STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

Not come across either of them China but some of the lads are still popping in....
Nearest I got to Rammy was when Peter dropped Sunnybank at Haslingden in 1977.

[Stanley]

Higgy at Sunnybank in 1977. He had very bad eyes and eventually went blind but it didn't stop him working. Oh, by the way, he had a broken left arm at the time....

[Steeplejerk]

Eddie Chattwood from Rammy,I shall inform him of his fame,

[chinatyke]

Eddie Chattwood from Rammy,I shall inform him of his fame,

Thanks. You are right.
Cobden Mill chimney was very unsound with cracks that you could lose your arm in. It was decided it would be pulled down and the job was started by another steeplejack who hurled bricks from the top of the chimney into a skip in the roadway below. Somebody must have reported this unsafe work method, the road was not very busy, but it was in use and a public highway. Anyway the job got stopped. The ladders remained on the chimney for a few weeks and then Eddie came along, put up his own ladders and put in a lot cheaper quote for putting bands around the lower part of the chimney, then reducing the height by dropping the debris inside the flue, and capping it off when the flue was full. There was a government grant for doing this at the time, I think it was £2000, so the whole job didn't cost a lot. Eddy never did cement over the top as agreed but we fibbed when the government inspector asked us if it had been, as this was a condition of the grant being paid.
The chimney has now been removed and only the base remains where it forms part of the mill wall structure. Cobden Mill has now been partially demolished with some of the remaining buildings being turned into "luxury" apartments. The apartment on the corner - where the red mini is parked in the picture - must contain a 40' deep well, wonder if the owners know? Images are from Google Earth.




EDIT: I've a feeling that Stanley Wynn that I mentioned in my other post was a roofing contractor and not the other steeplejack involved in this job.

All that remains of the chimney.

[Stanley]

Trevor Brooks, Eddie Chatwood and Young Tom in 2008.

[Steeplejerk]

We look like film stars !!!

[Stanley]

As far as I am concerned you are stars!

[Stanley]

Deerplay brickworks chimney in 1987. A Peter Tatham job.

[Stanley]

Daniel Meadows and I spent a lot of time with Peter Tatham one way and another, that's why I have so many pics of him at work. Here they both are having one of Vera's farmhouse teas at Hey Farm in 1977. Such a pity that Peter died young.....

[Steeplejerk]

Capstan full did him in !!,I learnt some wonderful bad habits from him

[Stanley]

I think you're right Tom, he dried up till his face looked like a pickled walnut.....

[Stanley]

Funny how much time I spent doing research in pubs... Peter in the Tim Bobbin in Milnrow.

[Stanley]

Speaking of battered Land Rovers... Fred Dibnah in 1979 arriving at Moss Mill to fell the stack.

[Stanley]

Peter Tatham's version of the land rover, here he is at Ellenroad in 1987 with his old Range Rover. God knows how many miles it had done but it just kept going and saw him out.

[Stanley]

Peter coiling rope at Bancroft in 1981. Do the lads still use hemp rope? Or is it all this braided nylon stuff.

[Stanley]

The rope race at Ellenroad before demolition. Why is it in this thread? After demolition there was no access to the door in the gable end which was the way into the roof space over the engine house so I got Peter Tatham to ladder it internally so we could get in to repair damage, cut out rotten wood and treat the space for rot. The funny thing was that the English Heritage inspector took our word for what we had done, there was no way he was going up that ladder! I had plans for installing a permanent access ladder but didn't get it done before I finished. I wonder if anyone has ever been in there since?

[Stanley]

Joseph Smith, 'The Lancashire Steeplejack'.

[Stanley]

One of Smith's felling jobs.

[Tizer]

Scaffolding photographed in Romania in 1995...

[Stanley]

Wooden scaffolding still used a lot. Here's a pic one of the jacks sent of bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong....

[chinatyke]

Wooden scaffolding still used a lot. Here's a pic one of the jacks sent of bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong....

Bamboo scaffolding is widely used here in China, just hand tied together with the plastic banding tape. Not only is it used for small structures but I've seen it over a hundred feet high as in Stanley's HK picture. Nowadays I rarely take my camera out with me so I haven't any pictures. The workers seem happy with it.

[Stanley]

A sliding scaffold on Bancroft stack in 1980.

[Stanley]

Timber scaffolding was still being used in Britain as late as the 1950s.

[Stanley]

Shortly after Brooke Edgeley finished the refurb of the stack at Masson Keith Batley dressed up as Santa and appeared at the top of the stack as part of the Xmas celebrations.

[Stanley]

In 1982 Bancroft stack got a treat, first time for years it had been oiled!