tarboat's photos

St John's Church in Bollington may be redundant, but the chimney of Lower Mill continues in service and is seen here undergoing maintenance. The mill isoccupied by paper coating specialists Tullis Russell.

The premises occupied by Matthew Burgess have long since been demolished and the Town Hall extension stands on the site.

George Turner also traded as a gas fitter at 41 Mill Lane, Sutton. The premises today .

This end of the Bosley Mills site is no longer in use by Wood Treatment International for their processing of a range of organic materials such as SoftWood Fibres, Olive Stones, Almond, Walnut and Coconut Shells for use in a wide variety of industries including explosives, thermoplastics, glucose production and effluent handling. The silos are empty and disused whilst the sheds are in other industrial uses.

The crew are oiling the motion of SY 0477 as it stands in the yard at Xifeng on the Lishu system near Jixi. It will shortly couple up to the empty wooden hoppers on the right and head off for the Qikeng mine.

Opened in 1843 the Bentley Canal ran down a flight of 10 locks from the junction with the Wyrley & Essington Canal at Wednesfield for a distance of nearly three and a half miles to its junction with the Anson Branch. The section from the bottom of the six Wednesfield Locks to the Anson Branch was closed in 1960. The rest remained open but in reality became unusable very quickly due to lack of maintenance and removal of paddlegear. A few intrepid boaters forced a passage in the early 1970s and then it was abandoned and filled in. This view from April 1984 shows the empty channel looking back towards the junction at Wednesfield. Today the scene is virtually unrecognisable with industrial units built on the canal line.

Detail of the stone drying side of a tarmacadam plant at a disused limestone quarry.

I took the dogs out for a walk along the Bridgewater Canal at Astley on a cold and frosty day. The cut was frozen over as we headed towards the pithead at Astley Green. As the last surviving headgear in Lancashire surely it won't be allowed to decay away. Or will it?

Tyldesley Urban District Council was created as Tyldesley-with-Shakerley UDC in 1894 and the name was shortened in a local government reorganisation in 1933. In 1924 the Council took over the former Liberal Cub premises of 1881 as its Town Hall, and these doors reflect that use. Today the building is occupies by unitary authority Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. Of course the philistines had to stick their no smoking notices on the decorative glass rather than on the wooden panels, or the wall, or indeed anywhere that spoiled things less. Then there are the safety bars to stop anyone putting their hand on the glass .........................

The Cannon Street Brick Company operated from its central Hanley works during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It appears in trade directories for 1912 but not 1921.

The Cannon Street Brick Company operated from its central Hanley works during the last quarter of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. It appears in trade directories for 1912 but not 1921.

Thomas Cope first appears as a brickmaker in the 1842 trade directory at Steels Nook, Longton and the business is listed as being run by his executors by 1864. In 1869 the works is listed as Holden Bridge Brickyard, Smallthorne and it is last mentioned in 1904.

Sneyd Colliery & Brickworks Company was operated by Messrs. C.and J. May from 1844. In 1875 it was purchased by Messrs. William Heath, Arthur Dean and W. A. M. Telwright, and was converted into a limited liability company in 1881. Glazed bricks were a speciality of the company, which traded into the 1960s. More details at: www.thepotteries.org/brickworks/sneyd.htm

The modernist showroom of the former Tower Garage at Alderley Edge has now been converted into a cafe/eatery. It looks to me as if it has just landed from outer space!

Henry Warrington, Stoke On Trent This works at Berry Hill, Fenton, first appears in 1889-90 and is last listed in 1912 as Henry Warrington & Son. Henry Warrington, 1838-1907, was born at Cheadle, left school in 1851 to work for William Bowers at Berry Hill and succeeded Bowers in operating the colliery and associated brickworks on his death in 1880. There was also an iron works at Berry Hill, but the forges closed circa 1900. Warrington employed 1000 men, farmed 400 acres and lived at Fenton Manor House. He shot himself on the 2nd March 1907. Henry Warrington & Son seems to have been the name of the business from c1896.

Glebe Colliery was established by the mid nineteenth century and operated for around 100 years. From the 1860s it was operated by Challinor and Co and then by 1900, J Heath and Co. In 1919 it was in the hands of Fenton Collieries Ltd and continued to work into the nationalised era. It finally closed under the NCB in October 1964. The associated brickworks was situated a short distance to the south of the pit and had three round kilns in 1878. The brickworks was stil in business in the 1930s, but had been levelled by 1953. This example probably dates from before 1919 as Fenton Collieries was stamped on later bricks. It can be seen in the comprehensive displays about the North Staffordshire brick industry at the Apedale Heritage Centre .

Radial stretcher - special brick from the Nori works at Acccrington for building curved structures including chimneys.

Swan Lane Colliery at Hindley was operated by John Johnson in 1864 and passed in 1868 or 1869 to Edward Johnson who commenced sinking new pits and developing the business including brickworks. Johnson was declared bankrupt in 1886 and the colliery was taken over by Moses Morris who traded as the Swan Lane Brick and Coal Company. Swan Lane Colliery was closed in 1893, some of the brickmaking plant was sold on 15th June 1893. The 1893 1:2500 OS Map shows four round kilns and three rectangular kilns adjacent to the colliery. This square brick paver was picked up on the beach at Crosby.