STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

Robert Aram on Swabs stack in 1976. Peter Tatham is at the top. This was the first time Robert had ever climbed a stack and Peter made him go after him in case he dropped off.

[Stanley]

Bancroft chimney head in 1981. This was the first time I had ever climbed a stack and I have to admit I was very apprehensive before I did it! What surprised me was the dire condition of the brickwork, everything looked fine from the ground but it was badly overdue for some TLC. One thing that puzzled me was that there was a cast iron firebar laid across the top when Peter first went up. He told me he had seen it before and we came to the conclusion that it was put there in the hope it would have the same effect as a 'jimmy' on a locomotive blast pipe, a method often used by engine men to get better draught on their loco boilers. Totally useless on a normal stack of course but part of the folklore of chimneys.

[David Whipp]

Bancroft chimney head in 1981.

There does look to be a slight absence of mortar in those joints.

The backdrop predates Sid Demaine's Bancroft Bungalow on his smallholding, and Cedars Close off Cavendish Street.

[Stanley]

Quite right David. No [pic because images have vanished!

[Stanley]

A better view of the surrounding area and the clearance of the mill site in 1981. Almost a forgotten corner....

[David Whipp]

Can we just see Stanley's shadow cast on the field?

The derelict land scheme (a government programme of the day) which helped clear the mill and leave the engine house etc. took place in my very early days as a councillor for Barlick. I recall Richard Kirby, a former manager at Pendle (now deceased), was very helpful in getting the arrangements in place.

[Stanley]

I had quite a lot of dealings with Richard and he was a good man. Planners get such a bad press usually but there are some good men out there! I remember once saying to him that it was obvious that he leaned towards the Left in his politics and he asked what had given me that idea. I told him it was the fact that he had made sure that there was plenty of ready-use ammunition for the lads in Nelson Town Centre if ever the Revolution came. The paviors they had used were simply bedded in sand and once you had got one out the others were easily available and just the right size for throwing at the opposition. He admitted that this had never occurred to him!

[Stanley]

The stack at the Lux Lux lingerie factory at Glossop being dropped. Don't know the date or where I got the pic from.

[Stanley]

Steeplejack's school.

[Stanley]

Another of Robert's chimneys. Penny Hill at Barkisland near Halifax.

[Stanley]

Ladder bracket for scaffolding plank. A useful tool but I believe they are now illegal.

[Stanley]

Peter Tatham using ladder brackets on his house at Tim's Terrace, Milnrow in 1986.

[Stanley]

Peter Tatham and Young Tom on the roof at Tim's Terrace in 1986. Peter hated roofing!

[Stanley]

I forget the name of the mill but I think this unusual stack still survives. Keighley 1977.

[chinatyke]

I forget the name of the mill but I think this unusual stack still survives. Keighley 1977.

photos here

Dalton Mills Keighley. Big fire there on 14th August 2013.

http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... ton_Mills/

[Stanley]

Thanks, you're right. Can't think why I forgot it, I know it well enough!

[Stanley]

Oakmount Mill in 1979 when it was Sutcliffe and Clarkson's.

[Stanley]

Brooke Edgeley laddering Newtown Mill chimney in Burnley in 1987.

[Stanley]

What they found up on the head. Ready for a bit of TLC! Not sure if it was ever refurbished, anyone know?

[Stanley]

Keith Batley at Masson Mill in 1994. Where is Keith now? I've lost touch with him.

[Stanley]

Amazing what you can see from the tops of chimneys. M 62, Junction 21 at Milnrow.

[Travis]

I was born just off picture to the left, near Tandle Hill and lived for twenty five years to the right of the photo, on the hill just behind the flats in Rochdale.

[Stanley]

You'll like this then... Click to enlarge

[Travis]

I do, thanks Stanley.

[chinatyke]

Did you come across a steeplejack named Eddie from Ramsbottom? I've forgotten his last name. He drove a battered landrover. He shortened the chimney at Cobden Mill, Ramsbottom whilst I was working there. The chimney had a big ornamental structure at the top. The weight of this coupled with years of disuse and neglect caused the structure to become unsound. The stones were so big that they required breaking up before being dropped inside the flue. I went up to the top to inspect the damage. It was OK going up but trying to descend was scary because you had to climb out around the ornamental structure and your leg was in free air searching for the ladder below. I think the steeplejack's asked the question "would you like to take a look for yourself?" as a throwaway remark, and was surprised when two of us took him up on the offer. No safety ropes were used by us, it was the days before Health and Safety!

I was surprised by how narrow the flue was at the top, I suppose it was designed to increase the velocity of the exhaust gas.

There was another steeplejack in Ramsbottom at the time, was he called Stanley Wynn?