tarboat's photos

Panorama of the new secondary crushing and screening plant at Pentre Halkyn quarry.

QJ 2973 climbing hard after negotiating the Modaoshi horseshoe curve on the line from Mudanjiang towards Xiachengzi and on to the Russian border at Suifenhe

The Hesketh shaft was sunk in 1914 although the colliery dates back to 1863. There seems little likelihood that this historic monument will survive long term.

Ex FMC Ibex leaving Bosley bottom lock. It was a much better day today with plenty of sunshine whilst working down the locks at Bosley.

A product of the brickworks near the cokeworks at Birchenwood near Kidsgrove. Sandstorm was a trademark. This example can be seen in the comprehensive displays about the North Staffordshire brick industry at the Apedale Heritage Centre .

Birchenwood Collieries and Coke Works at Kidsgrove had a brickworks attached.

By 1896 Boulton & Co advertised their business from the Midland Brick and Tile Works, Port Vale. They were still operating in 1940 as Boulton & Co (Longport) Ltd., Midland & Port Vale Tileries, Longport. This example can be seen in the comprehensive displays about the North Staffordshire brick industry at the Apedale Heritage Centre .

Boulton, Burnett, & Platt first appear in the trade drectories in 1867 at Brownhills Colliery, Tunstall. In 1868 the listing is for Boulton, Burnett & Co, and in 1869 it is Boulton & Co. brick and tile makers. Proprietor George Boulton was living at Moreton House, Wolstanton. The colliery and associated brickworks was situated where the present day houses stand on Swan Grove and Cloughwood Way, just to the east of the canal. This example can be seen in the comprehensive displays about the North Staffordshire brick industry at the Apedale Heritage Centre .

A boat rather than a goat! :-) Ex Fellows, Morton & Clayton narrowboat Ibex at Buxton Road , Macclesfield, heading home after a run to Bugsworth Basin at the end of the Peak Forest Canal.

Gothic colliery at Cheratte close to Liege. The first mine development here was in 1860 and the Malakow winding tower over the 170m deep No.1 shaft was completed in 1907. The adjacent buildings housed the baths and offices. Mining ended here in 1977 and the site was declared a historic monument in 1982, since when it has sat derelict and decaying.

The Old Broughton Coal Company began sinking Plas Power Colliery in 1875 and the pit began producing in 1877. In 1881, the company became the Broughton and Plas Power Coal Company, and this later owned Gatewen, Bersham and Smelt Collieries. Plas Power was always regarded as a modern pit, its owners being pioneers in the use of electricity underground. The central generating station at the pit also supplied electricity to Gatewen and Vron Collieries. At its peak, the mine employed 1,099 men. Closure came in 1938 but a surprising amount still remains on site, including the shells of both winding enginehouses. The shafts were situated at the rear of the enginehouses as seen here.

Maerz kilns in action at the Singleton-Birch limeworks at Melton Ross. Three of these limekilns date from the 1980s with a fourth being added in 1996.

A look back to the days when all the passenger trains and much of the coal traffic was steam hauled on the Tiefa Coal Railway. A view between SY 1770 and the coaling crane on the servicing point at Diaobingshan.

Terracotta decoration on a building in Victoria Rd Widnes. A nice little detail and easily missed.

The local builder's merchants occupies this fine shed on the outskirts of Moretonhampstead. The frontage clearly had sliding doors and I wonder whether this was once a motor repairs and petrol garage.

Vreoci washery in Serbia was an interesting steam location with two gauges and also the use of classic dc electrics on the coal trains from the opencast mines. Yugoslav built USA type 62-635 is here busy shunting the standard gauge sidings.

Charcoal burning near Nanpiao, Liaoning Province, China. The charcoal burners were established by the roadside but there were hardly any trees to be seen in the vicinity. The men working the kilns told me that charcoal is used in restaurants.

The Scarborough Flyer is on its way shortly after leaving Chelford.