Cheshire

A small section of the Stanlow oil refinery.

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.

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.