Start here, for summer news:
Regarding our two single-cylinder Petter engines, instead of a spot of Deus ex machina happiness and joy, we seem to have been served a portion of goblin infected Diabolus ex machina. Both of our venerable stationary engines have lately been devilishly uncooperative. Investigation and a clean up of the entrails of the big 1937 Petter M’s magneto had been promising, but inconclusive. After some weeks spent on their waiting list, a replacement sight-glass tube for its oil tank was specially made by glass specialist Chance Brothers of Malvern.
On 1st July we fitted it, then cleaned up and gapped our stash of “M” spark plugs. Clamping the recently renovated magneto in a vice and driving it with a 3/8” socket in an electric drill, we tested every spark plug we had on its HT lead before selecting the one that gave the best firework display. With magneto and plug refitted the old beast miraculously fired up first time, expressing its displeasure at being ignored for so long by throwing off its starting handle (it’s meant to) but with a degree of additional malice evident. Alan Crosby was still clutching the winding end at the time, so it gave him a pretty playful biff on the shoulder.
Meanwhile, the smaller 1950s Petter A1 - which was running like a Swiss watch around Xmas – refused to run and was found to have developed problems with every single item of its fuelling system - fuel tank, fuel filter, fuel tap & carburettor.
We suspect this was caused by a combination of old age, lack of use, and (the most likely culprit) modern E10 petrol with 10% ethanol, which it had never ever met before Xmas 2024. The fuel tap failed because its seal had withered and died. Its tiny brass mesh tank filter was already decidedly decrepit, but was once again blocked with rust particles.
This led us to do another carb strip as the failing tap seal had washed bits of crud into the float-needle and float chamber orifices. After scouring t’internet for new seals and a filter for such an aged device, new parts and a good clean up rectified most of its problems. The tank, however, was quite rusty inside after its aeons long slumbers, so we chucked in some gravel and gave it a damn good shaking. This worked like a charm in that, on emptying it out, masses of rust dust fell out.
And then.....
Not so charming was the dispiriting discovery of eight pin holes, allowing light into the bottom of the tank and petrol out. These were eventually patched (taking several attempts!), the tank filled with expensive E5 (only 5% ethanol) and, Bob’s your uncle, it was running fine.
However, at the next time of asking later the same day, it again “failed to proceed” – accompanied by much back-firing (it), plus wailing and gnashing of teeth (us). Investigation revealed that the clamping screw, holding the magneto’s points at the correct gap, had worked loose. So now it’s running OK again - fingers crossed.
Many other Highlights:
Gardening.
Some heavy-duty chain-saw work, by Adam Marriott & John Townley, became necessary adjacent to the Top-Esse settling pond, located in the trees beyond the spectator area. The spring upstream from there is part of the inlet manifold to the millpond and a decent sized tree had collapsed across the pond outlet and was obstructing the flow. This all needed cutting back and the area clearing of debris. Robin Nicholson has since cleared out an eight feet diameter, twelve feet tall, stand of monopodial, or running bamboo in our garden. It was threatening to send out rhizome emissaries towards the Return Road. In the 33°C heat we had at the time, that was some job the lad did on his own.
Woodwork:
In Dave Ball and Rob Higginson we have a couple of Dibnahs who are wizards with wood. These two fairly recent Dibnahs are fresh from their triumph of rebuilding an old Ansells’ drayman’s sack-truck used for moving beer barrels. It’s identical to an old British Rail porter’s luggage truck - for those of us old and able enough to remember those more genteel days of rail travel. The boys even transferred the Ansell’s name and asset number across, burnt into the old woodwork with a hot-poker decades ago. It now lives in the mill looking suitably authentic. So they now have sack-truck #2 to play with, a rather smaller affair than #1, but identical in design and with the same woodworm/rot problems as #1.
More events:
It has been a busy time for us of late. As well as the MAC’s Best of British, Chill On The Hill, SNG Barrett, Bike Bonanza, Vintage Meeting and Classic Nostalgia hillclimbs, we have also welcomed groups as diverse as the Worcestershire Young Archaeologists, Ludlow Civic Society, Midland Wind & Water Mills Group and the Vintage Minor Register. Not forgetting marshalling, in the orchard, seventeen large coaches that brought hundreds of Rivers (C of E) Academy Trust school children to enjoy their 4th annual Box Car Darby day in the sun at Shelsley Walsh.
And, finally:
Now that the millpond is settling back down to normal life, the wildlife is back too. Lots of tadpoles have been seen and a mother duck has had a fine brood of nine beautifully winsome ducklings. This necessitated a rapid Dibnah deployment force to erect our duckling-defence fence across the dam overflow. Unfortunately, with the local foxes and raptors being rather red in tooth and claw, her little flotilla is now down to five - but they are getting bigger and wiser. Whilst clearing the dam overflow’s catch-grid of its bounty of accumulated branches (that regularly drop four feet from the overflow’s lip), Paul Royds luckily spotted and rescued a newt, with as little contact as possible and before it fell another six feet, returning it to the pond.
We are now busily preparing for our Autojumble on 13th and 14th September. If any readers have any unwanted parts, tools, equipment etc that they may wish to donate (the water mill society being a charity wholly dependent on donations of course), could they please bring them along to the Dibnah workshop, next to the mill, at any future hillclimb meeting. Or any Tuesday between the hours of 10am and 3pm, up until Tuesday 9th September. Any funds raised are used to maintain Shelsley’s mill as Worcestershire’s only working watermill, and as an educational resource for many visitors, young and old. As you will have gleaned from previous Dibnah News articles, keeping the mill in running order is endless – like painting the Forth Bridge.
And that was the Dibners' summer, 2025.
Credits:
Thanks to a Dibnah, for the text, and to various photographers.