tarboat's photos

Stables at the rear of the house provided in 1866 for the Lagan Canal Company's manager adjacent to the four Union Locks in Lisburn. Once threatened with demolition, the buildings are now being restored for use by the Lagan Canal Trust.

Former tin tabernacle near to Maghery in County Armagh.

If you want ready-mixed concrete in Sheffield then this is the place to come to. Hope Construction Materials operate this plant on Harvest Lane, close to the city centre. The mixing tower incorporates a large Braithwaite tank adjacent to the cement silo.

Two corrugated iron buildings for the price of one at Halkyn Mountain. The shed was definitely decrepit, whilst the Anderson shelter in the background looked to be in reasonable order.

Advertising sign in the Kelham Island museum, Sheffield.

The visit to the desert line between Daba and Guyaozi was intended to make shots amidst the dunes and wide open spaces. The weather had other ideas and the falling snow soon reduced visibility and required a change of tactics. QJ 7205 nears Guyaozi with a long train of empty coal wagons. This is a reprocessing of an image that I felt could be improved upon.

Woodware Repetitions was founded in the early 1940's and made its name by producing quality tool handles, including both the knob and handle for the famous Record Planes. In 1976, the late Fred Barnsley and his eldest son Colin decided to leave the family company, George Barnsley & Sons Ltd, and bought Woodware Repetitions Ltd. Fred and Colin continued the quality ethos and soon expanded the range of handles and turned wooden components, widening the customer base to include customers as far afield as Canada and the USA. They used their previous wealth of experience to start to produce a range of knives and tools, starting with just 4 patterns. The range steadily increased and by the early 1990s it comprised of over 160 patterns. Following the closure of George Barnsley's at the end of 2003, Woodware Repetitions took over the remaining stock and are continuing to re-introduce tools that were missing from the George Barnsley stock. Without the efforts of Woodware Repetitions many classic pieces of equipment could have been lost to the shoe repair trade. This company continues to make every effort to satisfy the demand for traditional shoe repair and shoemaking tools.

Another view of a Ruston Proctor steam shovel in the quarry at Aberthaw cement works in 1915.

Keystone over the door to the offices of the former Stanley Colliery which was owned by the Mapperley Colliery Company. Sunk in the early 1890s this colliery known locally as 'Nibby Pit'. It closed in 1959 but several of the buildings remain in industrial use.

The size and quality of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway goods offices on Stanhope Street, Goole, reflect the importance of the port when they were built in 1892.

The weather conditions were dull with poor visibilty during my visit to the Daba to Guyaozi coal railway which crosses the desert lands of remote Ningxia. By the time QJ 7205 passed Lingwu towards Guyaozi it was snowing steadily and the light was almost gone even though it was not yet midday. There wasn't time to wait for better conditions so it was up with the iso setting and live with the grain. Can't do it again as the line was dieselised soon after.

South Ferriby works was built in by 1938 by Eastwoods Humber Cement.The first chalk was dug by hand and transported by bucket conveyor to the works and the clay was excavated from behind the works and transported on a narrow gauge railway system. The works was commissioned by three German engineers, who were called home due to the outbreak of World War II before their work was completed. Rugby Portland Cement Co.Ltd bought out Eastwoods Humber Cement in 1962 and installed a new kiln and conveyor. There are now two kilns in operations at South Ferriby: Numbers 2 and 3. The original kiln Number 1 was sold to a company in Jamaica following the works' first major plant upgrade in 1968. Today the South Ferriby works is operated by Cemex UK. It produces in the region of 800,000 tonnes of cement per annum and employs nearly 150 people.

Ruston Proctor steam shovel in the quarry at Aberthaw cement works in 1915.

Primary gyratory crusher at the limestone quarry serving the Hope cement works, When this photo was taken the works was owned by Lafarge, but it has now passed to Hope Construction Materials following a Monopolies Commission ruling subsequent to the Lafarge/Tarmac merger.

SY 1583 lifts the morning empties to Shenbutong copper mine on the Baiyin mine railway.

The loading hoppers move into position for charging an oven at the Monckton Cokeworks.

A Buxton to Manchester train arrives at Middlewood, a station with no road access. It's a nice walk through the woods whichever way you go from here. There were sidings on the left serving Norbury Colliery until 1892.

Decay sets in at a boathouse on the High Lane canal arm.