STEEPLEJACK'S CORNER 2012

[Stanley]

Richter is right about the eerie fascination of abandoned buildings. John Miller and I once went to look at a house that had been abandoned and locked up for over twenty years. Even the stuff in the larder was still there and what grabbed me particularly was the fact that a bedroom window had been left open a crack and the creeper on the outside of the building had invaded the room. It was like a jungle. I was reminded of this by the picture of the bed with grass growing on it....

[Stanley]

Durban Mill demolition, taken from Millgate by John Burlison.

[Invernahaille]

It dos'nt take the demo men long to dismantle an old mill does it?

[Stanley]

Faster now Robert than balling them down. These new high reach machines can be very destructive!





Two more pics from John of the old Tetlow boilers, there were originally four insured for 180psi, same maker and rating as the ones at Ellenroad.

[Stanley]

The old fashioned way, Norman balling Ellenroad down. He was pretty good with it and favoured the 30cwt ball over the 3 tonner. He said it was just as efficient. I think the jib was 130ft and he could nibble away at loose brickwork high up and bring it down in smallish chunks. Once he had that out of the way he brought the rest down with accurate strikes on the cast iron pillars. His worst problem was if he took a good swing and missed his target. As he said "You don't want your ball wrapped round your jib!".

[Stanley]

I was watching the re-run of the BBC series on demolition last night and if I'm not mistaken, one of the firms that figured largely ran a road haulage business fifty years ago and were famous for paying their drivers a good mileage rate which meant that if they kept into the collar they could earn more than the statutory wage. However, there was a catch, if they fell below the official rate for two weeks on the trot they got their full wage but their cards as well.... It was a hard world in those days.

[Stanley]

John Burlison saw my comment on demolition balls and sent me this picture of the ball at the demolition of Dee Mill in October 1982. Thanks John....

[Stanley]

Classic use of the wrecking ball. The access tower didn't have any steelwork in the construction and once the plumbing had been robbed it was of no value, that's why it was left until the rest of the site round it had been cleared. It only took Norman 20 minutes to reduce it to a neat pile of rubble. No heroics, he just nibbled it away from the top.

[Stanley]

[Stanley]

I caught the demolition programme on the TV and once more watched the demolition of Glen chimney with the high reach machine. Impressive but it takes all the plunder out of it for the lads!



The only stack I ever saw brought down whole by machine was this tin stack at the old Holroyd Foundry in Rochdale. It was a bit like Peter's method of felling stacks, they cut a gob out at the front with oxy-propane cutters and when it was sufficiently weakened Norman got big John to push it over with his big Leibherr.

[Stanley]

BEST laddering Newtown Mill chimney in Burnley in 1987.

[Stanley]

John has been busy again....



This pic of one of the oil tanks with its end ripped out by a machine equipped with shears interests me because I have never seen it done before. I suspect that the reason why they did it this way instead of by burning is that because there is no flame involved they didn't need to get the tank cleaned and certified gas-free for 24 hours which allows them to cut safely. Once a large aperture is opened to ventilate the interior no certificate is needed. Neston Tank were one of the main tank cleaning contractors and they did a wonderful job. I see their tankers regularly in Barlick, they have a disposal contract with Rolls.

[Stanley]

John's pic of the interior of the boiler when the end was zipped off. Well worth studying carefully because the coating of black oil has highlighted the constructional details. Notice the gussets and strengthening plates around what was the bottom mudhole and the feed water inlet. Can you see the lugs inside the end of the furnace tube used to attach the original furnace front. Think about the work required to cut the furnace tubes out in small enough pieces to get them out of the hole in the end.

[Stanley]

