tarboat's photos

Vintage shop front in Maryport. I love to see the ghost sign headers on old shops.

During a walk looking at the lost industries on the moors north of Rochdale we came across this site just below Catstones Quarry. There were plenty of signs of burning and several large fused blocks of stone and carbonaceous material. Old maps give no clue as to what this migt represent. We did consider beehive coke ovens but were are no collieries in the immediate vicinity and why transport coal to this remote spot for burning? Any theories as to what was going on will be very welcome.

Mosaic entrance step at a former shoe shop in Maryport. The 'Easiephit' brand of footwear was manufactured and sold by James Greenlees & Sons of Paisley. In March 1919 a new company was floated - Greenlees & Sons ('Easiephit' Footwear Ltd.), under the chairmanship of Harry Dunsmore Greenlees, one of James’s younger sons. By 1935, when 12 shops were bought from R. & J. Dick, there were 260 'Easiephit' shops. It had become one of the principal national shoe chains of the day. In February 1957 a bid from Great Universal Stores (GUS) was accepted. There were 380 'Easiephit' branches in the UK in 1973, probably representing the peak of the enterprise. The brand seems to have disappeared in the later 1980s.

Evening rush hour at Sanjiazi on the Tiefa coal railway.

It was a complete surprise to me to see a corrugated iron clad station whilst travelling from Hanover to Wernigerode. A quick phone camera grab from the train.

Train crews discuss tactics at the terminus of the Novat branch on the Wassertalbahn logging railway in Romania.

Railway water tower at Nordhausen, Thuringia, Germany.

Tippler house for lead/zinc ore being tipped for grading and moving to the loading bunkers at Wallah Gorge in north-east Myanmar. The ore from the deep mine at Bawdwin is brought out along the adit level to Tiger Camp and then through another tunnel to the bunkers here where it can be transferred to the Burma Mines Railway for transporting to the smelter at Namtu. The timber and corrugated iron architecture is typical of the Burma mines.

The train staff on the Tiefa Coal Railway were expected to keep the outside of the coaches clean in between trips serving the local mines and villages. A large supply of ladders was available to assist in the operation. Depending on the timetable the job would sometimes be only part finished before the next service departed, resulting in a curious striped effect on the coaches.

A.L Hulme's shop in Ashbourne has imposed the 1950s onto a large Queen Anne period house built around 1700 -1710 with giant fluted pilasters. The fish shop was opened in 1929 by Albert Hulme and has remained in his family until this day. More information here: www.ourashbourne.co.uk/place/hulmes-fishmongers?QR=loc7

These repurposed wagon bodies in the yard of builders Tyler & Coates in Ashbourne must be over 100 years old. It would be good to know which railway company was the original source but so far I have been unable to find any images of similar designs in service. The double outside bracing on all side panels and door is distinctive.

It is great to see new industrial locomotives being built in the UK. This is one of two hybrid Bo-Bo locomotives being built by Clayton Equipment Ltd at Burton-on-Trent for Tata Steel at Port Talbot. One other locomotive of this type has already been delivered to Tata. Electric drive is powered by a large bank of lead acid batteries which are charged by a Deutz diesel running in the front compartment. Thanks to the company for a most informative and interesting visit.

One source suggests that St Augustine's, Draycott in the Clay, Staffordshire, was formed as a mission church in Hanbury parish from 1922. It has been lined out with highly polished wooden wall panels and has full heating. The bell cote was removed a few years ago and has been replaced in wood although the pinnacle and cross seem to be original.

Marker stone below Buxton New Road, Eddisbury. This marks the boundary between Macclesfield and Rainow. M = Macclesfield and R on the reverse unsurprisingly = Rainow.

Demolishing the melting plant at Staveley works. St Gobain solved the problem of a more efficient UK producer by buying the business and closing it down.

Whitby harbour swing bridge, designed by J Mitchell Moncrieff and built by Heenan & Froude, opened in 1909. Each swinging span is 75ft long.

They don't make pub fronts like this any more. The Midland in Liverpool still promotes the delights of long defunct Walker's Warrington Ales. All that marble must have been expensive and the curved glass is irreplaceable.

A small corner of the building housing the Trustee Savings Bank in Grimsby. Decorative details such as this are sadly lacking from modern architecture.