Cheshire

Running fast and a few minutes late, 45407 brings the Crewe - Altrincham train past Plumley on the first run of the Mid-Cheshire Rail Day in May 2008.

I visited the locks at Marple on the Peak Forest Canal today. The sheer number of large blue signs erected by the Canal and River Trust was astonishing, I have never been welcomed to so many things in one morning and this included a picnic table! The whole lot jarred very badly with the historic structures and added little or no value to the experience. I already know that this is the Peak Forest Canal, Marple Locks and a picnic table so don't need loads of money wasting on signs to welcome me to them. On the other hand I have no idea what a Welcome Station might be, but it clearly needs a big sign on a historic building to ensure that we know where it is so that we can be welcomed to it. Presumably some manager has been tasked with ensuring full and effective corporate branding in all directions.

The Pacers soldier on to provide more socially distanced space for passengers. This pairing with a 150 at the Goyt viaduct, Marple, was on a service from Rose Hill. The driver gave us a nice fanfare on the horn as they passed.

A memory of the gasholder in Macclesfield just before demolition in late 2016.

Virginia Mills, Higher Hillgate, Stockport. This property is sometimes said to be a former cotton mill but it was actually built in the 1890s by Giles Atherton as a hat factory and possibly for the manufacture of hat-making machinery. The initials G A can be seen in the etched glass of some of the ground floor windows. Giles Atherton was born in 1852. He started off as a hatter and by 1881 was manufacturing hats and employed 30 women and 10 men at premises on Adswood Lane. He became an agent for Yule’s American hat manufacturing machinery. He visited America a number of times and during a visit to New York in the 1890’s, he was offered the patent rights to hat leather stitching machines. He became a J. P., a magistrate and the mayor in 1896, 1897 and 1903. He laid the foundation stone for the Town Hall and also for the north wing of the Infirmary. He was a property owner, with 12 houses on Charles Street, Hillgate and lived at Virginia Villa, Mile End. He died in 1931.

Another visit to Marple Aqueduct and the awful squealing sound coming from behind me could only mean one thing. Yes, a Pacer was traversing the curve off the line from Rose Hill Station on a service to Manchester. The Pacers are being used in conjunction with 150 Sprinters to provide extra socially distanced seating. The riding becomes lively once the 150 gets going.

A pleasant afternoon working the tarboat up the locks at Marple on the Peak Forest Canal. On the approach to lock 3 our Jefferson observes the action.

The Salt Union saltworks at Weston Point, Runcorn, viewed across the empty Delamere Dock. This 850,000 tonne per annum vacuum salt plant was sold to Ineos Enterprises in 2006. Products include: Undried vacuum salt - a key raw material in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda. Pure dried vacuum salt - an important ingredient for the food industry as well as for processes ranging from shampoo manufacture to animal nutrition and water treatment. Granular and white tablet salt for water softening. Packed de-icing salts.

Fiddlers Ferry from Daresbury Firs back in the days when it made a large contribution to the national grid. So sad to see this power station closed down and silent.

Silica sand quarrying is a significant industry in Cheshire. The Bathgate quarry processing plant at Arclid is situated in the original workings whilst the sand is pumped by pipeline from a new quarry some distance away.

When people used trains and when Virgin ran the West Coast main line services. A southbound Pendelino arrives at Crewe.

The Vernon Mill at Portwood, Stockport was designed by architects Joseph Stott and Son with the foundation stone laid on 31 October 1881. Built for the Vernon Cotton Spinning Co., Stockport, Limited, it was the first limited liability cotton mill to open in Stockport. In 1891 there were 150,000 spindles, 458/558 weft,. 308/428 twist. The Bank of England set up the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1929 to attempt to rationalise and save the industry. Vernon Mill was one of 104 mills bought by the LCC, and continued in that ownership until 1964 when it passed to Courtaulds. It is now listed Grade II and is occupied by multiple businesses including a gym, a boxing gym, and various art studios. It was purchased by ZS Properties (Mcr) Ltd in October 2018.

This year the colours in the autumn leaves have been spectacular and far better than I can previously remember in the UK. This birch tree in Poynton has been on my list for a photo if the weather was right and on this day the light was perfect

The US owned Cabot Carbon plant at Ellesmere Port produced carbon black using the oil furnace process. This is used in the production of tyres, toners, printing inks, plastics and coatings. The works was busy when I took this shot but was soon closed and production transferred to a cheaper location in China. It was Britain's largest producer of Carbon black. Everything has now been flattened.

A prominent landmark in Ellesmere Port is this concrete water tower at the Bridgewater paper mill site. The mill is long gone but the tower remains due to the aerials attached to it.

West bank view of Fiddler's Ferry power station hard at work one cold February night.

45407 and 44871 on the Buxton Spa Express digging into the climb after being stopped at Norbury Crossing to allow the scheduled dmu stopping service to get far enough ahead not to cause problems later on. This view is from the bridge that once carried the Macclesfield Bollington and Marple Railway over the top of the LNWR line at Middlewood Station. The weather forecast said fair - it was raining!

Soda ash storage hoppers at the Wallerscote works of what was Brunner Mond and Co, Northwich, Cheshire. Coaster used to load here at the wharf on the River Weaver. All now demolished with houses already built on much of the site of the Wallerscote works.