tarboat's photos

'Holly Bank No.3' arrives at Chasewater Heaths with a short mineral train on the Chasewater Railway.

Cooling towers at the Scunthorpe steelworks.

Ghost signs on the end of a building in Blackwell Street, Kidderminster.

The brickworks at Prestongrange once comprised eleven round downdraught kilns and a 24 chamber Hoffmann kiln. Today only the disused Hoffmann kiln survives.

Looking into the pot of a limekiln at Snab End not far from Alston Moor in Cumbria. There are at least five kilns along this particular hillside.

On the roof of a house adjacent to the Stourport canal basins is this row of watchers. I can only assume that they were once part of a ride on the adjacent permanent funfair.

There was a time when those residents of industrial cities such as Manchester and its environs who had a little money to spare would build themselves a holiday home in the rural hinterland. North east Cheshire was a popular place as it was well served by buses and trains whilst being suitably rural and a great contrast to the urban grime. Some became permanent homes for families. There were many of these wooden houses in use throughout the first half of the 20th century but after that they steadily fell into disuse as people became more mobile and holiday destinations changed. In my own village this was the last one to survive although it had not been used for many years. Last week the demolition men came and it was quickly taken down and burned. I was sad to see it go but it no longer had a purpose. I shall still miss seeing it as a reminder of simpler times.

Inside the generation hall at Drax power station. Most of the generation at the time was from biomass fuel.

The gasworks site in Chelmsford is to be redeveloped for housing and car parking. These gasholders are redundant and will be scrapped.

Loading hoppers at the Hope Construction Materials operated Dowlow Quarry. I don't know if trains are still loaded under here as most trains appear to be filled by a front end loader on the line off to the right of this view.

Hoby Bridge over the River Wreake. This river formed part of the Melton Mowbray Navigation which from 1797 brought barges to Melton from the River Soar via twelve broad locks. Initially very profitable the navigation declined with the building of railways in the locality and was abandoned in 1877. There is an active society campaigning to preserve what remains and with a long term aim of restoring navigation to Melton Mowbray and even onwards to Oakham. This bridge has seen extensive restoration and is now in good condition.

There are three limekilns on the hillside at Snab End above Garrigill in the east of Cumbria. This one with its tiny quarry behind can only have been used a few times and the burned lime taken to improve the adjacent pasture. It is good order for something that is probably more than 200 years old.

Hope cement works is situated within the Peak District National Park. It is a major employer in the area and is only really noticeable when you get quite close.

Work underway to repair the landslip at Middlewood Station caused by exceptional rain in June. The line between Stockport and Buxton suffered nine separate slips during the storm and this was the worst of them. Repairs took over a month to complete but the line was reopened to traffic within two weeks.

If you like water tanks then the United States is the place to be. This plantation is on a commercial building in New York.

On the climb towards Asmara a train headed by a pair of Mallets crosses the viaduct west of Arbaroba on the Eritrea Railway.

Loading railway wagons at Hope Construction Materials' cement works in Derbyshire.

Upcast shaft at Thoresby Colliery during the last week of coaling.