OneGuyFromBarlick

Heavy repairs on a locomotive boiler at Rochdale Electric Welding. It's getting harder to find people who can do heavy riveted repairs.

Dennis Sterriker of Rochdale Electric Welding repairing the swan neck off the boiler. Bancroft ShedJuly 1977.

The Rochdale Electric Welding heavy gang at Bancroft Shed for boiler repairs in summer 1977.

Big forgings need big lathes. This was at George Selby's works. Looks like a flywheel shaft.

The planing machine was a very useful tool. Head and tail stocks of a shell-turning lathe on the planer at Brown and Pickles during WW2. Before the invention of the milling machine the planer was the standard method of generating plane surfaces.

Glasshouses waterwheel in 1979 before it was dismantled and moved to quarry Bank at Styal. This is the water regulating gear on the supply side of the wheel.

The waterwheel at Glasshoues, Pately Bridge, before dismantling and removal to Quarry Bank in 1979.

The interior of the Hewes wheel from Glasshouses at Pately Bridge in 1986 after it had been rebuilt at Quarry Bank Mill, Styal. It was a suspension wheel, no torque on the spokes as the drive was taken off gear rings on the rim.

Newton Pickles turning a diesel engine flywheel on the boring machine in Wellhouse Shop. It was for Alston Steel Foundry and was intended for Derbyshire. 1966.

Not all steam engines were rotative. Here is a large blowing engine that served the blast furnaces at Blist Hill, Ironbridge Gorge Museum. (1988)

The winding engine at Chatterly Whitfield Colliery in Staffordshire.

We sometimes forget that steam turbines are engines as well. Here's the Parson's turbine that drove Elk Mill at Royton. Installed in 1927.

Yates and Thom generator engine 2 December 1895

The head race at Paterson, New Jersey which harnesses the River Passaic before it falls 80 feet into a gorge. This water powered the mills in Paterson before the advent of steam.

The Passaic River falling into the gorge at Paterson, New Jersey in 1981. It was this fall in level that powered the mills in Paterson.

Not particularly on topic but inserted as general interest. The Question Mark Bar in Paterson, New Jersey. Paterson was hevily unionised and the bar is reputedly where the International Workers of the World (the Wobblies) was founded.

Booth Bridge water mill at Thornton in Craven. Originally a corn mill but in later years used as a bobbin mill.

The engine at Shirley's Bone Mill, Etruria, Stoke on Trent.

The advent of water power in textile mills enabled machines like this, the Arkwright water frame which revolutionised the spinning of yarn.

A rare self contained small beam engine exhibited at the Lancashire Textile Museum at Helmshore. Never used at that mill.

We often forget we used to export mills as well as engines and machinery. This is the Nevski Thread Mill in St Petersburg. Taken from Textile Recorder of May 15th 1894. It was owned by a syndicate of English owners and is on the banks of the River Neva in St Petersburg, Russia. There are two mills, the older one in the front and the new one at the back. The latter was erected from the designs of W J Morley of Bradford. The windows were smaller than an English mill and double glazed. I seem to remember it had Platt's machinery.

An essential asset to any mill driven by a steam engine. SG engine tenting at Bancroft, June 1977. This is the mark of the expert! If anything started to go wrong I woke straight away!

Bankfield Shed at Barlick. Two engines and the boiler house by the side of the canal.

Bankfield, Crow Nest and Coates in the 1960s. The wooden café was still there opposite side of the road and all the stacks were standing. Only Crow Nest left now.....

A lot of change in half a century!

I can't remember the wooden cafe. As a lad, I remember netting tiddlers on that site. I think the picture shows Crow Nest Syke heading towards the culvert entrance which took it under Crow Nest Mill and into the mill dam besides Stocks Beck.

It doesn't look like Windle's garage has been built at the time of the picture (now Vicarage Motors) - it looks like the shadow of the Vicarage roof on the field at the bottom of the picture.

Coming up Skipton Road, the row of cottages to the right of Bankfield entrance still stands. I think these were knocked down by Rolls-Royce later in the 1960s. (Rolls are currently knocking down the old training school buildings, which are just below the centre of the picture. The company has also given notice that they are going to demolish the remaining section of northlight shed and the old boiler house next to the canal.)

On the right of Skipton Road below the canal, you can see the heaps of coal stored for use in the Bankfield boilers. The area beyond the right hand side of the picture was used as the county depot. After both uses stopped, and after umpteen turned down planning applications, the site has been redeveloped with houses it what's to be called Coates Wharf - now nearing completion. I don't recall the tall building immediately next to the canal - was this the canal warehouse?

The humpback bridge over the canal has yet to be replaced with its concrete counterpart. The level of the road was raised back down to Bankfield entrance giving us the grass slope and concrete steps we have today.

I can remember the cottages next to Coates Mill being knocked down. Was this at the same time the new bridge was built?

On the opposite side of Skipton Road, Pendle Court has yet to be built. There's no sign of Coates Estate either (part of area of Avon Drive is in the picture).

Did Dobson's dairy occupy Coates Mill at this time? I remember visiting my dad in the dairy as a littleun and how cool it was. Was it Yorkshire Plush after that? Mr Boven(seipen?) who owned the business at some point, lived in one of the big houses just off the top of the centre of the picture.

Carr Print, who printed the Bellman, moved into Coates Mill from Cunliffe House on Manchester Road. Moving on to Calf Hall Mill. Curiously, Hope Technology, who rechristened Coates Mill when they occupied the building, followed Carr Print to Calf Hall. The site has now been cleared. A nominal start has been made on new houses (footings put in to protect the planning consent). There's talk of a fresh planning application for a different housing scheme - alternatively, that Rolls-Royce would like to use it for a car park.

Looking at the time, I'm going to have to stop now and come back to this later!