Special Feature
Visit to the Museum of St. Albans by the Corporation's 1913 Aveling & Porter steam roller.
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| The roller today, still proudly displaying it’s original owners plate. |
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| This photo, dating from about 1920, shows the roller at work in St. Albans. |
Sold by St. Albans Corporation in 1958 for £25.00, their surviving 1913 10 ton Aveling & Porter steam road roller Royalty number 8064, made a return to the City on Tuesday 26th May. This was part of the lead up to the following weekend’s (May 30/31st) Steam and Country Show at Oaklands (Smallford site) organised by Herts Steam Club Ltd.
The roller visited the Museum of St. Albans, Hatfield Road (http://www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk/Sites/Museum-of-St-Albans) car park from 1.00 pm to 3.00 pm, then travelled along St. Peter’s Street and Victoria Street, pausing briefly for photographs at 96, Victoria Street (which was the Corporation yard where the roller was based until 1930) and then the Grimston Road depot adjacent to the City railway station (the surviving building, now offices, were previously the prison prior to being taken over by the City and adapted as their new depot in 1930).
The City Engineer and Surveyor was responsible for the purchase of the roller in 1913, all the original details of the roller survive at the Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies resources in Hertford .
St. Albans Corporation and their steam rollers
St. Albans purchased their first steam roller from Aveling & Porter in 1892, at a time when the City was growing rapidly following the opening of the Midland main line in 1868. Their third roller (also by Aveling & Porter) dates from 1913 and remained with the Corporation until 1958, when it was sold for £25. It has remained in preservation and has been restored to its original condition.