Hydro scheme progress

Hydro scheme progress  


Thanks to the generosity of Marcus Worthington, and of all those members who responded to the appeal in the last Newsletter, and to the patient fund-raising skills of Peter van Zeller, we have secured sufficient funding to order our waterwheel generator.  Because public funding would disqualify us from the benefits of Feed-in Tariff, all the money is from private sources.

The suupliers are two Cumbrian firms, Smith Engineering of Maryport and Border Hydro of Lorton, near Cockermouth.  The steel girder framework has been manufactured, galvanised and painted.  On  9-10 September it was transported to the mill and has now been installed in its final location. The motor and gearbox have been ordered, and the machining of other component parts is planned.  Smith Engineering have arranged for the specially shaped buckets to be laser-cut and shaped. The control panel design is complete and the parts have been ordered.

Framework in place

Joiners are assessing timber requirements for the launder (the trough that will carry water from the existing mill leat to the top of the ‘overshot’ waterwheel).  The timber used will probably be European larch and perhaps some green oak. Whilst ensuring that the required flow rate is maintained, water must be fed as slowly and calmly as possible into the buckets.  Otherwise, air gets trapped in the flow and, being much less dense than water, would reduce the efficiency of the waterwheel.  The design of the buckets gives them capacity to develop more power in future, should it be decided to move to a 3-phase electrical system.  They are carefully shaped to hold the water as far out as possible on the radius of the wheel, thus developing the maximum torque (turning force).  A trench will be dug, away from pathways, to take the power cable to the location of the controls for the generator.

We are on track to be generating power by the end of 2015, well within the limit of one year from the approval date allowed for installation and commissioning of the generator, thus qualifying us for the Feed-in Tariff under the government’s renewable energy initiative.  The boost to the mill’s normal income will begin at the same time.

Motor going into position

The similar waterwheel built by Smith Engineering and Border Hydro at Skelwith Bridge, in Great Langdale, has now been operating successfully and very efficiently for almost a year, giving us confidence that the generator will serve our purpose well.  It is designed to produce a maximum 3.5kW of electricity, given a water supply of at least 100 litres per second.  That should be available in all but the driest periods, which used to occur most often in late spring and early summer; but who knows what to expect in the next 25 years ?  If we are able to keep the equipment running for most of the time, say 75% of the year, then at the kilowatt-hour tariff rate of 25 pence per kWh we should earn around £5,000 per annum, provided the efficiency of our wheel and the one at Langdale are the same.

Dalegarth Hall Open Day

Dalegarth Hall open day in aid of the Eskdale Mill Trust

Earlier this year, Margie Foots agreed to succeed her mother, the late Anne Stanley, as a patron of the Trust. Margie generously responded to our hydro generator appeal, by offering to open her home and gardens at Dalegarth Hall. This was a rare opportunity to view Eskdale’s oldest house, and to learn more about the Stanley family. Eskdale mill belonged to the Stanleys from at least 1633, but was sold to Edward Hartley of Miterdalehead in 1737.

The event on Sunday 9 August was a tremendous success.  By paying for entry and buying tea and cakes, plants, raffle tickets, and some of Anne Stanley's pictures, locals and visitors together contributed the magnificent total of £1,597 for the Trust. People enjoyed themselves in a good cause, and EMHT raised its local profile. 

We are immensely grateful to Margie for allowing all-comers into her home, laying on a guided tour and enlisting other members of the Stanley family to assist. Special thanks to John & Diane Bromage for master-minding and publicising the whole event, with help from Paddy O’Neill and posters provided by Chris Jones. John also ran the raffle, with prizes donated by local businesses.  Many thanks also to the gatekeepers, parking attendants (a stressful task), stall-minders and caterers : Paul and Morag Dean, Bob and Christine Hoye-Turner, Joan Marlow, Rosey Benn, Damian McSweeney, Roger and Mu Putnam, Peter and Kate van Zeller, and Len & Denise Watson, and all the others who helped out.  Finally, thanks to Gill Hart, the new vicar of Eskdale, who by attending with David ensured that the rain held off for the whole afternoon.

Paul Pharaoh

A brief history of the Stanley family of Dalegarth by Margie Foots

Nicholas Austhwaite Stanley (1909-1985) was 25^th in direct line descended from a Noman lord who accompanied William the Conqueror and was given the manor of Stoneleigh in Cheshire. Dalegarth Hall became the seat of this Cumbrian branch of the family in 1345 when Nicholas, son of John Stanley who had moved from Cheshire to Embleton, married Constance, heiress to the manor of Austhwaite. He also bought the manor and demesne of Ponsonby from Adam de Eskdale in 1388.

The descendants of Nicholas continued to accumulate more property and gained status by marrying into other notable families and taking on responsibilities such as becoming High Sheriff, Justice of the Peace and Members of Parliament.

In 1566 / 1567 Thomas Stanley bought the manor of Birkby for a sum of £760, and his son Edward was given the property of Brotherilkeld on the dissolution of Furness Abbey. He was also able to buy the tithes of Eskdale, Mitredale, Wasdale and Nether Wasdale from St Bees Priory.

During the civil war, his son John was an active and zealous royalist and was heavily fined by Parliament. The family have a portrait of him and letters from Oliver Cromwell and General Fairfax at Dalegarth. He was succeeded by his son Edward who bought the manor of Birker from Edward Fletcher of Moresby Hall in 1671 for £212. 5s. He also bought the rights for the holding of Ravenglass Fair and was High Sheriff of Cumberland and proclaimed King William 3^rd in 1689.

Edward was the last Stanley to live in Dalegarth Hall as Lord of the Manor. His son John bought the Rectory of Ponsonby and moved his family to Ponsonby Old Hall in 1689 and retained this as the family seat. This would reflect the beginning of changes in farming practices and the role of the Lord of the Manor to “Gentleman Farmer”.

John’s son Edward married Mildred, daughter of Sir George Fleming, Bishop of Carlisle. He was High Sheriff in 1731 and was on the grand jury at the trial of the Jacobite prisoners in Carlisle in 1745. When he died his heir, George Edward, was a young child and his mother organised the running of the estate till he came of age. There are detailed records of his schooling and information about the running of the estate and improvements at a time when land was being enclosed and properties enfranchised. He built a grand new house, Ponsonby Hall, now Pelham House, and in Eskdale planted the woods round Dalegarth and saw to the building of walls as fell-land was being enclosed.

He died aged 58 in 1806 leaving very generous gifts to his children and an annual allowance of £600 to his wife. This presented a problem to his son Edward when he inherited the estate and most of the property had to be mortgaged. Edward was an MP for 20 years and High Sheriff in 1823.

His son William succeeded him and he was followed first by Edward who sold the whole of the Eskdale estate to Muncaster to cover some of the debts, and as he and his brother William died unmarried, their younger brother Philip moved to Ponsonby Hall with his family in 1928. His son Nicholas succeeded him and sold Ponsonby Hall to the Home Office in 1940 and bought back the manor of Austhwaite. He was the last High Sheriff of Cumberland. He moved into Dalegarth Hall in 1959 and it is now the home of his daughter Margaret.