Cold Ash's historic pumping station to appear on tv tonight (Thursday)

Restoration Man follows station conversion to four-bed home

Cold Ash's former pumping house will be in the television spotlight as the first of a new series of the Restoration Man launches tonight (Thursday).

The Channel 4 programme will follow the conversion of the historic building in Fisher’s Lane by young couple Steven Crame and Marina Bacchelli into a modern four-bedroom home.

The facility was built in 1931 and pumped water in Cold Ash and the surrounding area until it was decommissioned in the 1980s.

Reports suggest it was built to address a severe water shortage in Newbury during a heatwave in the late 1920s.

The building was auctioned in 2014 with a reserve price of £170,000

When the work began, the pumping house was boarded up, and had all its copper piping stolen, no plumbing or gas, and was surrounded by 40 foot trees.

The Restoration Man is presented by architect George Clarke and the Cold Ash pumping station will appear on Channel 4 at 8pm tonight.

The programme follows restoration projects across the country, with large segments of the programme devoted to the building’s history.