OneGuyFromBarlick

Peter Tatham demolishing the stack in September 1979.

The flue at Sough Mill.

N&R getting rid of the chimney base at Sunnybank, Haslingden in 1977.

I'm posting this image of Sunnybank because Google Images only has the actual fall. It was a very slender chimney, I don't think I've ever seen one as slender for the height. The mill was in a valley bottom and the architects evidently decided that building a tall slender chimney was preferable to the usual solution of a detached stack on the hillside with a long flue, a solution often adopted in the Todmorden Valley.

The detached chimney serving Dura Mill at Facit. The mill was in the valley bottom and it was cheaper to build a long flue and a stubby chimney.

Was it an inclined flue to the chimney base, or did they sink the bottom of the stack to the mill level ?

Where possible it was an inclined flue Bodge and not far underground. However in some cases because of the topography, the flue had to go downhill from the boilers before rising up the slope. Chatburn Mill was such a case. The flue had to get below the road before going up to the detached chimney. The flue was damp and flue dust tended to collect in the dip. Charlie Sutton from Brierfield, the fluer, did this one regularly and he called it the Torrey Canyon because wet conditions turned the dust to slurry. Not good for draught.
The other place where you found long flues was from ore roasting and smelting plants particularly in lead mining areas. Vaporised metals like lead, silver and arsenic condensed on the walls of the flue and were swept annually because the flue dust had such a high metal content. Talk about a dangerous job!
I once had a very eminent chemist looking round Ellenroad and he asked me what we did with all the flue dust. When I told him we simply skipped it he said that was a pity because flue dust from coal fired boilers contains the highest concentration of Germanium known. A Rare Earth used in electronics and incredibly valuable.
Wet flues and boiler settings were always bad news as they meant higher maintenance levels and lower boiler efficiencies.



Higherford Mill at Barrowford had a detached chimney in the wood above it.

Have a look at this LINK for a mill I knew nothing about till I found this image of a new head being put on the stack.

Meadows mill Bacup 1900

I've got skyhooks on my brain. Here's Peter Tatham's solution to the problem of lifting materials for the new head up to the top of Ellenroad stack in 1986. He put an electric winch at the bottom and fixed a skyhook on the scaffolding. A 230ft lift so the rope was almost 600 feet long, that's why he needed an assortment of weights on the hook to balance the rope.

http://oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk/gallery/ ... ge_id=5117
Havnt got the knack yet. The link is to a photograph of Ellenroad and Garfield Mills

The link is just to a thumbnail image, you need to double click on the image in the gallery to get the URL of the full size image, then click on the little icon above with mountains and sun and paste the URL into the appropriate box.

Go on, give it a try

The problem with trying to explain the process of posting pics is that no matter how you try, what, with practice is a simple and fast operation, looks like brain surgery on the page. I've bumped Image tips and tricks for Robert, perhaps he will get a clue or two there....



The winch at the bottom of the chimney.

Ellenroad and Garfield mills in 1919.

Peter Tatham and his 'twirlers' at Healey Dell in 1986. In case you haven't come across twirlers before, it's what many jacks call the scaffolding men!

Falling chimney at Barrow Ironworks, date unknown.

1907.

http://www.lindal-in-furness.co.uk/History/history.htm

Mouse over the same photo on the above page and it says 1907.

Thanks for that China.....

The chimney at Stott Park Bobbin Mill, Haverthwaite in 1978. The mill was scheduled as an Ancient Monument so it's safe.

Sorry about the quality, it's pulled out of a much bigger image. This is the only pic I have of the square brick chimney at Barrett's Steam Laundry in 1963. That and the chimney at West Marton Dairy were the last masonry chimneys built in the district.

The new boiler house and chimney at West Marton Dairies in 1968.

Old fashioned air terminal for the lightning conductor, Bancroft, 1980. When a chimney was felled the air terminal and the copper tape that connected it to earth were always seen as bunce by the jacks....

The consequence of corrosion building behind a band. Roy at Shaw.