Yorkshire

This sign is over the door to the now closed Horse & Jockey, Church St Castleford, is of considerable age. It dates from a time when this was just a beerhouse and no spirits were sold here. It is a product of Oldham "Sign Service" Leeds.

The Rockley blast furnace which stands in the woods near Rockley Abbey Farm, was built between 1698 and 1704 to smelt the local iron ore. It was worked until the 1740s by the Spencer syndicate of ironmasters of Cannon Hall, Cawthorne.

Took the dogs racing at Askern track at the weekend. A great day out was had by all and my two made some finals and even came back with a rosette for second place in one race. Amidst the barking and excitement trackside, I spotted this chap just chilling in the most comfortable corner he could find. :-)

The Hollin Busk Colliery, Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire, appears to have worked coal and fireclay (or possibly ganister). It is supposed to have reached Coal at 108ft and Pot Clay at 261ft. Until recently there were remains of a hand winch adjacent to the headgear. The winding shaft for the colliery was a short distance to the north west of this one which appears to have been sunk c1900 for ventilation. The whole mine had closed before 1930.

The Skelton Park mine was sunk by Bell Brothers in 1872 with two shafts of 378 ft (upcast) and 384 ft (downcast), both 14ft in diameter. Bell Brothers were taken over by Dorman Long and Co Ltd in 1923 and that company operated the mine until closure in 1938. It is reckoned that the mine produced in excess of 18.5 million tons of ironstone. This is the top of the upcast shaft and fan house although initially ventilation was by a furnace at the bottom of the shaft. In November 1882 a 12ft 1½ins diameter Schiele fan was installed in a concrete house with a steam engine to drive it. The shaft top brickwork was raised by 8ft to allow cross girders to be installed to carry a pulley wheel for winding in the shaft. The concrete structure to the left of the shaft is the evasee for the fan.

The Westfield Pit was sunk in 1820 and the Newcomen pumping engine was set to work in 1823 to pump water for nearby Newbiggin Colliery. The shaft still forms a part of the Harworth pumping regime with electric pumps in place.

Production has ceased at the Loxley refractory works and the brickmaking sheds stand stripped and idle awaiting the coming of the housing estates.

The Park Hill estate with its "streets in the sky" was completed in 1961 and became the largest listed (Grade II*) structure in Europe in 1998. After years of decline the flats have been emptied and are currently undergoing the first stages of a massive £160milion refurbishement and conversion by Urban Splash which will be divided between social housing, private accommodation and commercial uses.

Detail - Sussex Street gasholder, Sheffield.

A four lift gasholder at Sussex Street, Sheffield.

Cranes at Kelham Island, Sheffield, where massive redevelopment is being undertaken to create flats and apartments in, or on the site of, the old metalworking premises.

Interior of the 1873 built Hoffmann limekiln at the Craven Limeworks near Settle.

A dumptruck competes with a trainload of steel slab at the Corus Lackenby works.

The Redcar blast furnace is the sole survivor in the Teesside steel industry.

Inside the mine tunnel at Port Mulgrave was well worth the effort of getting in but the roof conditions a short way in did not encourage exploration. Ironstone ceased to be brought through here to the jetty in 1917 due to the danger of submarine attacks on coastal shipping.

Mrs Tarboat and I took a holiday in Whitby and she seemed quite enthusiastic when I suggested a visit to Port Mulgrave. I think she expected a nice fishing village with cream teas and souvenirs. What she got was a stagger down a steep cliff path and a look at a derelict harbour and ironstone mine. Originally known as Rosedale Wyke, ironstone was first worked he around 1855 and shipped out to Jarrow from a wooden jetty. By 1859 a stone harbour had been constructed at a cost of c£50,000 and this was named Port Mulgrave. Stone was shipped from here to the Tyne by 400 ton motorised barges and returning coal ships. Shafts were sunk to seams below sea level and a quarry was worked in the cliffs. Eventually a tunnel was driven into the cliff and a mine opened out. In 1875 the Grinkle Mine was opened further inland and the tunnel entrance was extended through to this new mine. It appears that the Port Mulgrave Mine ceased production in 1881 but stone continued to be brought through the tunnel for shipping until 1917 when Grinkle was connected to the main line railway because of the threat of submarines to coastal shipping. In 1934 the loading machinery was dismantled (some of it caught fire) and the harbour was blown up in World War II to prevent invasion use. Today there is a fine selection of ramshackle fishing huts, a few boats, broken down harbour structures and the tunnel entrance (seen behind the rusty Drott). There were no cream teas and no souvenirs but an interesting hour spent looking at the remains.

Empty barges locking down into the river for a trip to Hull. A view from a visit in 1983.

The last blast furnace at Skinningrove ironworks was shut down in 1972 but the rolling mill continues in production. Corus Special Profiles produces over 240,000 tons a year of finished steel from the plant here.