STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

I said I was surprised by the result of the felling and now I can't find the pic! Both stacks were felled across the old arched brick kilns and the expectation was that they would collapse a lot of them and aid clearing the site. However, the arched kilns withstood the impact and were undamaged. A good demonstration of the strength of an arched structure and completely unexpected...

[Stanley]

Do you remember when we dug into the history of this man? J W Smith, 'The Lancashire Steeplejack'.

[Stanley]

One of J W Smith's jobs.

[Stanley]

Another pic of J W Smith, 'The Lancashire Steeplejack'.

[Stanley]

You may wonder what this has to do with steeplejacks. Forshaws were the contractors for the demolition of Moss Mill in Rochdale in 1979 and Fred Dibnah was sub-contracted to them. This is one of Forshaws' Albion wagons, tackle was a lot smaller in those days!

[Stanley]

Fred Dibnah, Moss Mill chimney firing in 1979. There was a curious sequel to this. Many years later when I was in Dordrecht with my mate Paul, we were there with John Ingoe's traction engine, we went into an antique shop where Paul bought a bird cage. While we were there having a cup of coffee outside the shop a woman came up and said she had seen me on TV. I told her she was mistaken but she said no, it was at a chimney felling by Fred. The camera man in the pic is from the BBC and they were filming Fred. That woman had good eyesight! If you don't believe me, have a look on you tube for the film and look for a bearded snapper!

[Stanley]

Moss felling in 1979.

[Stanley]

If you click to enlarge and look at the large skip on the right you'll see Fred's distinctive jersey as he peers round the end to get what for him was an unusual view of the felling. Look at the way the debris is flying, they were too close and a hail of bricks was thrown beyond the skip.

[Stanley]

Fred made a tidy job of cutting and propping Era stack at Rochdale in 1979. Notice how he has the holes for the cross bars on the telegraph poles all facing into the draught, it made it easier for the fire to get into them.

[Stanley]

Era 1979

[Stanley]

The aftermath of the Era felling at Rochdale in 1979.

[Stanley]

Daniel Meadows picture of Moss Felling in 1979.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

Oldham stacks, plenty of work for the lads in those days. I have it as 1979 but I think it may be earlier.

[Stanley]

Norman Sutcliffe at Ellenroad in 1985 using his favourite tool, the crane and a 30cwt ball. He was an artist with it! He's just knocked out the bottom cast iron pillar in a bay and brought all four storeys down. When he was working on the outside corners he nibbled from the top to keep the debris inside the building outline but once he was inside he went for the bottom pillars. He had a bigger ball but preferred the 30cwt.

[Tizer]

Black Country industry photos...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-29219727

[Stanley]

I can see what Donnelly means when he says the man was after the evocative pics. I was always a bit more prosaic, I wanted to record the processes and the people, the blood and the mud and the beer! It always surprises me that some collections have no people in them at all....



Gavin Bone. project manager for Coates Inks as it was then with Norman at Ellenroad. I think you could pick out the demolition man without any prior knowledge!

[Stanley]

Notting Hill Brewery chimney in the late 1930s.

[Stanley]

I found this on the web. It's a mine chimney but I don't know where. The brickies certainly went to town on it!

[Stanley]

I found this image on the net and it intrigues me. It looks as though they are using ropes girdling the chimney to lash the ladders on. My question is, how do they get the ropes round the stack?

[PanBiker]

Good question Stanley. It looks like it's some kind of metal chimney so probably no fixing points, (why not)? Don't lot's of these types of stack have integral ladders? Interesting photo anyway.

[Stanley]

Some do Ian but the problem is that as they age, the permanent fixing points and ladders deteriorate and there have been some bad accidents caused by trusting them. Yes, it looks like a natal chimney but could be poured concrete. There will be a simple answer but I can't see what it is.

[PanBiker]

Had another look and isn't that a dog near the very top and another more or less where the top blokes feet are on the ladder? Take your point about the corrosion factor.

[Invernahaille]

Stanley.
Interesting pic you posted about Ellenroad. In the background you can see a farm and a row of cottages, these disappeared a long time ago, and where replaced by the George Milne eatery and bar. The white building behind still exist and is a pub called the Free Trade Tavern.
Thanks for Posting.

[Tizer]

The chimney with the fancy brickwork...from the pattern I'd hazard a guess at South or Central America. Mexico had strong connections with Cornish mining and there's a society out there to keep the connections going. The owner of Poldark Mine who died recently used to to go out there each year for their annual event. He even went while in the final stages of cancer.

As for the ropes round the stack, I think you'd have to start with loops at the bottom where you can reach with loose ladders, then fix a ladder to them. Then take one of the loose loops, work it upwards and attach at the top of your ladder. Do the same with the bottom loop, and so on, gradually moving up as required. Leapfrogging the loops!