IRON HEART World Tour II 2011-2012 - Beatle Buster SBG
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This is the well in our garden. It was built in about 1786 by an engineer called John Smeaton (he built the first Eddystone lighthouse), so he was an engineer of some repute. He had been called in by the Navy to sort out a way of improving the beer that was supplied to the Navy based at Portsmouth. At the time, we had 3 major Naval dockyards in England and the beer supplied to the Portsmouth ships was going bad, much qicker than from the other 2 dockyards (Chatham and Plymouth). The well is 50 feet deep from ground level to the bottom, with the surface of the water being about 12 feet below ground level, the diamater of the thing is about 8 feet with a ledge (that is what the ladder is standing on in the pics) about 3 feet below the surface of the water. When the brewery was going at full tilt, they could use all the water from the wll in one day - that is a shit load of beer.
From the ledge
One of my mad friends diving the well
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A few aerial shots to help you get your brains round the geography
So there's a house virtually identical to yours right next door?
Great stuff, by the way. More history lessons, please.
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Chris, yes. The house and indeed the whole of the green was built in 1830. Our house was built for the Superintendent of the victualling yard, Thomas Grant, the one next door was built for the Deputy Superintendent. In 1816 Thomas Grant, who was then the store manager of the yard invented a way of mechanising the process of making ships biscuits (making the process 7 times more efficient), he was awarded £16,000 (approx $25,000) in lieu of a patent. In today's money, that is a lot of loot. He progressed to become the Superintendent, and in fact was Knighted for his services victualling the Navy at the Battle of Crimea…..
