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A stack of new windows in the Joiners Shop. |
PSPS Visit to George Prior Engineering Part 3
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A stack of new windows in the Joiners Shop. |
| New tables for the Dining Saloon being made to drawings prepared from the last remaining original example, now the Officers' Table on the Balmoral. |  |
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The stripped down Steering Engine awaits some new parts in the Fitting Shop. |
| Nearby, the whistle gleamed. |  |
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On the road side of the site the two freshly painted paddle drum tops await their turn to be fitted. This is likely to be in the very last stages of the work. |
| The three big ends from Waverley's main engine lie at the centre of a store where all the parts are being refurbished in turn. Beyond them is the refurbished rotary circulating pump. After years of salt water corrosion, this item has been restored by the insertion of a plastic lining to keep water and iron apart in future. |  |
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The top part of the prototype Y2k buoyant appartus, newly varnished. This will feature buoyant foam instead of copper tanks to keep it afloat. It will shortly undergo a severe testing programme to demonstrate it does meet today's stringent requirements. 11 more units will be required if it passes. |
| The port sponson houses on the quay side, while Waverley shows an enormous amount of boot topping. She currently sits three feet high in the water. |  |
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Altogether
the visit to the paddler and the various workshops took
about two hours. After tea across the road at Ivy's Cafe,
we returned to the new after deck shelter for some
closing remarks, including some from George Prior, the
proprietor. Ian McMillan told us that WEL's two vessels
were at that moment at virtually the easternmost and
westernmost points in the Great Britain, as he had just
spoken to Captain Gellatly on the Balmoral, which had
just arrived at Canna. Picture by Gordon Reid |
Thanks are due to him, Ian McMillan, Gordon Reid, Nick James and Roddy McKee for organising the visit.