The Famous Pudsey Park
Steam Roller
Click The image for a better picture
1983 and 1999
The old engine in the park.
 The front of the engine |
 The back of the engine |
 The controls used to be in here. |
 The flywheel side of the engine |
The Steam Engine
Pudsey park has always been a very busy place. The
childrens playground area is large and has an extensive
collection of equipment. The equipment has obviously
changed over the years but two special pieces stick
in my memory. The first was a large green slide with
a wooden 'shelter' almost like a shed on top, on
which you would seem to slide forever. The second was
a little unusual for a childrens playground. From
memory it was a large dark red steam roller with a
light grey wooden roof. I have been unable to find a
photograph of the engine I remember. The 1983 photograph
was taken by Brian Trevelyan but I feel that the
engine has lost all its character and the paint job is
definately not becoming. Leeds City Council removed the
engine in the mid 1980's because they believed it
to be 'covered' in asbestos. A couple of years ago I
was determined to find out what had happened to the
engine. The last four photographs above are what I
found. Sadly the slide has also replaced by a more
modern, smaller version.
Most people in Pudsey believe that the engine in the park belonged to Pudsey from new. Pudsey Borough Council did buy a Fowler steam roller in 1921 where it worked until 1954. The engine in the park was another DN class Fowler works number 15752 first owned by West Riding County Council who bought it in 1921, the same year that Pudsey bought theirs. It's registration number was WR7508. The engine was sold to Yorkshire Hennibique Construction Contractors in 1959, and the same year was presented to the children of Pudsey by Sir Walter Ward.
The team at Gee-Bee and a few other people are very
keen to restore the engine. The cost of this could be
upwards of £20,000 which is a heck of a lot of money.
I like to imagine the engine leading the Pudsey
Carnival carrying the Carnival Queen around the Town
Centre.
The engine in the park taken in 1959
If you have a picture of the Steam Engine as I
remember it PLEASE e-mail us. We will cover post and packaging costs.
Most information on this page supplied by
D.A. Rayner, Archivist, Road Roller Association
The 1983 photograph scanned from originals kindly loaned by Brian Trevelyan
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