Steam-powered traction engines at Watnall

 

Steam ploughing by cable replaced horse power in the 1850's. 
Like Watnall, this rural scene overlooks a nearby industrial town.

Steam-powered "traction engines" were a regular and much-loved sight at the Moorgreen Show, held in the fields opposite Watnall Hall until 2013. They still have an enthusiastic following today but what were they actually used for in the agricultural world back in their heyday?

They were developed in the 1840s and 50s to replace horse and man power and as such are the forerunners of modern-day tractors. They made many farm tasks faster and more efficient and eventually replaced horse-drawn ploughs. By the 1850s, after many different trials, two favourite methods of steam ploughing emerged:

- In one, a single steam traction engine pulled a plough. In 1857 a Burrell-Boydell engine with 3 double ploughs ploughed 8 acres in 10 hours, compared with eighteen horses pulling six double ploughs and managing only 4 ½ acres in the same time. The steam plough was also cheaper to run than horses, ignoring the initial capital investment. 

- The more common method used was steam ploughing by cable. This could require two engines. Though the winding drum cannot be seen in this picture it is likely that, as there are two engines, this method was used here. By the Second World War steam ploughing was well in decline.

 

Old style and new style (in Watnall's top fields) ploughing

They were also extremely useful for a variety of farm tasks as this testimony demonstrates... "These engines are expressly adapted for working chaff cutters, turnip pulpers, thrashing machines, grinding mills, dressing machines, etc. and from their small cost, and the great variety of purposes to which they may be applied, they will be found to be more economical than horse-power; for besides being applicable to any purpose where motive power is required, the boiler can be used for the purpose of steaming food for cattle, etc. They are mounted upon four wheels, and being extremely portable, can be removed to any part of the farm, or elsewhere, with the greatest ease."

The Watnall area, being rich in mine-working technology, was very familiar with steam engines. They'd been used for almost a century for pumping out flooded mines so the engineering know-how and ability to fuel and water them was close to hand. Next to the Queen's Head in Watnall there was a steam-powered mill for grinding corn run by local engineer James Jowitt.

Steam ploughing was not popular with the local fox hunts as it left deeper furrows that were difficult to gallop over. This was no doubt tolerated though as most of the fox hunting gentry owned the tenanted farms benefitting from the new technology including Lancelot Rolleston of Watnall Hall, a keen huntsman. The 1882 book "The Hunting Countries of England" laments the passing of the horse-drawn plough... "Where it used to be thought enough that the mere crust of the sound firm soil should be disturbed, the steam plough now tears through to the depth of a foot and to a difference of pleasure and possibility of riding that may be imagined." 

John Fowler's popular BB Engine, which used a pair of steam engines and a cable,
showing how the plough is steered by the operators

Another John Fowler & Co. Ploughing Engine – the winding drum is mounted below the boiler

By the mid-1860s most fields throughout England were cultivated by a steam plough. After 1865 most steam ploughing and cultivation was undertaken by steam ploughing contractors. Many farmers, other than the largest landowners, found the initial cost too high to justify investment. The travelling contractors were a unique breed. Each set of tackle usually  comprised four men and a boy living together in a  living van which travelled with the engines, implements and  water cart. 

These images taken at the Moorgreen Show, depict a typical van of a travelling gang and demonstrate the adaptability of the traction engine. This one is set up to mill timber...

Steam contractor's waggon, Moorgreen Show, c.2011

Saw mill powered by traction engine, Moorgreen Show, c.2011

Moorgreen Country Show had been running since about 1849 until the last one in 2013 and had been held at various sites around Watnall and Eastwood. It was usually held around the August Bank holiday weekend and featured farming competitions, cattle and livestock exhibitions, trade stalls, show jumping displays, pipe bands, tug of war, etc and generally showcased the area's rural heritage. I even remember Fred Dibnah there about 1999 too with a traction engine. I think he was a bit of a regular visitor.

Ken Dodd at Moorgreen Show, August 1984

Fred Dibnah at Moorgreen Show

Sources:

https://steamploughclub.org.uk/history-of-steam-ploughing/

British Agriculture By John Donaldson

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2EEfAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA811&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q=steam&f=false

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traction_engine

Image credits:

ID 37800960 Johnhill118| Dreamstime.com

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