STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

Oakmount Mill chimney (Sutcliffe and Clarkson's) in 1979. This stone chimney had been regularly oiled over the years and the oil, combined with the soot laden air in Burnley had gone black as a fire back!

[Stanley]

Hammerton Street foundry at Burnley in 1987. Long the home of Proctors who made the mechanical stokers. We had a long discussion on the old site about the joints in the chimney bands which were not the usual type but a loop and wedge. A very badly maintained stack!

[Stanley]

Slater's Terrace Burnley from Newtown Mill chimney. 1987.

[Stanley]

Happy climbing for 2014.

[Whyperion]

Would you recommend the oil treatment for all 'shiny' finish bricks on domestic houses etc ?

[Stanley]

Not necessary, brickwork is sheltered.



Newhey agricultural show in 1919 with the burned out shell of Ellenroad and Garfield Mill in the background. Notice that the engine house has what appears to be a temporary roof to protect it from the weather.

[Stanley]

Colne in about 1890. Much more scope for steeplejacks in those days....

[chinatyke]

Love the picture of Colne. Thanks.

[Wendyf]

Wonderful picture - is that North Valley Road being constructed?

[PanBiker]

Certainly looks like it Wendy.

[Stanley]

I think you could be right Wendy. The big square mill will be Vivary Bridge I think. Here's another similar postcard but perhaps a bit earlier?

[PanBiker]

Taken from somewhere around Alkincoates I think.

[Stanley]

Vivary Bridge Mill at Colne in 1979. It was empty and awaiting its fate, eventual demolition.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

The view from Facit down to Rochdale in 1979. Even then a lot of chimneys had gone but still plenty of work left for the lads!

[Stanley]

Moss and Era at Rochdale on the right. Both felled by Fred Dibnah in 1979.

[Stanley]

Years of experience went into what looks like a simple task, cutting the gob and propping it. This is Era felling at Rochdale in 1979. It was hard work and very skilled.

[PanBiker]

Something I have often wondered about and probably a stupid question but, Is there an "average" thickness for the walls of a chimney or does it vary with the height of a stack?

[Stanley]

I've been asking 'stupid questions' all my life Ian. Nowt wrong with them, it's how you learn! Usually it depends on the height of the chimney. 'Normal' chimneys in this area have a batter of 1" to every yard on the outside. The flue is often uniform all the way up but in some cases can taper, diameter of the flue depends roughly on the number of boilers, that is the volume of flue gas it needs to handle. This is about 6ft for one or two boilers. The usual thickness of the wall is about three or four courses at the top and as you go down there is an additional course every 25ft roughly, there's a set off inside the flue. So for every 100 feet there are four extra courses, this is approximate, it can vary. there were exceptions of course. Swabs at Middleton was peculiar as it served 17 boilers and the flue was 40ft across at the base but only ten feet at the head. Bancroft at 130ft will be almost 3ft in the wall, the Era and Moss stacks were over 200 feet and you can see the thickness in the pic. Here's Sunnybank at Haslingden, a very slender stalk about 250ft high.



This was in 1977 and Peter Tatham was doing the job. He didn't prop and burn but cut them down like a tree. The prop men were very dismissive of the fellers but Peter dropped many chimney's and had no problems. The fellings I saw that had problems were always the ones that had been propped. Nothing worse than the props burning out and the chimney staying up!

[PanBiker]

Thanks for that Stanley, but another question now. What initiates the fall when chopping down as a opposed to propping and burning. The thickness of the brickwork rules out the use of basic light hammer and chisel at the bottom surely. Is the normal method to attach a line to the top and pull after excavating the bottom. You can't surely wait for it to go on its own?

[Stanley]

Another good question!



Almost half the stack has been chopped out. While this is going on the stack starts to settle towards the gob and a crack opens up at the opposite side of the shaft. A small tell tale, usually a strip of wood or metal is inserted in the crack and Andy, one of Peter's men stood at the back watching it quietly open and close as the wind acted on the stalk. He had a whistle and when he saw the movement starting to increase he blew it and everyone abandoned ship. Now normally, this increased movement signalled that the stack was settling faster and would soon reach the point of no return and fall. Sunnybank was a bit stubborn! It was blowing hard from the side where the gob was and Peter said it was the wind that was holding it up. We retreated to the caravan and had a brew, peter said that soon the wind would drop a bit and gravity would take over. He was right but it took half an hour. There was no danger as it was a closed site and plenty of room for the fall. I stood out there in the rain and watched and waited.



Peter was right. Sorry about the poor quality I was freezing and wet through! But, I got the pictures.
Under normal conditions the stack gives notice and falls very shortly afterwards but in this case the wind was the master, it was holding the stack up and all we had to do was wait. Recognise that the movement in the crack is, in itself, weakening the structure all the time it is opening and closing. There you are Ian. You know how to do it, go and find a contract!

[PanBiker]

Fascinating Stanley, but I think I will give that a miss. Must be heart stopping the first time anyone does one!

[Stanley]

Glad you liked it Ian. All those years doing strange things round chimneys wasn't wasted!



Click on this to enlarge it. Jubilee felling in 1986, Ronnie Goggins senior in charge. This is a very rare pic of three blokes who are very worried! They have cut and propped the gob, seen the crack opening at the rear, fired the props but the fire has burned out and the stack hasn't fallen! If you look carefully you'll see one brave man chopping more bricks out of the corner of the gob and Ronnie hung on a crowbar at the back of the stack trying to lever it open! It was a wet blustery day and it hung for about twenty minutes till a gust of wind came to the rescue and down came the stack. Only time I have ever seen it happen and to be fair to Ronnie it wasn't really his fault. The problem was that the stack had been fired so hard during its life that the fire-brick liner had vitrified, the bricks had melted into each other and they were acting like reinforcing.....

[Stanley]

Click to enlarge and have a close look at the way the bricks have been laid! This is the base of Jubilee after felling and you can see the shine on the vitrified surface of the fire brick liner. This was what caused Ronnie all the trouble!

[Stanley]

Finally, it bites the dust! Sighs of relief all round.