Hampshire Mills Group
HOME
Up
MEMBERSHIP
NEWSLETTERS
MILLS BOOKS
MILLS OF INTEREST
LIBRARY
LISTED MILLS
MILL HISTORY
SNIPPETS
LINKS

 

 

Back Up Next

Page 5

Newsletter 103, Winter 2013 © Hampshire Mills Group

Hilda~ an old Iron Lady saved from neglect and the scrap yard

by a Hampshire Mills Group Member as told by Andy Fish

 

Hilda was built by Aveling and Porter Ltd. Rochester, Kent in 1929 for Bridgewater Borough Council; it is a  D type 8 ton compound piston valve road roller with extra wide rolls for tarmac work and carries works number 12335.  Later, Hilda was sold to Eddison Plant Ltd of Dorchester, but was believed to have been based at the company’s Romsey depot.  When first retired, Hilda went to the recreation ground at Green Park in Millbrook, Southampton. Hilda gave great pleasure to the many children who played on her, before being saved from the scrap man; she then went through several owners before being purchased in 2002  from Norfolk in un-restored condition by H.M.G. member, Nigel Spender.

 

Hilda on her journey to Green Park in the 1950s

and at Green Park in the early 1970s

Photos from Nigel Spender’s Collection

Nigel has spent 11 hard years stripping and rebuilding Hilda, as you can see from the picture Hilda was close to the end, scrapyard beckoning, when Nigel purchased her but at the beginning of October this year HILDA was finally ready, successfully in steam again and triumphantly travelling across Basingstoke to the Milestones Museum - her first trip out under steam since leaving Eddison’s depot in the 1950s.

                               Hilda on her first trip out, October 2013                       Photo by Rob Fish

 

Back Up Next

 


HOME ] Up ] MEMBERSHIP ] NEWSLETTERS ] MILLS BOOKS ] MILLS OF INTEREST ] LIBRARY ] LISTED MILLS ] MILL HISTORY ] SNIPPETS ] LINKS ]

horizontal rule

Copyright © 2024 Hampshire Mills Group
Registered as a Charity - 1116607