Britain's best selling steam & vintage magazine!

Dredging with James Lowther

Oddly enough, it hadn’t been my intention to do this kind of work, as I’d just returned from a three-year round-the-world trip; however, I’d given myself the objective of not doing a nine-to-five-job again if I could possibly help it.

Near to home was the famous Thruxton Sale, based on the active airfield used during WWII. Events such as auction sales took place and I went over to have a look at the items and maybe catch up with a few people. One of them was James Lowther and we settled down to chat. During conversation, he mentioned he was looking for a driver to work one of the engines for a job at Rowfant Mill near Crawley.

A few days later, I was down in Sussex, amid loads of trees and wildlife, a reasonably sized lake - and the two ploughing engines Windsor and Sandringham already set up for use. The scenery was beautiful and the tranquil setting was only interrupted by aircraft on their descent into Gatwick Airport.

For those not familiar with the process of lake dredging, I will attempt to explain. Basically what happens is that over the years, sludge comes into the lake via its feeding river. Around the lake are trees that shed their leaves. The residue sits at the bottom of the lake and year after year, this fills up and the lake ultimately becomes shallower. Eventually it is time to drain the lake and remove the silt so that the lake returns to its original depth and beauty.

There are, of course, many ways to do this - such as suction pumps or digging it out, but with these methods the lake may have to have roadways put in place, which takes time and may not always be practical.

Then there is the tried and tested way of cable dredging - with two cable engines, a scoop and a digger. You have a ploughing engine on one side of the lake, used specifically to haul the spoil out onto dry land, and the other on the other side used to drag the scoop back into the mud. To make things easier and quicker, the lightweight digger (in this case a Hymac 580B) is in the middle and helps put the spoil into the mouth of the scoop - and basically that’s all there is to it.

Underneath the engines is a special ploughing wire rope, a half mile or so long, and this is connected to the scoop on one of the ends. On the pulling engine there are two wires that are able to be shortened or lengthened when the need arises to alter direction and on the returning side, three wires are used; again two to pull the scoop, but the third is used to lift the door of the scoop so that it can be pulled back and pass over the sludge. This is so the mud doesn’t get trapped on the other side of the lake.

The scoop is then pulled back to the place where the mud is to be removed and as soon as the scoop stops, the other engine engages its clutch and starts pulling - slowly at first, so that the door cuts into the mud, and then off at a good speed - so that it is able to float and remove the mud evenly. At one go the scoop will pull out six yards of muck (or around six tons.)

Before removal of mud can take place, a bank is built in front of the pulling engine so that when the scoop comes out of the lake, the mud, when released, doesn’t slide back into the lake.

The lake also has to be drained and the method depends on how the lake was built. Some have a ‘monk’, which is basically a solidly built tower in the deepest part of the lake with an outlet into the river, but on one side of it are wooden boards which can be removed at intervals to stop flooding or for maintenance.

A working day consists of lighting up both engines and then settling down for some running maintenance, for your work day has to be as easy as possible, hopefully without breakdowns; tightening of glands, checking over the winching gear, making sure that nuts and bolts are not loose as these can vibrate slack - and making sure that you have enough coal and water for the day.

You also make sure both engines raise steam at the same rate, as one blowing off early means that water, coal - and therefore money - is being wasted. One of the other things you learn quickly is to fire the engines accurately; no smoke, as you have others to think about, especially if houses are nearby and you are there for a few months.

It is the return pull engine that starts first as the scoop is always pulled out of the lake the previous time of use so it can be inspected, making sure that the wires are still OK and nothing has broken or the scoop has fractured; this has to be a general visual as the whole thing is plastered in mud! The scoop makes its way into the lake, over the bank and into the mud and across the lake to the required spot and it stops in the mud at the appointed place.

The coiling mechanism is taken out of gear and the other engine takes the strain, steadily pulling the scoop closing the door and cutting into the mud and then off to the spoil area. The process is repeated again and again, sometimes working through lunch so that a lively fire and a good run can be maintained.

There are of course exceptions to the rule! The main one being a wire breaking, normally on a heavy pull and invariably while in the middle of the lake.

The engine can be exhausting loudly out of the chimney one second and then all hell breaks loose with the motion going into a total blur, oiler corks going everywhere, along with the oil going on a journey into oblivion and the cable doing a hot tango up the ground, with the driver, now plastered in oil, finding all the levers and controls to stop it in double-quick time.

That’s why whenever you see any engineman ploughing, his gaze to the horizon is intense and it is due to this very reason, apart from the fact that he is also responsible for the welfare of the person on the cultivator or plough.

This commotion of a wire breaking normally happens when it’s pouring down or blowing a howling gale or, and this is the best one, at the start of the day’s work. Other reasons for stoppage can be breaking the scoop and getting it out in one piece so that it can be repaired. Another is losing the digger in the lake and trying to find it first and then get it onto a solid base again without losing its tracks!

It was great fun working with the locals and we were even getting school children to come and see it happening. It all added up to being one of the best jobs in the world, and I sincerely hope that Windsor and Sandringham will continue dredging and that readers will get the opportunity of seeing the tradition continue into the 21st century.

Photography: Boz Oram, unless stated.

To see the gallery for Dredging with James Lowther, click here.