tarboat's photos

The Peak National Park authorities do not appreciate the quarry industry when it operates within the park boundaries. Here at Topley Pike at the edge of Deep Dale and Wye Dale the whole hillside has been removed apart from two narrow ridges stretching out to the crushing plant and tarmacadam works.

I went back to Rugeley as the sun was shining. Rugeley 'B' Power Station was commissioned in 1970 and generates around 1000 megawatts of electricity. It is due to close in June and judging by the small coal stack remaining it may be sooner.

The sliding bridge at Keadby was constructed in 1925 by Sir William Arrol of Dalmarnock (Glasgow) and rebuilt in 2004. The original rail crossing here was a swing bridge with its pivot located at the other side of the canal to the drawbridge. Its replacement with a sliding bridge was to minimising disruption to rail services during construction. It is battery operated using a set of 64 submarine type batteries which are trickle charged when not in use. The railway passes over the Stainforth & Keadby Canal on a skew. In the railway opened position it is supported on the nose abutment, the front wedges and the rear wedges. Control of the bridge is by the signalman from the adjacent signal cabin. An interlock with the railway signalling system ensures that the bridge cannot be opened unless rail traffic is prevented from crossing the bridge. The main actuators of the bridge are a set of hydraulically driven lifting jacks, two sets of electrically driven wedges and an electrically driven winch haulage drive which operates through an open gearbox with a six foot diameter differential gear.

Interior of the 1873 built Hoffmann limekiln at the Craven Limeworks near Settle.

In the engine house at Queen Street Mill is this 500 hp horizontal tandem engine. It is named "PEACE" and was built by William Roberts & Co of Nelson in 1894.

The Bellmanpark Limeworks is long abandoned at the end of the former tramroad that brought the stone down from the quarry. The kilns were hidden away amongst the trees could take some finding, but have now been cleared by a local group keen to see them conserved. There are four kilns that were, unusually, served on two sides by railway sidings that ran into the kiln bank on both sides so that each kiln could be drawn into two trucks simultaneously.

WD 90733 makes good progress down the Severn Valley Railway with a charter freight.

One of two 1975 built GEC Traction locomotives stands at the Hanson owned Ribblesdale Cement Works at Clitheroe stands close to the end of the headshunt at the works.

Rugeley 'B' Power Station was commissioned in 1970 and generates around 1000 megawatts of electricity. The area behind was once the site of Lea Hall colliery which supplied this and the now demolished 'A' station with coal until it was closed in 1990. This station is due to close very soon.

The Brereton Collieries were situated just to the south of Rugeley, operating from the late 18th century to 1960. A number of brickworks have been recorded at various locations around the colliery and this one comes from the last works which was in business by 1921 at a site alongside the colliery railway to the north of the Coppice Pit. There was a large production building and three rectangular kilns which are marked as disused on the 1955 OS map.

Andrew Barclay tank ‘Colin McAndrew’, formerly at Greening Wireworks in Warrington is making a spirited departure at Chasewater.

The Doulton Fountain in Glasgow is a terracotta masterpiece. Designed by Arthur Edward Pearce for Doulton to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887, it became Doulton's main display piece for the 1888 International Exhibition in Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow. It now stands at Glasgow Green close to the People's Palace. The sculpture of this partcular allegorical group representing Australia was modelled by Frederick W Pomeroy. Extensive restoration work on the fountain in recent times was undertaken by the craftsmen at Hathern Terra Cotta in Leicestershire.

66528 pauses at Stockport on a binliner service.

More action from the Statfold Barn Railway with a short and eclectic freight train with Krauss built 2 ft gauge 0-4-2T (Works No. 4045, 1899), Sragi No.1 leading Orenstein & Koppel (Works No. 10705, 1923) 0-6-0WTT Max, Sragi No. 14. Both locomotives originally worked at Sragi Sugar Mill, Pekalongan, Central Java.

It is very difficult to find a clear view of Rugeley Power Station from the west due to housing and the massive Amazon building on the former colliery site. The power station is due to close in a few weeks and did not seem to be generating on this day.

Saturday saw a running day at the Statfold Barn Railway and what a great show was put on by Graham Lee and his team. I think there were sixteen locomotives in steam and thrashing around the fields.

Field barn at Foolow in the High Peak. These buildings in the Peak Park can be very attractive although many are no longer used much for their original purpose. Planning restrictions tend to prevent them being converted for residential use.

Today I went walking in the Peak Park looking for limekilns. We came across this massive Pye Kiln just below the top of Gautries Hill near Peak Forest. It is as good an example of the type that you could hope to find and I have never seen one as deep as this. The lack of any waste material in front of the kiln indicates that it was used for burning agricultural lime and the whole contents of the kiln were taken away for spreading on the nearby fields.