tarboat's photos

A product of the Upholland Brick and Tile Co Ltd which was owned after 1908 by the Ravenhead Sanitary Pipe and Brick Co Ltd of St Helens.

Ralph Platt Barker - Lathom. Brickworks on the site of the former Blaguegate Colliery. Thanks to everyone who helped to identify the source of this brick.

The former Winsford Drill Hall on Dingle Lane. All that work and expense to put the date on the building which shows the pride and confidence of the period. Now a bingo hall.

Bathgate silica sand quarry at Arclid, Cheshire.

The best surviving features of the Alhambra Cinema in Middlewich, Cheshire, UK, are above the ground floor level. Below this the facade has been altered for a Chinese restaurant and the hotel which occupy the building. This cinema opened in 1920 and had 506 tip-up seats. Earlier re-uses included bingo hall and amusement arcade.

This terracotta thing is becoming an obsession I can tell. :-) I knew that this was on the gable end of some houses built in 2003/4 and today I stopped to take a photo whilst on the way back to my office. I think that this is a new piece and I wish I had one on my own house - great! Having pointed the camera skywards I was assailed by the dreaded voice of the local busybody from the adjacent house. "Are you photographing our roof?" I explained what I was photographing but this was clearly unsatisfactory as I was then told that I must ask permission from the householder. When I demurred and stated that I did not have the time for such unnecessary frivolities she advised me that she was taking a note of my car registration. I do hope she enjoys the registration as much as I do. Some people think that they have a right to control what others are doing perfectly legally just because it does not meet with their approval. Hmmm. :-(

Fine decorative work on the Verdin Grammar School building in Winsford. I think that this winged lion (one of three on the building) is the work of J. C. Edwards (Ruabon) Ltd. This company specialised in decorative pieces such as this.

Today I found another masterpiece in terracotta, the Middlewich Technical Institute and Free Library of 1897. So far I have been unable to elicit any detail of the history but it clearly incorporates some fine architectural features, although rather "over the top" in some ways. The friezes are something else.

An unusually people and traffic free down Mill Street, Macclesfield on a Saturday morning. The car is parked almost in front of the really good 'Cheshire Gap' delicatessen. The white glazed tiled tower beyond is a survival from the much loved and greatly missed Majestic Cinema which closed down when the owners retired and sold out to developers.

Looking remarkably rustic for somewhere so close to the town centre, this view shows one of the three pathways leading down from close to the Market Place and Town Hall down to Waters Green and the railway station in Macclesfield. Brunswick Hill is one of those attractive, if rather steep, paths found in many northern towns.

Primary crushing plant at the Lafarge Dowlow Quarry near Buxton.

Primary crushing plant at the Lafarge Dowlow Quarry near Buxton.

The two bridges over the Manchester Ship canal and Mersey Estuary between Runcorn and Widnes. The previous transporter bridge stood slightly closer to the camera which was on the Old Quay swing bridge. Old Quay lock can be seen between the canal and theMersey.

Winter sunshine in the White Peak of Derbyshire.

A favourite sculpture is this wonderful piece over the door of the Nag's Head in Waters Green, Macclesfield. The head and centre stonework are all one piece and must have required great skill to create the head and then put it in place without damage.

Storage and rail loading hoppers at the Dowlow Quarry operated by Omya UK. The plant extracts and processes calcium carbonate to produce a range of fillers and extenders used in a variety of industrial applications. The photograph was taken from a public footpath but I was soon accosted by a health and safety type who tried to persuade me that I shouldn't be there without dayglo clothing. Apparently if you don't sign in at the gatehouse you are almost certain to be crushed to death by giant dump trucks. I think that there is more likelihood of being hit by a big truck whilst walking alongside most roads.

Another triumph of terracotta. Next to the Brunner Guildhall in Winsford is the Verdin Grammar School of 1895, designed by Woodhouse and Willoughby of Manchester. It was built for £8,000 by James Fowles, a Winsford builder.

The field to which this gate once gave access has disappeared along with a considerable depth of the rock beneath it. The Hindlow Quarry is no longer worked for stone although the kilns remain in use, being fed with rock imported by rail from Tunstead.