The Good Old Days of Steam

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From the butterfly house we made our way to a steam museum which was also near Straffan. However the notice at the entrance said the museum was only open certain days. As we'd already turned into the entrance and the motor home is difficult to turn in small spaces we drove into the car park to turn around. As we were leaving a well-dressed gent in a convertible came from another direction. We explained what we were doing and he insisted on us following him back towards the huge manor house. He then took us through the museum. He couldn't give us long, wouldn't take any money and told us to go through the walled garden at our leisure. The museum was set up by the gentleman's father-in-law, Robert Guinness, to house his father's collection of steam-driven engines. Robert had purchased an old church, the Great Southern and Western Railway Church, and had it rebuilt on the property at Straffan. Although the church was decommissioned and unused, the locals had opposed the moving of the church. In the end the spire was left behind. A new spire was commissioned for the museum and has a pig as a weather-vane on the top. The engines in the museum are all beautifully polished and in working order. Once a month they are started up for visitors. The light streaming in the windows made photography difficult. Another room housed early locomotive prototype models built by Ron Jarvis. Ron began modelling at the age of 63 and won nine Gold Medals for his works. All the models are from the early days of the industrial revolution. He concentrated on models which were unique or unusual even in their own time. Although I have no particular interest in steam engines, I did find the display fascinating, especially the workings of them – how this cog moves a bigger cog which drives a chain or whatever. Would you enjoy a visit to a steam museum?