tarboat's photos

I think the cold had slowed down my brain as I stood on the top of a colliery spoil heap to photograph the empty coal wagons to the Xinghua mine on the line from Zhengyang on the Jixi Coal Railway. My fingers were in pain from the extreme cold and I didn't notice the wire running across the locomotive as it neared the summit. Oh well, nearly nailed it.

Orme Mill at Waterhead in Oldham was built in 19089 by the Orme Ring Mill Ltd for cotton spinning. Initially it housed 62,000 ring spindles. It was designed by architects F. W. Dixon & Son. The Lancashire Cotton Corporation took over in the 1930s and production finished in 1960. The mill was passed on to Ferranti in 1964, and is now in multiple usage.

LNWR Coal Tank 1054 passes the fixed distant signal by the foot crossing south of Rowsley as it heads towards Darley Dale with a short freight.

The whole of China runs on Beijing time which means that it is still dark at 9.00am at Sandaoling in the far west of Xinjiang in December. The morning empties on this day were brought to the opencast mine in two trains. The first one ran long before the sun rose and is here crossing the desert as the first light breaks over the horizon.

Cooling plant and a Braithwaite modular water tank outside the Caster No.5 building at Scunthorpe steelworks. The Braithwaite company dates back to 1884 under the name of Braithwaite and Kirk at Crown Bridge Works, West Bromwich. Today the business continues as part of the Rowecord Group. www.braithwaite.co.uk/

In 2002 Cargill UK acquired its Trafford Park site from Cerestar who had taken it over from Corn Products in 1987. The site processes wheat for its UK sweeteners, industrial starches and texturant businesses. The plant and offices produces sweeteners and wheat proteins for food customers in the confectionery, brewing, beverage, dairy and bakery sectors. In addition to the food sector, the Manchester plant also serves the needs of the farming and aquaculture sectors with animal feed products and vital wheat gluten.

Burton Buildings in Wrexham was built in 1896 and is adorned with lovely terracotta work which was probably supplied by J C Edwards of Ruabon. Considering the proximity of an extensive terracottta industry in the vicinity it is surprising how little of the local product is to be seen in Wrexham.

The original Beyer Garratt, K1, which was supplied to the Tasmanian Government Railways in 1909 for use on the North East Dundas Tramway. It is seen here on the the balloon loop of the Statfold Barn Railway during a 30742 Charters event.

Dove Holes quarry is operated by Cemex and ships out vast quantities of limestone by road and rail. The quarry is an amalgamation of the earlier Holderness and Newline quarries both of which have been lowered to the water table. Recent developments have seen the quarry expand northwards into the Bee Low area. There is a large area of fixed plant for crushing and screening the stone. The stone is taken by conveyor from the tipping dock and primary crusher to a stockpile under the gantry to the right of centre.

A view from my visit to the Lancashire Mining Museum at Astley Green where I was made very welcome by the volunteers. The steel lattice headgear for Number 1 Shaft is the only colliery headgear remaining in Lancashire. The structure, which is over 100 feet high, was built by Head Wrightson & Co. in 1912 and replaced the original wooden shaft sinking headgear. In the engine house at Astley Green is the largest steam winding engine ever used in the Lancashire Coalfield. Built by Yates & Thom in 1912, the twin tandem compound engine delivered 3,300 hp. It is still turned over with compressed air on demonstration days.

The high purity dolomitic limestone extracted at the Tarmac operated Whitwell quarry is burned in the rotary kilns of the adjoining lime processing plant (operated by Lhoist) for use in refractory products and steel manufacture. There are only two quarries in the UK that produce limestone which is suitable for these specialist uses and both quarries are recognised sources of national importance of this mineral. Other grades of limestone present at the quarry that is not suitable for use in the kilns is used principally to produce agricultural lime and aggregates.

There are some nice brick and terracotta details on this terrace in Greenacres Road, Oldham. The wall copers and the terracotta porch details and lintels immediately caught my eye.

Freestyle motocross was the big ring event at this year's Poynton Show. Not something I would ever want to do. I also noted that the guy leading the event had a pronounced limp!

One of two butchers in Bollington.

JS 8050 brings the empties across the road as it arrives at the Fengshuigou Colliery on the Yuanbaoshan Coal Railway.

Six cooling towers mark the location of the former Thorpe Marsh power station. The 1000mw station opened in the 1960s and was closed in 1994 at a time when coal-fired generation was becoming unpopular and uneconomic. The main buildings were demolished in 1996 but the towers remained until 2012.

LNWR Coal Tank 1054 shows little exhaust in the countryside south of Rowsley as it heads towards Darley Dale with a short freight.

Storage bins alongside the tarmacadam plant at the Lafarge operated Graig Quarry, Llanarmon.