tarboat's photos

The Middleport Pottery opened in the 1880s and has continued in production to the present day. In 2009 with the business facing closure it was purchased by the Prince's Regeneration Trust and the buildings underwent restoration and regeneration. The boat is typical of those that carried pottery materials to the works and probably finished ware away for export.

The Puffing Billy is said to be the oldest surviving steam locomotive in the world. It was constructed in 1813-1814 by colliery viewer William Hedley, enginewright Jonathan Forster and blacksmith Timothy Hackworth for Christopher Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne. It proved too heavy for the track and was rebuilt in 1815 with ten wheels, but was returned to its original condition in 1830 when the line was relaid with stronger rails. Puffing Billy remained in service until 1862, when Edward Blackett, the owner of Wylam Colliery, lent it to the Patent Office Museum in South Kensington, London (later the Science Museum). He later sold it to the museum for £200. It is still on display there. Its sister locomotive, Wylam Dilly, is preserved in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. In 2006 a replica was built for use at Beamish Museum and it is this locomotive that is seen here operating on the Pockerley Waggonway on its first day back in service after a major overhaul and retubing over the winter. The driver seems happy with his steed and commented that the new boiler lagging was very effective and they were having trouble keeping the safety valves from lifting.

The YMCA, now St George's House, on Peter Street in Manchester was built 1906-11 to the design of architects Woodhouse Corbett, and Dean. The construction was by Gerrards of Salford. It was the first building in Manchester with a concrete frame which is clad in Burmantofts terracotta. The decoration includes this representation of the Manchester coat of arms. The building is listed Grade II.

Coaling stage outside the colliery locomotive shed at Beamish Museum.

As the sun begins to set B1 61264 takes its train across Mytholmes Viaduct during a 30724 Charters event.

Seen at its berth on the Humber at Hull, the MS Pride of Hull is a Bahamas registered passenger and cargo roll-on/roll-off cruiseferry in service with P&O North Sea Ferries on the Hull - Rotterdam route. The ship was launched on 11 April 2001 and entered service on 2 December 2001. Upon entering service she was the joint title holder of the World's Largest Cruiseferry with her sister, the Pride of Rotterdam.

The doorway mosaic at the Alexandra Hotel in Hull has seen a lot of wear and tear but continues to remind customers of where they are.

Opened on June 1, 1914, the Tower Cinema in Hull was designed by H. Percival Binks and seated 1,200 in the stalls and single balcony. This was later reduced to 750 by virtue of more space and individual seats replacing the wooden benches. It closed as a cinema in 1978 and is currently used as a nightclub and music venue. The facade is faced with faience tiles and contains an abundance of moulded swags and cartouches. At either end, are onion domes decorated with green and cream mosaics with bands of gold faced glass. These domes later became in a very poor condition and in October 2010 were restored by the Hull based Toffollo Company of mosaic specialists, under contract with Hull City Council. The building is Grade II Listed.

Pannier 9681 with the ballast hoppers arriving at Parkend on the Dean Forest Railway.

Pannier 9681 brings the ballast hoppers uphill at Norchard on the Dean Forest Railway.

The Clarence Hotel on Wallgate in Wigan was built as a public house in 1898 to the designs of Wigan based architect William Edward Vernon Crompton. The building shows extensive use of red terracotta. It is listed Grade II.

The headgears of Welbeck Colliery rise over the trees around the pit. This was the penultimate colliery working in Nottinghamshire and closed in 2010.

The Delprat shaft, which was commenced in 1900, is named after Broken Hill Proprietary general manager from 1899 to 1921, G D Delprat. The original wooden headframe was replaced in 1952 with the current steel structure. Winding here ceased in 1972 and the shaft has subsequently seen use as a tourist attraction until nearby mining operations caused its closure in 2007.

Running parallel to the China Rail main line, SY 0407 hurries its train towards the washery at Didao on the Jixi Coal Railway.

Coal loading point at a drift mine in the Didao area of Jixi. The left side is for rail wagons and the right side for lorries.

Valve gear operating handles on the 'D' engine at Claymills pumping station. The high pressure cylinder of this Woolf compound beam engine is behind to the right and the low pressure cylinder to the left. The pumping engines were supplied by Gimson & Co of Leicester in 1885.

The downcast shaft at Daw Mill Colliery was just over 550m deep. In later years all coal was brought out through a drift.

Shovelling coal into the feed hoppers of the automatic stokers at Claymills pumping station. The blocks on the floor are made from compressed rapeseed waste and are being trialled as an alternative to very expensive coal. Clearly these are unsuitable for the stokers and therefore have to be hand fired. They burn very hot but do not have enough surface area to volume to raise steam as well as coal. If they could be broken down to pieces the same size as the coal used, then maybe they would be a worthwhile substitute.