tarboat's photos

Hemmed in with pallets in the midst of the Rhosddu Industrial Estate is a winding enginehouse of the Wrexham and Acton Colliery. The pit was sunk during the 1860s to a depth of 350 yards. The colliery operated until 1924 when it was closed and the workforce transferred to Gresford Colliery which was in the same ownership. The upcast shaft was situated towards the far end of the first section of blue fence and the range of Lancashire boilers stood where the pallet stack are to the right of the building.

Male Keeled Skimmer ( Orthetrum coerulescens ) in typical pose and typical boggy habitat high up in Snowdonia.

Well, what would you do? Yes it was dangerous and it was deep! Old Lead shaft near Minera.

LNWR Super D and USA S160 leaving Cheddleton towards Leekbrook on a damp steam gala day.

Local passenger service leaving Shenxi on the Pingdingshan Coal Railway whilst a deflectorless QJ starts from the yard with a train for Mine 1.

The Poynton new gasworks was opened in 1877 and remained in the ownership of the Poynton Collieries until they closed in August 1935. At that time Stockport Corporation gasworks took over the business and connected the village to their own pipes. The Poynton gasworks then closed and the site has remained derelict to this day. This is the base area for one of the gasholders. The gasholder tank survives to this day following re-use as a water tank on a hill a few miles away.

A period piece from the days when buses were interesting. A 1958 AEC Reliance with Weymann C41F bodywork seen at the North Western garage in Charles Street, Stockport. It has recently appeared on the Hayfield (28) service. A Leyland Leopard lurks fuzzily in the background.

The view over the Runcorn chemical industries is one I keep coming back to.

I nearly didn't get back from my Pakistan trip due to being arrested by the policeman with the rifle whilst mooching about amongst the locomotives at the back of the depot. It didn't help that he only spoke Urdu and I don't. Luckily the fitter on the left appeared from the loco shed and sorted things out. It turned out that the policeman wanted his photo taken, but only if the fitter would be in it too. On returning home I duly posted prints to the shed in this dusty Indus valley town of Malakwal. I wonder if they ever received them?

Another view from my recent nocturnal adventures around the Winnington soda ash plant. These are the conveyors taking raw materials to the storage bins before they go to the limekilns. The moon was a bonus.

Hidden away behind the locomotive depot at Malakwal were this pair of SPS 4-4-0 locomotives undergoing repair. No.3159 was a little short of wheels!

In the baths building at Caphouse Colliery.

Two men to run the kilns and blending of the cement at the Lafarge Hope works. This is the control room in the new administration block constructed when the old premises were demolished to make way for the railway improvements on site. The large centre screen shows both rotary kilns and details of feed, temperature etc. The middle screens left and right are showing the flame area within each kiln. The further man is controlling production whilst the man in the orange jacket deals with quality and blending.

The sun is very low as this freight sets off, having crossed another train in the loop at Baomutu just east of Daban on the Jitong Railway. The shepherd was bringing home his flock and they had to wait at the crossing for the train to pass. It was only just in time for the shot as the sun dipped below the horizon as the locomotives came off the crossing.

Mrs Tarboat and I recently took a stroll up the footpath that leads to the summit of Nab Head above Pott Shrigley. It was windy.......... The views from the hill are pretty good and I thought it worthwhile taking a shot across Macclesfield to the folly at Mow Cop. It looks quite close but is actually about 16 miles away.

Headgear from near the baths at Caphouse Colliery.

JS class locomotive pushing the coal empties along the branch to the Erjing deep mine on the Sandaoling Coal Railway.

Erected in 1938, and seemingly unaltered since then, the pithead baths at Caphouse Colliery are now one of the excellent features of the English National Coal Mining Museum.