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70s Industrial steam


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1 hour ago, montyburns56 said:

Even more OT, but wow what great pictures.

 

British Oak Colliery Staithe 1973

 

 

British Oak Staithe

 

British Oak Staithe

 

British Oak Staithe

 

I think this was the prototype for a model, the build of which was in an article in the RM or Model Trains.

 

Those photos could well be used to show our children/grandchildren how different Britain was (only) nearly 50 years ago.

  • People still dug coal out of the ground in huge quantities;
  • It was still transported away from some collieries in canal barges;
  • No-one wore high viz or hard hats around moving equipment;
  • The general public could wander onto industrial sites and take photographs, without a security van (complete with flashing emergency lights) and men in smart uniforms arriving to accuse the photographer of industrial espionage.
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Happy days of long walks with dad or grandad to watch barges being loaded or muck being tipped. If, by the Friday of half term I was becoming insufferable, dad's trick was to get me out of mothers hair. We caught the train through to Goole and spent an afternoon wandering along the dockside. A constant lesson in history and geography as I learned where ships had come from and the cargoes they carried along with a potted explanation of the L&Y and A&C navigation. My favourite was watching the Tom puddings which loaded in Castleford being emptied into large ships for export.

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2 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Even more OT, but wow what great pictures.

 

British Oak Colliery Staithe 1973

 

 

British Oak Staithe

 

British Oak Staithe

 

British Oak Staithe

 

 

Wow, that's a blast from the past.  I remember seeing them working to Thornhill and back (but never loading).

 

Shortly after she was retired in 1975, several of us took Ethel for a trip up to York and back.  After that she went to the museum at Ellesmere Port, but I think all that remains of her now is the engine.  Pity we can't see the name of the one that is loading.

 

Adrian

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1 hour ago, Northmoor said:

I think this was the prototype for a model, the build of which was in an article in the RM or Model Trains.

I think it was RM, and possibly by Michael Andress, who did a lot of similar articles at the time. They were of the slightly crude yet incredibly realistic looking school of modelling that you got in those days. 

 

2 hours ago, Northmoor said:
  • The general public could wander onto industrial sites and take photographs, without a security van (complete with flashing emergency lights) and men in smart uniforms arriving to accuse the photographer of industrial espionage.

Back then, the security guards probably lived in the next street, and their Mum knew your Mum. So you were OK. 

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9 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

 

I think it was RM, and possibly by Michael Andress, who did a lot of similar articles at the time. They were of the slightly crude yet incredibly realistic looking school of modelling that you got in those days. 

 

Back then, the security guards probably lived in the next street, and their Mum knew your Mum. So you were OK. 

Security guards? These are definitely development of the last thirty years. (I was going to say post Thatcher but that might have been misconstrued as political). You might have been challenged by an ordinary employee who wasn't afraid to clip your ear if you have a cheeky response. Mostly they might turn a blind eye if you were behaving sensibly and were not putting yourself or anyone else in danger. There were a surprising number of public rights of way that crossed colliery land not to mention unofficial ones that were tolerated by the pit owners.

 

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9 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

Wow, that's a blast from the past.  I remember seeing them working to Thornhill and back (but never loading).

 

Shortly after she was retired in 1975, several of us took Ethel for a trip up to York and back.  After that she went to the museum at Ellesmere Port, but I think all that remains of her now is the engine.  Pity we can't see the name of the one that is loading.

 

Adrian

Another afternoon out in the early sixties. A neighbour was an independent bargeman with a very similar vessel. One afternoon my father and I were invited to join him as he collected his empty barge from Ferrybridge power station and returned it to his home mooring just above the weir at Castleford. He later sold out to Cawood Hargreaves and joined them to head up the team that developed the large pusher tugs and 170 ton pans.

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12 hours ago, pete_mcfarlane said:

 

I think it was RM, and possibly by Michael Andress, who did a lot of similar articles at the time. They were of the slightly crude yet incredibly realistic looking school of modelling that you got in those days. 

 

Back then, the security guards probably lived in the next street, and their Mum knew your Mum. So you were OK. 


The idea of a security guard years ago was someone to mind the place at night and open the gates for the day shift!

 

In those days they were a bit like a receptionist and directed visitors to where they needed to go!

 

 

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16 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

Even more OT, but wow what great pictures.

 

British Oak Colliery Staithe 1973

 

 

British Oak Staithe

 

 

Apart from the bicycle, other interesting features on the barges are the collapsible roofs, one up, one down.

 

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17 hours ago, Northmoor said:

I think this was the prototype for a model, the build of which was in an article in the RM or Model Trains.

 

Those photos could well be used to show our children/grandchildren how different Britain was (only) nearly 50 years ago.

  • People still dug coal out of the ground in huge quantities;
  • It was still transported away from some collieries in canal barges;
  • No-one wore high viz or hard hats around moving equipment;
  • The general public could wander onto industrial sites and take photographs, without a security van (complete with flashing emergency lights) and men in smart uniforms arriving to accuse the photographer of industrial espionage.

 

I was so fascinated by the pictures that I googled the site and I found that one our very own members has built a model of it and has previously posted the prototype pictures as well.

 

 

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On 10/02/2021 at 08:00, doilum said:

Another afternoon out in the early sixties. A neighbour was an independent bargeman with a very similar vessel. One afternoon my father and I were invited to join him as he collected his empty barge from Ferrybridge power station and returned it to his home mooring just above the weir at Castleford. He later sold out to Cawood Hargreaves and joined them to head up the team that developed the large pusher tugs and 170 ton pans.

 

Funnily enough I came across this picture which was a different kind of Cawoods Coal container to the ones that I'm used to seeing!

 

Primrose Hill Colliery 1970

 

70 043 270270 Primrose Hill Colliery

 

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2 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

 

Funnily enough I came across this picture which was a different kind of Cawoods Coal container to the ones that I'm used to seeing!

 

Primrose Hill Colliery 1970

 

70 043 270270 Primrose Hill Colliery

 

 

The barges were almost certainly supplying Skelton Grange power station (SE corner of Leeds).  IIRC when the contract finished they were sold to somewhere in West Africa (Nigeria ?).

 

In the background is one of the pusher tugs and a set of pans, as mentioned by Dolium.

 

Adrian

Edited by figworthy
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21 hours ago, figworthy said:

 

The barges were almost certainly supplying Skelton Grange power station (SE corner of Leeds).  IIRC when the contract finished they were sold to somewhere in West Africa (Nigeria ?).

 

In the background is one of the pusher tugs and a set of pans, as mentioned by Dolium.

 

Adrian

 

Yeah, there's actually some better pictures of it by the same photographer.

 

70 044 270270 Primrose Hill Colliery 70 045 270270 Primrose Hill Colliery

 

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1 hour ago, sleepyrider said:

So I'm guessing that this is on its way down to the Primrose Hill staithe shown above?

70 038 270270 Primrose Hill Colliery

Looking at the OS map, the "Iron Bridge"?

Screenshot_20210213-195807_Chrome.jpg.63b3c409f194d013f268c469d33d88a5.jpg

Yes. Just to add confusion in the local area the "iron bridge" is also used to describe the railway bridge over the river Aire just east of Castleford. It is interesting to compare this map to the present one and see how little remains. This is the area totally re landscaped by the St Auden's open cast mine including the river diversion. An interesting murky tale of you are not from these parts!!!

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