Good evening and here I am back after my adventures way up north in the country. More of that next week, but first a little about a trip we made over to the far reaches of Sussex a few days before we headed off. You know you've gone a long way east when the road signs are directing you towards Folkstone! On this occasion we were in pursuit of giants and an ogre.
Now I rarely pass up the chance to see old machines being put through their paces whether that be cars, traction engines. planes or in this case some whopping great beam engines. Originally these behemoths were installed as part of the Hastings water works to pump water along a six mile pipe into the town. The water works were set up in 1904 with two Tangye engines [one has been destroyed].
In 1940 another engine made by Worthington Simpson joined their ranks. It had only been manufactured the year before and was the last one made in the country. It and its fellow engines continued operating until 1964 when they were mothballed.
By 1994 when the decision was taken to restore the engines they were in poor condition. However, the Brede Steam Giants society got the bit between their teeth and many thousands of voluntary hours later they have been beautifully restored [along with many pieces of machinery on display] and they now have them running on the first Saturday of the month with free entry. They are magnificent beasts to behold, but are not the only giants that the small village of Brede can lay claim to.
In the nearby parish church is this rather unremarkable tomb with the recumbent figure of Sir Goddard Oxenbridge depicted upon it.
In life this gentleman was a pious chap who was deeply religious and held various offices including the Sherriff of Sussex and Surrey yet even during this time the rumours swirled that he was a giant of a man who measured 7' in height and could only be killed by a wooden [not a metal] weapon. It was even claimed that he ate a child every day for his supper. The calling of his good name into disrepute seem to have started either with the smugglers or the Catholics. The legend was that in the end he was caught by a gang of children one night when he was drunk and they sawed him in half with a wooden sword on the nearby Groaning Bridge. Henceforth he has been known as the Brede Giant or worst still the Sussex Ogre. All very undeserved poor fellow.
Nowadays the Brede Giants are run on compressed air rather than steam which means that they can't run both at once...that gave us as a natural break and a chance to do a bit more nosing about over lunchtime. More on that next time.
Arilx
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