Neston Tank's wagon passed me this morning on its way to Rolls at 05:30. Nice to see some of the old names surviving, so many have gone.
Black Oil was a common fuel in the days before oil prices started to rise. Apart from some debris it is the residue left from crude oil after distillation and is extremey viscous. It is so thick that even in transport by road taker it has to be kept at above the boiling point of water to allow it to be pumped. The wagons were insulated and on arrival at the destination steam coils in the tank were connected to the steam supply from the boiler to bring the oil up to temperature. The storage tanks had to be heated at all times and the pipes conveying the oil to the burner had electrical heating elements coiled round them. Despite all these disadvantages it was a relatively cheap fuel and could compete with coal. It had another advantage which was that it was injected into the boiler furnace via an automated burner which could be controlled by pressure detectors on the steam supply making the operation of the boiler completely automatic. Very little ash or residue was passed into the flues as long as the burners were properly maintained and supervised.
Some firms used a lighter fraction, what was called 28second oil, which was only slightly more viscous than diesel. It did not need any pre-heating and so was cheaper to store and use even though the base price was higher.
I have a story for you.... A man had a mill at Stainland that became redundant when trade failed. Part of his strategy was to refurbish the oil fired boiler so that the mill would be more saleable as it had heating. He got a couple of experts in to re-commission the boiler. They came in, did the basic maintenance and arranged with the insurance for a steaming inspection. The night before they turned on the electrical heaters in the storage tank and on the pipe lines and left the pant to warm up all night. The following morning they came in, checked the water level and turned the burner on. They got the shock of their lives because instead of burning steadily, the contents of the furnace exploded, blowing the flue off the boiler back and according to a passer by walking his dog there was a loud explosion and an enormous puff of black soot out of the chimney. The experts were shaken but otherwise uninjured, they were very lucky.
They had made a basic mistake. Seeing the heaters they assumed the boiler was running on black oil, it wasn't, it was on 28 second oil and during the night the heaters boiled the oil and filled the furnace and flues with gas which ignited as soon as they started the burner.
This was bad enough, the owner tried to get the insurance to pay out the claim in cash but they refused, they would only pay the cost of the repairs needed and that's how I came to know the story because REW got the job and we had to go in and put everything right again. The moral of this story is never make any assumptions when running a strange plant, check everything first or you may get a nasty surprise!

[Stanley]

Properly adjusted, even a black oil burner could run very clean. However this was not always the case. Daniel Meadows in a very dirty flue at Swabs, Middleton in 1976. The floor was thick with toxic sludge and all our wellingtons were useless after wading through it. The burners had been neglected for years.....

[Stanley]

The chimney bottom was even worse. These flues had been neglected for years.....

[Stanley]

Swabs chimney used to serve at least seven Lancashire boilers and the main flue divided into four branches near the chimney bottom. The bottom of the stack (40ft across internally!) was divided into four by cross walls and there was a flue coming into each quadrant. As far as I could see nobody had done any flue cleaning for over ten years. Two of the subsidiary flues were completely filled with dust. Total neglect.......
There used to be a long underground flue at the mill in Chatburn village across the road to a detached chimney on the hill opposite.. Charlie Sutton and his firm 'Weldone' cleaned it once a year and the gang called it the Torrey Canyon.... Charlie said it was the worst flue they had.

[Stanley]

John sent me this pic of one of the boilers at Durban mill and expressed surprise at the power of the hydraulic shears used these days to cut large girders etc. There is no doubt they are powerful but to me it looks terribly untidy. One thing that I noticed on the pic. Can you see the corrosion mark on the side of the boiler where it rested on the seating blocks? This was something that had to be watched, particularly in a damp setting. It is quite amazing how fast corrosion at this point can weaken a boiler. This was why, on a ten year inspection, some seating blocks had to be taken out so the surveyor could do thickness tests.



Call me old fashioned, and it was completely illegal, but this is a far tidier way of cutting a boiler up! This was the boiler from Facit Mill which was the subject of theft at Jubilee engine house in 1991.

[Invernahaille]

Nice piece of Oxy Acetalene cutting there Stanley.
I thought the following would create a bit of interest.
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-34984504

[Stanley]

The sub contractor who was doing it was a good lad and innocent. I got the police to release him from custody....
Interesting report Robert. I wish them well. They must have done their research and decided there is a market.

[Stanley]

A general point this morning. I look at the recent weather and think about the people who have to carry on with outside work regardless of the weather. I wonder if the people sat in warm offices and other places of work ever give a thought to how lucky they are. The last place I would want to be recently is 200 feet up a stack.....

[Stanley]

Even worse today. It brought something to mind. Nothing more disheartening for jacks than weather like this after a good day pointing on a stack. I've seen it wash a day's worth of pointing off completely if it hits before the compo has taken its initial set. Not good!

[Stanley]

We've had the wind and rain. How long until snow make things difficult for the jacks?

[Stanley]

I am reminded of the fact that a hard frost can sometimes be an ally of the jacks. Peter Tatham had the job of taking the badly eroded brick extension off a chimney at Todmorden. He got on the stack as soon as he could in the morning because he said it was only the frost that was holding the brickwork together. As he hammered his dogs in he could hear bricks dropping down the inside of the stack. Hard man......



The stack at Woodhouse Mill before Peter took the extension off.

[Stanley]

The stack after Peter's surgery, far safer and capped to make it weatherproof at the head. If you look after the head of a chimney the rest can fend for itself for a long time even if totally neglected.