LesleyScoble.com

Suzanne, Brazannemuse, is the Poet of the Week for the W3 Weekly Prompt #108. Here are her guidelines.

Suzanne’s prompt guidelines

• Compose a poem that conveys ‘Movement’, using repetition to move your ideas and imagery forward.
  • You may use repetition in many different ways – repeating sounds, syllables, words, phrases, lines, etc.

I wrote my poem, The Steam Cathedral in response to Suzanne’s prompt.

The Steam Cathedral

The giant arm rises inexorable slow,
Up and over in majestic flow,

Down and up,
Down and up,
Around and around,
And around they go,
A winding grinding,
Clumping, thumping,
Pumping,
Pumping
Sound.

Sliding shafts glide smooth and bright,
The silver gleaming pistons glow,
In the steady rhythm of well-oiled might,
Driving heavy metal above and below.

Huge cogs spin a slow waltz with iron struts,
In the fluid movement of all the parts
No stops or starts,
No ifs or buts.

The turning wheels and hypnotic walking beam,
Breathing breaths and sighs of steam,
The engine hums in deep metallic purrs,
Clanking, 
Swooshing, 
Clunking, 
Whirrs, 

Sounds of steeled strength,
Continual workings in width and length,
In a history before our futures,
Swooshing, 
Clanking, 
Clunking,
Whirrs.

The great iron machine,
pumping for clean
urban water 
underground,
In synchrony, 
In mystery,
Pumping, 
nonstop,
Unseen.
Profound.
~
Until, 
the whistle blows
a haunted sound. 
and sounds the end of shift.
~

Lesley Scoble, May 2024

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I put together a brief B&W ink FX video (20 secs) of a Steam Cathedral (aka pumping station)

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A little bit of history

NOTES

Victorian pumping engines played a crucial role in addressing the sanitary crisis faced by cities during the 19th century.

Sanitary Crisis and Urban Health Problems
During the Industrial Revolution, rapid urbanisation led to overcrowded cities with inadequate sanitation.
Typhoid and cholera epidemics were rampant due to contaminated water supplies.
The need for clean drinking water and efficient sewage removal became urgent.

Steam-Powered Pumping Stations
Victorian-era steam-powered pumping stations were the technical solution to these problems.
These stations were built across Britain from the 1840s onwards.
They pumped water from underground sources and removed sewage.
The engines ran on steam, using pressurised steam to move pistons and drive pumps.
Their purpose was to provide clean water and improve public health.

Crossness (aka The Cathedral of the Marsh)
The Crossness Pumping Station, located in East London, is affectionately known as the Cathedral of Sewage or Cathedral of the Marsh. This nickname reflects both its architectural grandeur and its vital role in London’s sewage system. 
Designed by engineer Joseph Bazalgette, architect Charles Driver, and engineer Edmund Cooper, the original pumping station was built between 1865 and 1868. It housed eight impressive beam engines by Rothwell & Co. of Bolton. These engines were arranged in a cruciform plan, and the station’s elaborate Byzantine-style design earned it the moniker The Cathedral of the Marsh.
*Please see the YouTube video below

Continuum
The Cambridge Pumping Station, which started in 1894, ran non-stop for 74 years, pumping water non stop every day and night until its closure in 1968
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I saw one when I was a very small child
As a child, I remember seeing a working pumping station on the riverside path on the Chiswick Mall. (No. I am not a Victorian! Lol). The size and rhythmic movement of the metal arm (rotative or walking beam) glimpsed through the housing window impressed me enough to recall it for the poem these few years later. 

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The Cathedral on the Marsh

The Crossness Pumping Station was the first, and known as the Cathedral on the Marsh. It is now open to the public and you can book your visit here.

Thank you, Suzanne, for your ingenious prompt. It got the cogs in my brain going round and round! My grateful thanks as always to our gracious host, David, The Skeptics Kaddish.

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Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.