A piece of Royal Navy, and West of England, history has been restored - thanks to funding from Mayor Dan Norris’s West of England Mayoral Combined Authority. A rare ship "winch” built by Bath engineering company, Stothert and Pitt, and used aboard Royal Navy warships during the Second World War, has been lovingly repaired, repainted and restored to its former glory by a team of willing engineer volunteers from the Museum of Bath at Work.
Originally electrically powered, the 1.5-tonne hand-operated winch, made in the city in 1932, would have been used to lift heavy machinery aboard the ships that helped defeat Hitler’s Germany. The winch has been mounted upon a recently mined block of Bath Stone – donated by the Bath Stone Company in Limpley Stoke - and installed on the front courtyard outside the museum.
West of England Mayor, Dan Norris, who will remove a White Ensign flag which proudly flew on the World War II-era HMS Ark Royal aircraft carrier to unveil the revamped ship winch (this Wednesday 17 April at 12pm) in front of a crowd of 50 locals, said:
“This is an important piece of Royal Navy, and West of England, history. I want to thank Stuart and his team of dedicated volunteers who have spent months restoring this ship winch to its former glory.
“Stothert and Pitt is an important part of our great region’s industrial heritage. The cast iron items they built in Bath dotted the docks of the West, and were shipped all over the world.
“The West of England Mayoral Combined Authority I lead is committed to working with local people on projects that bring pride to our area.”
Funding from the Mayor has also seen the museum install new wall mounted displays in the museum galleries as well as new exterior lighting.
Museum of Bath at Work Director, Stuart Burroughs, added: “Products from Bath made by Stothert and Pitt were exported across the globe and the firm was known as ‘The World’s Crane makers’, but they were famous for much more.
"We celebrate business and innovation in the city, both past and present, and this is tangible proof of our mission.”
Stothert and Pitt was founded in 1855 and made various cast iron items in the city - including the four famous Grade II listed electric cranes outside M Shed on Bristol's harbour-side.
The grant is part of a £140,000-plus mayoral fund designed to support small museums and other local attractions across the region called the Small Museums Fund.
