Cutting Thread Tap
10th January 2022
Our workshop at Churston is very fortunate in having a lot of old original railway tools acquired from Swindon Works and Newton Abbot Shed. Many tools were made by the Great Western Railway (GWR) and were specifically designed to enable fitters and engineers to carry out all sorts of maintenance and repair jobs on the locomotives. The majority of these tools are stamped GWR or latterly, after 1948, BR (W) which stood for British Railways (Western region).
However, we recently discovered a thread cutting tap in one of the drawers at the workshop and noticed that it was stamped B&ER. This stands for ‘Bristol and Exeter Railway’ which was built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel using his famous broad gauge track and which fully opened in 1844. The B&ER was eventually amalgamated within the GWR in 1876 - meaning that this tap is at least 146 years old!!!
Reviews
- Stunning views - The views from the boat were stunning and the handy (and hilarious) commentary by the crew helped point out things of local interest. Loved it :)
- Delightful - The staff were all very friendly and the captain kept us entertained with his 'dad jokes' throughout. Recommend 100% for all ages. Great trip. Thank you.
- All lovely - All done very well. Everything clean (train/boats), staff friendly and commentary on the river cruise added a bit of fun. Really good day out, lots of families. Take hats, drinks and dogs! If you have one.