A little bit of information on TIM BOBBIN.

http://manchester.net/rochdale/collier.html

after you read this you know as much as me.

 The only reason i can think of for removing the cast iron top on tulketh mill chimney was some kind of error in the construction of the stack because it would have been relatively new at the time,maybe exceeding the yard a day of brickwork which would add to much weight to quickly causing all kinds of problems like listing or cracking.The job of removing the cast iron is quite straight forward because you can break it where you want and the rest is all bolted together not like a stone head because if you take one piece out the rest could open up leaving you with many tons of sat on the scaffold and if it isnt propped corectly its half a day out with the co op,many a steeplejack as gone down this road.

Company brochures are there to tell people you are better than anybody else,the old ones are brilliant reading though.

credit where credits due to reeds steeplejacks ,most of the chimney still stands today.

you was correct stanley ,no more difficult than the Ellenroad job.

LADDERING CHIMNEYS.

If youve all ever wondered how steeplejacks get those ladders up the side of mill chimneys ,well i'll do my best to explain.

Lancashire steeplejack ladders are normally 16' 6" long but depending on the firm this could vary .The 1st ladder is leant against the stack a hole is chiseled in the joint between the bricks about 2 1/2" deep and 3/4" square into this you hammer a piece of wood ie pine dry and knot free then a dog is driven into the wood,a dog is a metal peg about 8" long tapered to a wedge shape at one end with a hook formed at the other ,you do this about 4' from the ground and 12' then rope lashings are applied from the dogs round both cheeks of the ladder and tightened up,skids are fitted to the ladder about a foot long to keep the ladder away from the stack.then sit on top of the fixed ladder ,make another hole plug with wood drive in the dog fix lashing and then hook rope with block or pulley ,tie end of rope to another ladder and the man on the ground pulls it up,the 2nd ladder will only go 1/2 way up the 1st ladder so you tie it (splice)the ladders together and the ladder which sticks above tie to the dog,then repeat again and lift the 2nd ladder to full height and tie to dogs .Repeat this process around 12 times and youve reached the oversail of the ellenroad,then you hook the block on the top rung of the ladder,pull the ladder up and guide over the stonework and tie,you will find this ladder leaning backwards about 18" away from the chimney,which isnt really to bad,India mill chimney is nearly 5'.

Iam sure Stanley has some pics relating to this post if my explaination isnt clear enough,makes sence to me...

Lancashire ladders and yorkshire ladders,its like the war of the roses in the steeplejack world.Yorkshire ladders differ because usually they are shorter in length 6',8',10'and 12' very rarely any bigger.You dont need any lashings to tie them to the dog either.metal arms about 2' long are bolted to the cheeks of the ladders ,these are bent at a right angle about 3" from a spiked end which you locate into the yorkshire ladder dog which also differs from a lancashire dog because its just a 1/4" thick wedge about 5" long and 1 1/2" to 2" wide with a 1/2" hole to recieve the ladder arm.on a 10' ladder you will have 4 arms hence 4 dogs which are applied the same way by chiseling and plugging.You dont have to sit on the top of these ladders to fix the dogs you stand on the arms and that gives you the right distance between the dogs.

the only advantage of these ladders is they are light and easy to carry,some firms would carry them all up the chimney instead of using a rope to pull them up.

the disadvantages are if you was laddering the ellenroad chimney 210' you would need 21 ladders so you would have to cut 84 dog holes but with lancashire ladders you would use 13 ladders and only 26 dogs thus saveing time and effort.

I apologise for not mentioning yorkshire ladders in the first place,I had forgot  BARLICK was in the yorkshire territories.

Peter Tatham on Lancashire Ladders on Ellenroad chimney.

Dee Mill engine in 1985 very heavily vandalised.

Peter has cheated here, he's saved a dog by using a band bolt.  Perfectly acceptable and a secure anchorage.

KNOTS AND SPLICES.

The first thing any steeplejack will learn is knots,these have to be right because your life depends on them,this is a list of the knots we use and how we use them.

CLOVE HITCH, this is the most common knot we use,nearly everything that is sent up the chimney on a rope is tied with this knot,ladders are tied with this to secure them to the chimney and everything that is tied down so the wind dosnt blow it away ie scaffold boards.

REEF KNOT, this is used mainly on the bosuns chair to join the working rope to the ropes on the chair itself and for tieing 2 ropes together,easy to remember ,take 2 ropes one in each hand then go left over right and under then right over left and under then pull.

SHEET BEND, this is used for the same purpose as the reef knot but constructed differently.

TIMBER HITCH, this used as the says for timber such as batons and scaffold boards when hoisting them up the chimney.

FIGURE 8, this is a utility knot used on a rope to stop it pulling through the block or pulley.

ROLLING HITCH, this is the same as a clove hitch with 1 extra turn ,it is only used when the knot has to be very very secure.

Rope splicing is also something steeplejacks need to be able to do ,every rope lashing we has a loop or eye on the end ,this is created by splicing the end of the rope back into itself about 6" this creates about a 2" loop for hooking over dogs when laddering or scaffold tubes when tieing boards.we also splice the ends of ropes together either to make ropes longer or to make one contiuous rope,spliceing rope together dosnt make it any weaker the splice is just as strong as the actual rope.

there are plenty of sites on the net showing these knots and Stanley has already posted a very good thread on rope splicing.all the knots and splices are or were used and created by seamen for work on ships and boats.

Brickworks chimney,near Barrow april 2003.This is a square chimney 150ft in height and about 5ft external diamerter at the top,the stack is used to take the fumes away from about 9 brick kilns which run 24hrs a day 7 days a week ,a very hot and dirty chimney.

When i first inspected the chimney the brickwork at the top was in very bad condition and had to be removed,so we made it safe until we could return and carry out the work ,which was to rebuild the top 4ft ,fit 3 bands round it with corner irons,which are 3"by3"angle irons on each corner ,so it holds the top in one lump,also a ventura was built with the new top ,this is to reduce the opening in the chimney top (the draft)which gives it more pull so the emitions are taken a bit higher,we built it in brick so you don't get a pointed hat thing on top,plus the bricks were free,the ventura worked very well ,instead of the smoke crawling out of the top it looked like a tornado.