QUEEN STREET MILL, HARLE SYKE, BRIERCLIFFE.

[Stanley]

QUEEN STREET MILL, HARLE SYKE, BRIERCLIFFE.

[This is a transcript of a handwritten form of tender for the Millwright’s work necessary in the erection of the Queen Street Mill in 1894. The original form is on heavy quality paper with the watermark ‘Polton air dried vellum’. It was lent to me by the present owner to copy but he prefers to remain anonymous.]


Specification of Millwrights work required in the erection of a loom shed and warehouse in Queen Street at Briercliffe near Burnley for the Queen Street Manufacturing Company Limited.

- 1894 Smith Whitehead
Architect. Hall Street
Nelson

The work will be let after the rate of a Schedule of Prices. The form of which is at the end of this specification. All the materials must be weighed in their finished state. All the castings must have a coating of lead colour paint which must be put on before they are exposed to the weather and begin to rust.

The weights of most of the castings are given, but an allowance of 1 ½ % will be made on either side. The Architect reserves the right to refuse to pay for any excess of this or to reject any castings that may be below this.

All patterns or drawings must be submitted to the Architect for approval before casting from them. The Architect retains to himself the right to reject any of the goods on account of either inferior Material or Workmanship, both before and after they are fixed. Any goods rejected must be sent off the premises immediately and a credit note given for the same.

The whole of the work must be delivered and fixed by the Contractor who must provide all labour both skilled and unskilled. No board wages, railway fares or allowance money will be paid by the Company.

The Contractor must take his own dimensions from the buildings and set out all work for fixing. The bedding, drilling or cutting of stonework or brickwork will be done by the Contractor for the Mason’s work. In case the Contractor fails to carry out any of these conditions, the Company or their Architect shall have power to employ other workmen and retain the costs and wages paid to them from the amount due to the Contractor.

There will be five lengths of line shafts; viz. 1 length six inches in diameter, 1 do. Five and a half inches, 2 do. Five and one quarter and 11, four and a quarter inches in diameter but the Architect reserves the right to alter any of these sizes. All line shafts to be of Siemens and Martin’s mild steel and the cross shafts of Kirkstall or RH Bars, or something equal thereto, to be approved by the Architect. All the shafts to be swelled for box muff couplings and truly turned and polished and key-bedded. The first cross shaft end in each line to be swelled and key-bedded for a bevel wheel. There will be eleven lines of cross shafts. Each line will be 9 shafts in length viz. 1 length two and seven sixteenths, 2 lengths two and five sixteenths, three two and three sixteenths and 3 two and one sixteenths.

The line shaft to be carried on cast iron corb [sic] plates well bolted down to corb stones, the weight of a corb plate not to exceed 5 cwt.

One cast iron wall box about four feet six inches x four feet six inches [in?] the wall dividing the engine house from the Warehouse. The wall box in Engine House wall to have a shelf cast on for receiving the Engineer’s pedestal. The wall box in the Warehouse wall to be of sufficient size to allow for three ropes to pass through.

The couplings to be muff couplings, except for Engine House and for the expansion coupling. All couplings to be truly bored, turned and polished and to have two key ways, cross shaft couplings one key each. One flanged coupling in two halves for coupling the main driving shaft to the end of the line shaft to be truly bored, turned and polished and to have two key ways, the two halves must be well bolted with turned and chased plug fit bolts, the bolt heads and nuts to be countersunk into the couplings. The half of the coupling belonging to the first half of the line shaft must be faced in the lathe on its own shaft after being keyed and the other half be sent to the engineers to be keyed on the main shaft which the Engineer will supply, this half of the coupling must be bored to the gauge supplied by the engineer.

One expansion coupling of approved construction to be fixed at the end of the line shaft.

The bevel wheels to be of suitable size and pitch for running the cross shafts at about 125 revolutions per minute, the line shaft will be about 75 revolutions per minute. The cross shaft wheels to be keyed with one key on swells at the end of the cross shafts. The line shaft wheels to be fastened with a turned and bored cone bush in three parts and one wrot [Wrought] iron key to each wheel.

The hangers to be of cast iron made ornamented and not to exceed 0-2cwt-14lbs each on an average, the lengths of hangers to vary to suit the fall in the roof gutters. Each hanger to be bolted to gutter with two ¾ inch bolts and fitted with a rising screw with two nuts for setting the side pedestals. All the bearings to be of phosphor bronze or good bell metal, those for line shafts and the first ends of the cross shafts to have top and bottom steps; the pedestals to be bored and the ends faced for step collars, the step to be turned and bored and correctly fitted to the pedestals. All the bearings to be prepared for receiving a loose wick (and the wick to be provided) for carrying the oil from the chambers in the pedestals to the bearings, each bearing must be fitted with an approved oil cup, all pedestals must be self-oiling.

The line shaft pedestals and first cross shaft pedestals must be securely bolted to the corb plates, the side pedestals to be bolted to the pillars and hangers with two ¾ inch bolts to each pedestal. The Contractor must provide all cap linings and wood packings required for hangers and pedestals.

Drums for driving about 520 looms each drum to be sixteen inches in diameter and ten inches wide to be bored and turned and keyed on with turned and bored cone keys in three parts. Weight of drums not to exceed 56 lbs.

A quantity of wheels, fixings, hangers, shafts, couplings, drums, rope drums (Various sizes) will be required for the Warehouse. These must be delivered and fixed after the rate of the same schedule as the other goods.

SCHEDULE OF PRICES.

Hangers, Pedestals, Fixings, Brackets, Couplings and wall boxes. @
Couplings and wall boxes @
Line shafts and couplings @
Cross shafts and couplings @
Drums 16 inches diameter and cone keys @
Other drums @
Rope drums @
Bevel wheels @
Oil cups @
Bell metal or phosphor bronze steps @
Shell caps @
Bolts and wrot iron keys @
Wood packings and cap linings for hangers and pedestals @


Tenders to be sent in to me not later than 10 o’clock on Monday morning next April 23rd. [1894]

Smith Whitehead
Architect
Hall Street
Nelson.

Transcribed by Stanley Challenger Graham. 20 May 2004.
All text inside [-] is inserted by SCG for clarity.

[Stanley]

Bumped.

[Whyperion]

I understood part of the shed in the area mysteriously caught fire. The owner made some money by selling the then vacant land for housing.

I was also told the Queen Street , and the one opposite it, were effectively co-operative share holding ownership as to operations, with I think one of the engine tenters themselves owning a share in the production.

[Gloria]

My 2x great grandfather was one of the part owners, he drowned on a pleasure boat which sank in Morecambe Bay. The two of his children who were with him were saved.

[Stanley]

Isn't it a small world Gloria.....