On Tuesday my grandmother and the cleaner were inside the house when they heard this almighty crash from somewhere outside. The dogs started barking and going nuts, running in circles around the house. Galahs flew from all the trees surrounding the house, squawking in protest at the cacophony of sound. My grandmother and the cleaner dash outside and frantically run around the house trying to find the source of the noise. Finally after realising it isn’t anything inside the house yard they ventured outside.

And find that the tender tank full of water has collapsed. As in the entire frame beneath the tank has collapsed, flattening the stand and the pressure pump underneath it. So my grandmother totally freaked. Because my granddad had climbed up on it the day before, checked and found that it was full. So my gran rings her son, and he and my grandfather rush home, get out of the car, look at the tank and just start laughing. So they’re standing there cracking up laughing while my gran is having a pink fit and totally stressing out.

It DID however present a problem in that they had no water to flush the toilet until my grandfather and uncle rigged up and alternative water supply.





And the after photos:





However the tank has served my granparents faithfully since they bought it in 1966 for £40. It is actual the tender from a steam train, so it is actually more than 40 years old. It was holding 4,500 gallons (approx. 20,000 litres) of water when it collapsed. The force of hitting the ground made it spring some leaks, so my grandfather had to open the bung at the bottom to relieve the pressure inside. The yard turned into a big of a quagmire, hence the nice green grass in the photos.