tarboat's photos

The Duke Street Scherzer Rolling Bascule Bridge at Birkenhead spans the channel between East Float and West Float. It replaced a swing bridge in the 1930s.

Nelstrop's Albion Flour Mills at Stockport continue in business after more than 200 years.

The L&NWR goods warehouse at Heaton Norris was opened in 1882 and served as a distribution centre for rail hauled goods until the 1980s. It is now used for self storage and remains a rare survivor in reasonable condition.

QJ 6991 is on station pilot duties at Chabuga on the Jitong Railway.To improve visibility whilst shunting this locomotive had had the smoke deflectors removed and looked very different from those on main line service.

Huts at the top of the beach at Port Mulgrave. This is not the easiest place to access as there is just a sketchy path down the cliffs that sometimes slips away.

Coke being pushed from an oven into the coke car at Monckton coke works at Royston. The Monckton Coke & Chemical Company was owned by Hargreaves Services plc and had been producing metallurgical coke for more than 130 years at its site near Barnsley, South Yorkshire. At the time Monckton was the only independent coke works in the UK, producing more than 200,000 tonnes per year of the highest-quality coke for markets worldwide. The works closed at the end of 2014.

Lewin 0-4-0T 18 (Works No,683) at the rear of the locomotive shed at Beamish as it heads through the boscage towards the colliery.

This extraordinary building curves around into Duke Street close to the centre of Liverpool. It was built in 1889-90 to the designs of Edmund Kirby and originally formed the offices and warehousing for Ellis & Co who were shipowners. The terracotta work was produced by the Ruabon Brick and Terra Cotta Company.

SY 0513 and JS6243 at the coaling plant in the town of Jinxi at the eastern end of the Huludao Limestone Railway. This line brings stone down from the quarries at Yangjiazhangzi for processing in the cement works that can just be seen in the background.

Andamooka is an opal mining town north of Roxby Downs in outback South Australia. There are several little museums and opal showrooms to have a browse through. The Long Bus is certainly eyecatching but was closed when I visited.

This former works building was probably built for metalwork production. The date on the rainwater heads is 1911 and the terracotta ornamentation is certainly Edwardian. Although the ground floor frontage has been somewhat altered somewhat for the fashion/clothing trade, it is still a striking building. It is listed Grade II.

At the time only months from closure, the 2,000 Mw EDF owned coal-fired station at Cottam was hard at work when I last visited. Opened in 1969 it is now gutted and slowly being demolished.

Farmers tend to never throw away anything, even if it is knackered and worn out. This is a typical example of what you can find hiding behind walls. This one is just above the site of Copy Pit between Todmorden and Burnley.

Pannier 9681 passing the high level platform at Norchard on the Dean Forest Railway with a short train of ballast hoppers.

GECT 6w diesel-electric locomotive at the Cemex UK operated Barrington Cement Works in 2007. This works closed soon after and has been demolished.

The US owned Cabot Carbon plant at Ellesmere Port produced carbon black using the oil furnace process. This is used in the production of tyres, toners, printing inks, plastics and coatings. The works was busy when I took this shot but has now been closed and production transferred to a cheaper location in China. It was Britain's largest producer of Carbon black. By 2010 the demolition men were on site. Since 2019 the site has been occupied by a factory manufacturing containerboard and corrugated board.

A small section of the Stanlow oil refinery.

Ex Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway 0-6-0 52322 hauls a ballast train into the station at Embsay during a very rainy 30742 charters event.