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Merry Christmas from all of us at Old Glory

Father Christmas arrived on the Caldon Canal in the motorboat writes Barry Job.

A good crowd of excited children awaited his arrival on both days, even though the Sunday was wet. Ringing a handbell he led them to a grotto in the museum’s visitor centre where they were able to tell him what gifts they were hoping for on Christmas Day.

The 1820s beam engine 'Princess' which drives the potters’ grinding mill ran well over both days. Previously, work on the canal wharf to inject resin to prevent canal water leaking into the mill had resulted in the pipe from the canal to the engine’s condenser becoming blocked.

This early engine will run on very little steam pressure, but does require a good vacuum to run smoothly. The pipe blockage had effectively disrupted the previous steaming weekend and the resin proved extremely difficult to remove completely. So it was with some relief that the engine’s vacuum held up over both days. At the time of writing the museum’s future is uncertain, but it is to be hoped that it will be open to the public again in 2012.