tarboat's photos

Hewitt appears in the trade directories between 1904 and 1912 at Bradwell Hall where he advertises as manufacturing bricks and tiles along with ornamental roofing, ridge and garden tiles.

John Leigh & Son are shown in the trade directories at High Lane, Burslem from 1904 to 1912. In 1896 there is an entry for John Booth Davis at High Lane.

Thomas and Edward Hodkinson first appear in the trade directory for 1867 at Parkfield Works, Park St, Stoke. The next year only Edward is named as proprietor. The last entry is in 1879 when the brickworks is being run by his executors.

Daniel Platt & Sons specialised in tiles at their Brownhill Tileries in Tunstall and also at Harpfield Tileries in Newcastle. They also made facing and paving bricks along with specialist items such as copings, ridges, and finials. Daniel Platt first appears in the trade directories in 1875 listed at Harpfield Tileries. BCM is a mark means 'British Clay Manufacturers' which was a marketing arrangement between a number of manufacturers. The 1931 Directory of Clayworkers lists BCM \ DP&S along with 18 other firms.

Deflectorless QJ 6389 is seen on duty as pilot locomotive at Chabuga on the Jitong Railway. Already displaced from similar duties at Zhelimu by the arrival of DF4 diesels, it was to be withdrawn and scrapped within six months. This view taken from the last steam hauled main line service in the world with QJ 6911 making a spirited start at the front.

Prayon manufactures an extensive range of phosphate and fluorine products that are used in food applications, industrial applications, fertilizers and other applications such as pharmaceuticals. Their Engis plant sprawls alongside the Meause to the west of Liège.

Millbank Lock was the second of the original locks on the Mersey and Irwell Navigation. It had a rise of 6ft 6ins. The river course was dredged extensively to create the channel of the Manchester Ship Canal. When this photograph was taken the lock and weir had already been removed, but the paper mill in the background marks the site of the lock. Another photograph from Bosdin Leech's tome on the Ship Canal.

The railway stations at Middlewood provided an interchange between the Stockport to Buxton line of the LNWR and the Macclesfield to Marple joint line of the Great Central and North Staffordshire Railways. There was no road access and passengers not changing routes had to use public footpaths to reach High Lane or Higher Poynton. The Higher station on the joint line closed in 1960 whilst the Lower station remains open to this day. The nearest bridge in the background once carried the Norbury Colliery Railway which had an exchange siding on the right side just beyond the overbridge crossing the LNWR line.

A remarkable survivor of the Norbury Colliery Railway is this arch that carried the line over an internal roadway. This was a steep section rising from the LNWR exchange sidings to the canal interchange close to High Lane. The colliery locomotives always pushed the loaded up the incline to reach the canal. The line replaced earlier tramroads in 1874 and operated until the closure of the collieries in 1892.

Everything is right apart from the destination blind as a DMU waits to cross another train before leaving Consall station for Cheddleton on the Churnet Valley Railway.

No wonder the frog population is dwindling in my garden pond!

Bradley & Co's trade name was Beldray, an anagram of Bradley; the company name was changed to Beldray in 1977. Their mark was based on a bell on a dray ( = lorry or truck) but sometimes only the name was used. They may have made copper kettles in the late 19th century but started a wide range of brass and copper art metal in about 1903, continuing until 1939 by when they were making brass and copper wares and general hollowware. The company continued in Bilston, now part of Wolverhampton, until 2005. (Information from Frank Sharman). History courtesy of Oldcopper website . Further information about the company can be found here

The old tram depot on Mount Pleasant, Bilston, built in 1902, includes this terracotta panel. WDEC = Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways. The centrepiece is the logo of the British Electric Traction Company. Called 'Magnet and Wheel", the magnet consists of a length of special tramway rail bent into the form of a horseshoe magnet. Between the two poles is a tram wheel with electric sparks in the background.

Based in Kakanj is Tvornica Cementa Kakanj (TCK), founded in 1978. In 2000 Heidelberg Cement bought 51% of TCK and this has since risen to a stake of 91.15%.

Spey and Chance 2 burst out of Harecastle Tunnel at Kidsgrove on their way north. Had a great trip through Stoke today although the butty got stuck in Cockshute Lock until we wound in the sides a bit! In the background is the disused original tunnel designed by James Brindley.

The first time I visited the Jalainur opencast mine in 1992 my jaw hit the floor when I saw the steam action. There was so much to see, so many opportunities, and so many locomotives in action. There had been significant changes to the layout and traffic patterns by the last time I went there in 2008, but the action was still awesome. By this time getting there was easy and we had flown up from Beijing that very morning. This scene would not be possible even with the little (if any) steam still clinging on there, as the lines have been altered in level and you can't see the departing trains at this point any more. A train of empties heads away from the washery and off to one of the deep mines. It was so cold standing on the ice waiting for this, but the result well worthwhile.

Opened in 1927 and modernised several times the Hansa cokeworks eventually had 314 ovens producing up to 5,400 tonnes of coke daily for use at local steelworks. After closure in 1992 some of the plant has been retained as a museum. This view shows the pushing side of the ovens.

Early morning sun catches the train as SY 1767 prepares to departs the junction station at Sanjiazi with a service to Diaobingshan on the Tiefa Coal Railway.