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Lost engine manufacturers: CJR Fyson & Son Ltd of Soham, Cambs

Having only produced a recorded total of 17 traction engines it is unfortunate, although hardly surprising, that none of the engines produced by CJR Fyson & Son Ltd has managed to survive. The last of its engines was thought to have been cut up for scrap sometime in the 1950s.

Richard Fyson founded the company in 1848, trading under his own name and he took premises at Paddock Street in Soham. Initially the principal business was the building of windmills and a distinctive six-sailed windmill was built at the Paddock Street works where it stood for over 100 years - becoming a familiar and unique landmark in the town. This mill was a strange and rather unconventional structure made from ‘bits and pieces’ available in the yard, in fact the legs were made from the tubes of Cornish Type boilers. The windmill was tucked away at the back of the yard and was largely out of use by the 1920s, although it did remain in place for some time after. Richard Fyson, in his advertising, offered ‘Windmills Built in a Superior Manner’ featuring ‘Patent Sails made on a New and Improved Principle’ and ‘Steam engines, erected and applied to any kind of machinery’.

The surrounding area, being primarily farmland, provided a ready market and a strong demand for all types of agricultural machinery and hundreds of small windmills were produced by the concern. As well as conventional mills, the firm also produced drainage mills for use in the wet fenland areas to pump water from the maze of drainage ditches which criss-crossed the landscape. The water pumped from these drains would go into the main channels and rivers to be taken away from the farmland and out to sea. Without the use of such pumps the area would have soon returned to the boggy marshlands from which they had been reclaimed.

The demand for windmills increased as did the requirement for servicing and repairing existing machinery and the business began to prosper despite competition from Hunt Bros, another millwright in the town. Their premises were about half a mile distant on the opposite side of town.

Fyson were on the outskirts on the Bury St Edmunds side while Hunts were on the Cambridge side. Another milling business in the town was that of Clark and Butcher, which in 1876 purchased a mill and surrounding area which they had been leasing from the Dobede family. Even with plenty of competition, Fyson’s business developed and an element of diversification was introduced with company papers showing that as well as the manufacture of windmills there are records which reveal that by the 1860s they were also heavily involved in threshing contracts. A foundry had been added to the carpenters' shops where iron castings were made on site for the increasing variety of agricultural machinery which was being produced. Steam power was now beginning to replace wind power and the firm had been using portable engines and traction engines since the 1870s. Around 1891 the firm produced its first steam engine, its first and only portable engine and it was not until 1894 that the first Fyson steam traction engine was produced. Richard Fyson’s son, Charles John Richard Fyson, had taken over the business and the name of the firm was changed to CJR Fyson. Later it became CJR Fyson & Son when Charles’ son Richard Wallis Fyson took over the business.
The firm showed a keen interest in new technologies and with their own on-site foundry their low production and transport costs kept them competitive - steam-driven welding machinery being an early innovation. The foundry was in operation for many years until it was closed following the introduction of electric welding.

The traction engines developed by Fyson's were designed to be lighter and more suitable for the poor quality fenland roads than those made by the better known manufacturers. The first engine, the Fyson T1, was completed in 1894 and many parts were brought in from other companies including Burrells of Thetford, while some of the boilers came from Dodmans. Engine manufacture was to last only 30 years with the last of the 17 engines being built in 1924. Obviously this was not a mass production approach to this particular part of their business, what with each engine taking some two years to complete. Only 15 of the engines were to their own design as the other two were in fact rebuilds of machines produced by Fowler and Robey. Unfortunately neither of these machines was a success. One engine recorded as Fyson T11, which was their only compound design, included the boiler and top works of a Fowler road locomotive which had been salvaged from a shipwreck. This unlucky engine seems to have been in constant need of repair over the following years when it is thought that it required a new crankshaft and a new brake drum. The ‘Robey’ conversion turned out to be underpowered and a poor steamer, probably due to the boiler being smaller than it should have been.

The other 15 engines produced by Fyson's were all single-cylinder machines rated at 8nhp and primarily designed for threshing duties they were usually out on hire to local farmers. It would appear that only engines T3 and T6 were sold new. Interestingly there is a record showing that CJR Fyson ordered Fowell No 43 and this was delivered to them in September 1889. It could well be that this engine was used as a basis for their future designs although Burrell was also a major influence. At one time the firm also owned and operated Clayton & Shuttleworth engine No 15672 of 1876 and bought second-hand by Fyson's two years later. This engine was involved in a tragic accident in April 1879 when the engine was hauling a threshing drum and straw elevator through the town. A group of local children scrambled on board for a ride but at the bottom of Pump Lane several fell off and six-year-old George Smith was killed.

Despite this tragedy the popularity of the steam engines with the local youngsters remained and whole families including the children would be out in the fields during the threshing work. For those who regularly attended Sunday School an annual treat involved a ride on the open top wagons hauled around the town by one of the Fyson traction engines. During the five-mile trip there would be stops for lemonade and cakes while at the end of the journey there would be a Sunday tea laid on in the barn near the recreation ground. Hot water for the tea came of course from the engine boiler.

At the end of the 19th century the firm was producing a range of small agricultural machines and implements and although it was regarded as peripheral to their main business the work was profitable and provided jobs for the local people.

There was a development in the early 1900s which was to lay the foundations for the future of the company. By 1916 Fyson's were producing grain elevators for use with threshing drums and the Hayes Patent Elevator was very advanced for its time. These elevators and conveyors, although developed during steam days, were to become an important part of the business in the 20th century. Custom-built conveyors with applications in handling agricultural products as well as abrasive minerals and shiploading were developed. These machines were diesel driven and while some were fairly compact mobile units designed for cereal and root crops, others were well over 200 metres in length. Fyson-built conveyors are still in use today although the company itself closed in 1991 and the Paddock Street works was demolished to be replaced by modern housing.

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