Stanley, iam not even going to try and match your last post ,absoloutly wonderful,even "draught" was spelt right.one thing came to mind when i read the paragraph about drax power station,theres a steel multi flue chimney in glossop which stands 320ft high,when it was first designed in the early 80s by Beaumonts of london it was meant to be 980ft due to it being in the bottom of a valley .once worked on the chimney and got acid burns on my hands ,all the ropes rotted and all the houses and cars nearby were covered in funny stains,this went on for about 15 years,i think they closed down.

I saw the footage of Hiroshima and nagasaki and used it to explain to a lad i was working with ,who was getting a bit worried one windy day that the chimney would fall over because it was swaying that much,it didnt work ,he resigned saying he wanted to draw cartoons on walls instead(they were his words exactly).

KEV ,a laptop works in the bedroom.

STANLEY,i could hardly spell computer 6 months ago ,then i bought one.everybody learns something new every day,but they dont know unless they are made aware of the fact. 

STEEPLEJACK  WORK. 

Most people seem to think that  all steeplejacks do is pull chimneys down or blow them up,this theory is some-what true ,due to the amount that have gone from our skylines over the last number of decades,plus the only time the late Fred Dibnah was on the tv in a steeplejack role a mill chimney would be falling over.But me personally and i know most traditional steeplejacks feel the same ,we would rather repair them,there is no better job satisfaction than seeing a chimney shinning in the sun from the newly applied boiled linseed oil ,re-pointed ,and black bitumin paint on the iron bands,standing upright like a soldier on parade for everyone to see.

So to end the theory we are just demolition contractors here is a short list of some of tasks we have to do on mill chimneys.

Erect ladders to full height of chimney,sometimes both sides .

attach bosuns chairs one to each side of the chimney.

erect steeplejack stage scaffold to access all the uppermost area of chimney.

list of repairs; pointing of brickwork,masonry ,(mastic,sand and lime,sand and cement,lime putty.) oiling with boiled linseed before and after pointing.re-building of brickwork or masonry.fitting of chimney bands,replacing of bands or band bolts ,painting and pointing of bands.fitting and maintaining lightning conductor systems,these are the basic repairs on mill chimneys.

ps. whistling at women,taking pics and telling jokes are another 3 basic requirements.

CHURCH SPIRES AND TOWERS.

A church spire or steeple is an amazing piece of construction dating back hundreds of years and rising to great heights,Salisbury cathederal 404ft, st walburgers,preston 310ft, all dressed in fine stone carvings and always needing some kind of maintanence.A spire is basicly a very steep stone roof for the church tower below,so like most roof's they are prone to leaking if not looked after properly.Spires are usually octagonal with a scuncheon on 4 sides which meet the corners of the square tower,the rest of the spire is only 1 stone thick tapering to a point,on this sits the apex stones 1shaped like the spire the other usualy ball or flower shaped on which sits the vane or weather cock which is held in place by the vane rod or spindle ,thats a thick iron rod that passes through the vane and apex  stones down into the spire about 10ft ,sometimes more sometimes less,this is then fixed to the cross tree which can be wood ,steel or a stone flag,this holds the top of the spire together in one big mass.so in theory a spire is only held together by a bit of mortar and shear weight.

The finial on the spire at All Saints, Hamer, Rochdale.

The pic below is the interior of the stone spire.  The cross beam at the top was one of two which located the vane rod and a heavy cast iron weight hung on the rod below.  It was this weight which held the finial in place.

Great shots Stanley,Iam sure the lower of the three straps will do more harm than good,obviously made from steel due to the staining of the masonry below,if you look at the lug where the bolt is it appears to be bent under the strain,this will strangle the stone.The others are made from copper an ideal material ,no corrosion,these have been fitted due to cracks in the stones,a better remedy is to drill and copper peg through the stone across the crack,this leaves very little visable signs and if done right can last a lifetime.

The inside of the spire looks very damp,obviously the cause of their problem,ive seen a few steeples with weights inside,some hung on large chains with 3" links hanging to just above the belfry,very interesting to watch them in strong winds.

One of the things we lost was a thread on the difference between Lancashire laddering and Yorkshire laddering on chimneys.  I'll leace it to Tom to explain the difference in the ladders but here are two pivs showing the main difference, Lancashire ladders are lashed to dogs and held off the chimney by short skids.  Yorkshire laddering is mounted on hinged stays with hooked ends that fit into steel dogs driven into the stack.

One of the advantages of Yorkshire laddering is that you can stand on the stys behind the ladder.

This is Lancashire laddering, in this case Peter has cheated and used a band bolt instead of a dog because it was handy.  Perfectly acceptable and saves a dog hole in the stalk.