Bits

I think that this phenomenon, seen whilst walking the old collieries on Combs Moss, is Nacreous cloud. Nacreous clouds are wave clouds. Their sheet-like forms slowly undulate and stretch as the waves evolve. The clouds can also be associated with very high surface winds which may indicate the presence of, or induce, winds and waves in the stratosphere. They form at temperatures of around minus 85ºC, colder than average lower stratophere temperatures, and are comprised of ice particles ~10µm across. The clouds must be composed of similar sized crystals to produce the characteristic bright iridescent colours by diffraction and interference.

Judging by the image on their billhead, J & J Parish had a sizeable yard and workshop. No doubt there was plenty of work for them in 1920s Withington, Manchester. The business was started as a partnership between Jethro and Joseph Parish but Jethro became sole proprietor in 1890.

George Vint & Brothers was an established business at Idle, Bradford, by 1862 when they displayed an obelisk in stone from their Gazeby quarries at the London Exhibition. On 30th June 1873 the partnership between George Vint and Ebenezer Sharp Vint, trading as George Vint and Brothers was dissolved, with George continuing the business on his own account. This was just before the Shipley branch of the Great Northern Railway was opened and provided an outlet to markets across Britain. The line was open for mineral traffic from Laisterdyke to Idle on March 9, 1874, the first truck-load of flags being sent by G. Vint & Brothers who soon opened a stone sawmill and siding at Friar Mill just south of Idle Station. The firm also appears to have been making bricks at New Wortley, Leeds in 1877. The business continued to expand towards the end of the 19th century and in 1896 the quarry at Idle Moor employed 18 men underground and 19 on the surface, whilst at Summerfield Quarry there were 4 underground and 3 on the surface. In 1904 the Abbey Quarry at Idle was noted as supplying stone for public buildings in Leeds, York, Bradford, and Manchester. In 1917 stone was supplied for the monument at Whitby to those lost in the wreck of the hospital ship 'Rohilla'. Vint Bros also supplied stone for the construction of the New Theatre, Oxford, in 1933. The then proprietor of the business, William Harper, residing at 33 Moorside Road, Eccleshill, Bradford, was declared bankrupt in June 1939.

John Green Ames appears to have established a canal carrying business by the early 19th century and he was was a member of the Inland Waterway Association for Apprehending and Prosecuting Felons in 1804. The firm of J.G. Ames & Company specialised in transport by water to and from Bristol and the West of England via the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal and River Severn. At the end of the 1820s their services from Derby comprised a boat to Stourport, Gloucester and Bristol on Tuesday and Friday; another to Worcester, Kidderminster, Cheltenham, Bath and the West of England three times a week; and a slow boat to Bristol every day. They also operated similar services from Liverpool and Manchester with wharves at Dukes Dock and Castlefield respectively. I suspect that the business was based at Stourport and it was from there that it was noted that Ames' partnership John Adams was dissolved in 1831 on the retirement of John Green Ames in 1831. The business continued as Ames & Co. This ticket was carried with goods being carried by the company from Manchester to Great Haywood at the junction of the Trent & Mersey and Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canals, and would have been used in calculating the toll charges. In 1832 the majority of long distance carrying was likely to be by canal whenever possible. The boats carried a wide variety of goods rather than the single bulk cargoes of later years. In this case 5 tons 1cwt 1qr of sundry goods (which were probably all rated the same for toll purposes) and 5cwt of empties.

Samuel Gratrix Junr & Brother was established in the Alport Town area of Manchester by the mid 19th century, their Lead Mills being just off Watson Street and adjacent to the Manchester & Salford Junction Canal. The business traded as lead, glass, oil, paint, and colour merchants, brass founders, metal workers, sanitary plumbers, and electrical engineers. The Lead Mills and most of Alport Town were swept away with the construction of the GNR warehouse between Watson Street and Deansgate in the early 1890s. This meant that Gratrix relocated to new premises; Alport Works on Quay Street, as illustrated on the letterhead. Compensation for the compulsory purchase of the Lead Mills amounted to £56,622 after arbitration. Photographs of Alport Works are hard to find and I have only seen images giving glimpses of the building which was demolished in the 1960s. By the 1960s the business seems to have become glass merchants Samuel Gratrix Ltd based in Trafford Park.

Having never before explored towards the Lincolnshire coast, we took a trip to Boston to see what was there. We found an interesting little town where everyone spoke Polish. The most memorable feature of the town is the medieval church of St Botolph's with its 272 ft high tower known widely as 'Boston Stump'.

It's not often you find a whole peal of bells standing on the ground. The Cromer Church bells have been undergoing refurbishment at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry from where 5 of the 6 that have rung out over the town were cast in 1873. All but one of the earlier bells were sold in 1767 to help pay for roof repairs. The bell second from the left is an original dating from 1495 and that to the left is the tenor which weighs 635kg. Two new bells at the far end have been paid for by donations and will bring the peal to a full octave when they are rehung in the church.

More time travel from the neverworld that is corporate culture.

A tin bath in the yard was always good enough for dogs, but now they can be treated to the full salon treatment in the back of a white van. I note that the delights include turbo drying and that the van is fitted with external cctv. Not something my dogs will be sampling any time soon.