STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

After the felling. Left to right: Ronnie Goggins senior, Robert Aram who had bought the engine, Mary Hunter and Norman Sutcliffe the demolition contractor for the mill. (N&R of Portsmouth Mill, Todmorden)

[Stanley]

Fred Dibnah with his demolition contractor stood on the remains of the Moss stack at Rochdale after the felling in 1979.

[Stanley]

I had mail from John Burlison this morning in which he said he couldn't get on the new platform. If anyone else is having this problem please email me at the address below and we'll sort you out! (Well, as far as logging in is concerned, anything else is beyond our powers!)



Moss reduced to rubble.

[Stanley]

Colne in 1940. Count the stacks!

[chinatyke]

Colne in 1940. Count the stacks!

Wow, I know exactly where this is, I even remember the stones on the stile. The little boy could almost be me! I used to live at the very end house on Atkinson Street facing the chimney on the right, just behind Pressed Felts Co at Spring Gardens Mill. This is the snicket between Atkinson Street leading to the bottom of back Daisy Street/Green road. Atkinson Street was built in two halves, the west part started at Knotts Lane and then a long section "missing" where this photo was taken, and then the terrace where I lived at the east end.
That really has brought back memories from nearly 60 years ago, thanks Stanley.

[Stanley]

Nice! That's why I bother to post these old pics, they always mean something to someone and with a bit of luck they see them.



Not all chimneys were giants. This is the new boiler house and chimney at West Marton Dairies in 1968 when the plant was changing from bottling milk to cheese making. Nothing special about the chimney apart from one small flaw during construction. The brickie entrusted with the task knew his job and had made a batter board planed to give 1" in one yard batter and containing a plumb bob. It was winter and he was off with man flu so another brickie was given the job but used the batter board the wrong way round and built his section vertical! The original brickie should have planed a curve on the outside edge of the board so it couldn't be used the wrong way round but hadn't bothered. The man flu victim came back and finished the stack but it wasn't until the scaffolding was taken down that the flaw became apparent, the stack was like a dog's hind leg! It was scaffolded again and the outside skin stripped back to the fault and rebuilt. Problem was all the key bricks between the flue liner and the skin were cut and not replaced so the only thing that held the two walls together was the concrete cap on the top. It was only a small chimney and never gave any trouble and of course is long gone because the dairy was closed, the buildings demolished and I think it's housing now.

[plaques]

One for Chinatyke. Colne from the end of Atkinson St. / Knotts Lane. Not a factory chimney to be seen.
Taken while viewing the old Sefton Club building. Taken three weeks ago. The town Hall on the summit.

[chinatyke]

One for Chinatyke. Colne from the end of Atkinson St. / Knotts Lane. Not a factory chimney to be seen.
Taken while viewing the old Sefton Club building. Taken three weeks ago. The town Hall on the summit.

Thanks Plaques. In my youth I drove a taxi in Burnley and remember taking 'artistes' there on Sunday lunchtime when the Sefton Club was a strip joint. There were many working men's clubs in those days and a lot of working men to make them viable. I suppose it is a sign of the times that they are closing.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

Possibly the ugliest chimney I ever saw. The redundant steel stack at Holroyd's Foundry in Rochdale in January 1989. Norman Sutcliffe (Waving in the picture) had a simple solution. Cut the foundation bolts and push it over with the big Leibherr back hoe.

[Swifty]

Hello anybody out there ??? It's been a while I know

[PanBiker]

Stanley will be along in the morning Swifty, welcome to the site.

[Stanley]

Morning David! Yes, we are alive and well and what's more thanks to John we know where you are working! Here are two pics of you looking very professional at Rugby Mill, Hollinwood at Oldham....

[Swifty]

Yes Stanley , john has become a good friend and a good photographer too , we met at the Bamber bridge mill last year and he calls once a week to keep me on the straight and narrow , wealthy chap in the knowledge of mills is our john ,,, anyway hope everyone's kept well on the site . Some interesting pics have been added I see plus demo of the N&R team

[Swifty]

Stanley will be along in the morning Swifty, welcome to the site.

Thank you very much

[Stanley]

It's a pleasure David. Not a bad winter for you so far, I know the wind and rain can be a problem but we've not had any really hard weather. Yes, we lost a lot of the old Steeplejack's Corner info and I have been slowly reloading some of the images on the new site.



Click to enlarge. Ellenroad Mill at Newhey in 1919 as work starts to tidy the site ready for the rebuild. If you look in the bottom left hand corner you'll see a horse and cart. Bit of a contrast to David and his machine!

[Swifty]

Shame you've lost some of the older posts n pics ,, I've missed the site but with one thing and another , you know how it is !!!! Any ways yes apart from the odd bit of wind around December and the rain we've battled on well we ain't had any down days , but then again I'm usually in the cab watching others get wet so I ain't to affected , once I've grasped how to attach apic ill be showing my last two mills off

[Stanley]

The last stages of demolition at Ellenroad in 1985 after we dropped the rope race.

[Stanley]

Not all demolition is destructive. The planning constraints on the Ellenroad site included the erection of bunds round the boundary and tree planting.

[plaques]

Planning permission requested to demolish "Glen Mills" on North Valley Rd Colne. One of the only remaining factory chimneys in Colne may be coming down. Get your camera ready Stanley. Perhaps David could keep a watching eye on this for you.

[Steeplejerk]

hello boys!! iam back,that sounded very gay or from some horror movie...

[Steeplejerk]

I wonder what Tom's been upto ????

[Swifty]

Glen mill I'm sure Kevin guy did the demolition of part of that mill a few years ago ,,,,, high reach would make short work of the stack , shame if it does go ,, Tom what you been up too ????

[chinatyke]

My stepfather worked at Glen Mills and he said they had their own artesian well from which they extracted water for the textile processing. Anyone know about this?

Water was so important so I suppose textile works frequently had wells, but they don't seem to be mentioned much. I know Cobden Mill in Ramsbottom had one about 40 feet deep adjacent to the boiler house, as well as collecting all the rainwater from the northlight roof over the weaving shed which was also fed down into the engine room/boiler house, maybe into the well.

[Stanley]

Where the hell have you been Philips? Here's me doing my best to revive the thread and you bugger off on holiday!
P lots of mills had bore holes, Wellhouse had at least two and possibly three.