Full steam ahead for Black Country museum project
Almost £100,000 has been raised to enable an important piece of Industrial Revolution history to be restored at the Black Country Living Museum.
An appeal was launched for donations to fund the cost of repairs to the Black Country's last working steam hammer.
Museum staff were delighted to raise the £99,000 needed to carry out work to get the hammer back up and running again for the first time in 25 years.
Based in the Cradley Forge, the steam hammer is described as one of the most important inventions of the Industrial Revolution.
It was installed second hand in the 1920s.
It enabled workers to harness the power of steam for forging iron and steel. The hammer on display at the museum came from the Isiah Preston's ironworks in Cradley Heath, which closed in 1979.
When working, the iron billets are heated in the furnace and suspended from a crane in order that they can be manipulated beneath the steam powered hammer.
The heat from the furnace also raises steam in the boiler between the furnace and the chimney and this steam powers the hammer, which reduces the size of the iron and forges it into the shape required.
Following the successful fundraising appeal, work is now under way to dismantle brickwork surrounding the large boiler which would have produced the steam to power the hammer. This will enable its condition to be assessed before repairs are carried out.
The museum's deputy chief executive (development) Carolyn Sankey said everyone was delighted to begin restoration work.
"We are thrilled that we have been able to raise all the funds needed so that this important restoration work can take place and our Anchor Forge steam hammer can operate again, for the first time in 25 years," she said.
"Thank you to all our donors – we simply couldn't do this kind of work which is so critical to the Black Country story without such support," she added.
Some of the funding for the project has come from the Arts Council England, the Idlewild Trust and the Saintbury Trust which provides grants for registered charities undertaking a variety of social welfare activities in the West Midlands.
It is anticipated the forge will be in operation for approximately 40 days of the year, though it will be on permanent display during opening hours.
