Dalton Mills, Keighley

History

Dalton Mills was once the largest textile mill in the region, employing over 2000 workers. It was built by Joseph Craven in 1869, replacing the original mill which was owned by Rachel Leach in the 1780's.

 

The mill was named Dalton Mills after the manager employed by Rachel Leach, a man called Dalton.

 

In its heyday between 1869 and 1877 the mill provided jobs for workers all over Keighley and the Worth Valley.

 

As the textile industry declined, the fortunes of Dalton Mills changed and up until 2004, it had been virtually empty for almost a decade. John Craven, the great-great grandson of Joseph, who had built the mill, eventually chose to sell Dalton Mills, to ensure it’s survival.

 

The mill was recently used as a set by film makers of The Limehouse Golem.

 

Source:

http://www.daltonmills.co.uk/history/

 

Esoteric Eric

 

 

Former Manchester & County Bank, Oldham, Manchester

History

The bank, originally the Manchester and County, was created by renowned Manchester architects Mills & Murgatroyd, in 1907.

 

It featured a unique baroque copper-crowned tower and a polished red granite base. Inside, the banking hall housed a 50ft mahogany counter.

The bank was taken over by NatWest in 1970. In 1995 it was closed when NatWest merged their Mumps and Yorkshire Street branches.

 

Source:

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/local-news/new-hope-for-landmark-bank-902164

 

Esoteric Eric

 

 

Crich Quarry, Derbyshire

History

Geologically, Crich lies on a small inlier of Carboniferous limestone (an outcrop on the edge of the Peak District surrounded by younger Upper Carboniferous rocks).

 

Quarrying for limestone probably began in Roman times. In 1791 Benjamin Outram and Samuel Beresford bought land for a quarry to supply limestone to their new ironworks at Butterley. This became known as Hilt's Quarry, and the stone was transported down a steep wagonway, the Butterley Company Gangroad, to the Cromford Canal at Bullbridge. Near there they also built lime kilns for supplying farmers and for the increasing amount of building work. Apart from a period when it was leased to Albert Banks, the quarry and kilns were operated by the Butterley Company until 1933.

 

The gangroad, descending some 300 feet in about a mile, was at first worked by gravity, a brakeman "spragging" the wheels of the wagons, which were returned to the summit by horses. However, in 1812 the incline was the scene of a remarkable experiment, when William Brunton, an engineer for the company, produced his Steam Horse locomotive.

 

In 1840 George Stephenson, in building the North Midland Railway, discovered deposits of coal at Clay Cross and formed what later became the Clay Cross Company. He realised that burning lime would provide a use for the coal slack that would otherwise go to waste. He leased Cliff Quarry and built limekilns at Bullbridge. They were connected by another wagonway including a section known as "The Steep", a 550 yards (500 m) self-acting incline at a slope of 1 in 5.

 

Cliff Quarry closed in 1957, though it restarted at the western end until 2010 when it was mothballed. The eastern end was bought by the Tramway Museum in 1959.

 

Hilt's Quarry closed in 1933 and is derelict. For 38 years, Rolls-Royce used it for dumping low-level radioactive waste such as enriched uranium, cobalt-60 and carbon-14. Following a campaign and blockades by villagers in the Crich and District Environment Action Group, dumping ceased in 2002. In 2004 the Government backed an Environment Agency document banning further dumping, and Rolls-Royce will be required to restore and landscape the site.

 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crich#Quarrying

 

Esoteric Eric

 

 

Chesterfield Tunnel, Chesterfield

History

Chesterfield tunnel was situated just south of the old Chesterfield Central Station. The Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (MS&LR) arrived in Chesterfield in June 1892 with the Central Station on the so-called 'Chesterfield loop'; an extension of north-south Great Central Railway line between Nottingham and Sheffield route that by-passed Staveley. On departing Chesterfield Central towards Nottingham the line passed immediately through a straight tunnel of 474 yards in length which then emerged from under Hollis Lane. Towards the tunnel's southern end there was a single full-width ventilation shaft.

 

Although passenger services were suspended in June 1963, the tunnel continued to serve Hydes Siding until January 1964. However, the tunnel's northern portal and 25 yards of brickwork were cut back to accommodate Chesterfield's new Inner Relief Road in 1984. A nice side-story, however, saw the original date stone from northern portal removed and finally given a new home in the abutment wall at Hollingwood Lock, in August 2011, having been earlier removed in back in 1984 and left in a secret location until then.

 

Meanwhile, at the south end, the 85-yard section from the shaft to the portal was also lost, with an access ramp constructed for inspection and maintenance purposes. Today, the southern end remains open, with concrete retaining walls either side. The tunnel has suffered without effective drainage and is prone to flooding, which has reached several feet on occasions.

 

Source:

https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/underground-sites/36715-chesterfield-tunnel-derbyshire-november-2018-a.html

 

Esoteric Eric

 

 

Stanton Ironworks, Ilkeston

History

The Stanton Ironworks at New Stanton, south of Ilkeston was once the town’s largest manufacturing concern and consequently its biggest employer. The Stanton and Staveley group was later part of the Tubes Division of British Steel Corporation. At its height, the company employed around 12,500 people of which 7,000 worked at the Stanton works.

 

For a full history, see here:

 

https://www.ilkestonhistory.org.uk/history/industry/stantonironworks/stantonironworks.htm

 

Esoteric Eric

 

 

Nice 'n' Steady, Sheffield

History

The downstream end of the Carr brook, outfalling in to the Don at Brightside Weir.

The upstream section can be found here:

http://3soteric3ric.blogspot.com/2017/11/carr-brook-sheffield.html

Esoteric Eric