Exhibition of early radios at Dogdyke Steam Pumping Station open day

The domestic and military radios will be on display at the historic visitor-attraction, near Bridge Farm, Tattershall, on Sunday between 12.30 pm and 4.30 pm.

They are sure to interest radio enthusiasts, who can discover the ‘cat whisker’, the nickname for a type of signal-detector used in early crystal radio sets, and find on the dial Radio Luxembourg, where teenagers listened to their pop music in the 1950s and 1960s.

The open day will also feature a display of classic cars, while the station’s unique 1856 Bradley and Craven beam engine will be in steam, powering the large scoop wheel pump.

This engine was replaced in 1940 by the Lincoln-built Ruston and Hornsby oil engine, which drives a 24-inch Gwynnes centrifugal pump.

Both these pumps used to keep the land dry in the Tattershall and Coningsby area. Indeed the history of land drainage is one of the subjects explored in a museum within the pump attendant’s cottage at Dogdyke.

Refreshments will be available throughout day in the cottage, while the site boasts ample car parking space and accessible toilets, and welcomes wheelchairs and dogs.

Admission is free but donations are welcome to support the preservation of the site.

Access is by Bridge Farm, east of Tattershall Bridge on the A153 Sleaford to Horncastle road, postcode LN4 4JG. The What3Words location is shuttling.unopposed.stunning.