and involved some pretty steep climbs. I took the opportunity to watch and photograph the Aveling as she tackled the hills on a road which she had almost certainly helped to maintain over 100 years ago.

My thanks to Andrew and David for the information and photographs kindly made available.