STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

Spring Mill Tottington in 1961.

[Invernahaille]

Hi Stanley.
Did it fall or was it pushed?

[Stanley]

Robert. From the way it is falling and the puff of smoke at the base I suspect a bit of jelly encouraged it!

[Steeplejerk]

It was a cut and run felling by Bob Brogden from Heywood..

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Tom, so the dust is the old mortar.... From the way it has fractured, it was ready for coming down!



Don't know where I got this pic from. Camera on the end of a pole?

[Invernahaille]

Its on the top of Big Ben clock tower

[Stanley]

Demolition isn't all big machines... A lot of it is just bloody hard work. In the background you can see the sad figure of Jim Pollard, the weaving manager at Bancroft, surveying the wreckage of what was his life.

[Steeplejerk]

The handsome fella holding the the camera on the pole is Chic Segar on the flagpole at westminster..

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Tom....



You and Peter at Tim's Terrace in 1985. Only 30 years ago.....

[Stanley]

Peter Tatham on Ellenroad chimney in 1985 when we first laddered it. You can see the inspired repairs done to the rim after the drum was taken off. This was the start of rebuilding the head.

[Stanley]

John Burlison's pic of Ellenroad before demolition. You can see the cut off head on the stack.

[Steeplejerk]

Peter with "socks"on his hands,we used to cut the toe part out of them and use em as gloves,hehe

[Invernahaille]

Great pic of Ellenroad. The foreground used to be used for allotments and chicken pens

[Stanley]

Those were the days Tom..... Now we have modern waterproofs and all the trimmings!



Ellenroad in about 1960?

[Invernahaille]

The above photo was taken around 1970. you can see the access roads for the M62 in the background. The bricks from the demolished Garfield Mill were used as the foundations for the ramps
The pic shows the stockpile of coal at the front of the mill.
The three low level buildings to the left hand side, where the canteen and nursery.

[Stanley]

You're right Robert, and yes that was the canteen and laundry at the corner. The white deposit on the roof is fly which has blown out of the 'fanny hole' on the roof which is where the dust extraction fans discharged from the mill. They used to have tennis courts and I think a bowling green in the land at the back.



You got a good view of the junction from the top of the Ellenroad chimney. I realised one day that there was room for a park and ride site inside the junction and easy access from the main road so I suggested that the new extension of the Manchester tram network should have a station at Ellenroad connected by an overbridge to the proposed hotel and the car park. Everyone went for the idea except the Ministry of Transport. They refused point-blank to allow the land to be used. A good opportunity wasted.....

[Invernahaille]

Hi Stanley
The field in front of Ellenroad was called St Stephens it belonged to the congregational church in Milnrow.
It was used by Newhey County School as their sports field, until they created their own sports field when the prefabs on Hawthorn Lane where demolished in the sixties

[Invernahaille]

Tom,
Regarding the above photo of Pete Tatham, Is that ice on top of Ellenroad stack?

[Stanley]

No Robert, it was a thick layer of parging put on to keep the weather out of the joints when they took the drum off instead of doing a more expensive repair.



Peter's pic of me the same day in 1985. You can see the parging better here. Only 30 years ago!

[Stanley]

Daniel Meadows pic of Deerplay Brickworks felling by Peter Tatham.

[Stanley]

Keith Batley at Masson in 1991 when he was still running Brooke Edgeley. I've lost Keith, anyone know where he is these days? (He'll still be following Rugby League!)

[Stanley]

I can't remember who did this pic or where it was but it's a good pic of the new breed of stacks.

[Stanley]

Lovely picture of chimney construction. I forget who posted it or where it was. Date is on the pic.

[Stanley]

The chimney at Bissoe Arsenic works in Cornwall. Enough hazards in the job without the stack being poisonous!

[Stanley]

A chimney but not a normal shape. Ladders on a kiln at Gladstone Pottery Etruria in 1990.