You may remember my sending you the photo of the wind powered sludge pump at Thatcham. I now know that Ames Crosta was the engineering company that erected the pump, almost certainly on the north side of the Kennet & Avon Canal, close to Colthrop Paper Mills. A large quantity of Ames Crosta's records survive in the Local Studies Centre in Rochdale. They were very big in building sewage works all over the world. From what survives, the pump in the photo was built in 1922-3 for W.C. Easdale at Thatcham. Does this name mean anything to you? A year later they were building a plant for Colthrop Board & Paper Mills. I wondered whether this could have been the derelict plant which still survives on the south side of the canal, fed by overhead pipes. This includes a structure which looks remarkably like a wind engine - but not the type I am researching. Do you know anything about this plant? As you will realise, I recently had a pleasant walk along the canal from the Brimpton Road as far as the lock about a mile towards Thatcham Station.
Regards,
Tim Booth
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