WATER . . .WORKS . . .

Still working . . . Resplendent Victorian Engineering . . . a cold bike ride today that included a visit to the water treatment works near Irton Village and along part of the trackbed of the defunct Forge Valley Railway Line.
This Works still supplies drinking water to Scarborough and nearby communities. Opened in 1884, just two years after the first train on Forge Valley Line, the original pumps were driven by beam engines. In 1928 a new bore was sunk powered by electric pumps.
The distinctive yellow brick buildings stands alongside the Forge Valley Line at Goose Lane, where there was a crossing keepers cottage. The waterworks had their own siding that led into a coal reception house, demolished at some time between 1986 and 1996. This was the only siding on the line that was not at a station. Agreement was reached between the water company and the North Eastern Railway on 30th January 1883 for the siding, therefore it was not in situ on opening day of the railway itself.