tarboat's photos with the keyword: tramroad

Turnout at a passing place on the upper reaches of the Haytor Granite Tramway. The Haytor Granite Tramway was opened in September 1820 by George Templer to carry stone from his quarries around Hay Tor down to the Stover Canal for onward shipping. It is remarkable for the rails being made of the same material as its intended traffic. It operated until the late 1850s when competition from rail served quarries caused a significant decline in demand. The large L shaped pieces of granite used for rails remain in situ and on the upper section owned by the Dartmoor National Park the line is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

George Hargreaves & Co sank the shaft of Grimebridge Colliery in 1851 and soon after a 'ginny road' was built across the moors to transport the coal tubs to the road up the valley from Waterfoot. At the site of the Fox Hill colliery the chain hauled line became a steep incline which crossed a wooden viaduct and then passed through a long tunnel to reach the staith. The line operated for at least 90 years before the coal was routed through the hill to a wharf near Old Meadows on the Bacup to Burnley road. These are the remains of the viaduct on the incline from Fox Hill to the staith at Whitewell Bottom. The wooden viaduct would have been supported on these stone piers

Today it is hard to imagine that this spot was once a bustling wharf from which coal, clay and bricks were exported in large quantities. All that now remains are these timbers that formed part of the quay. A quay developed at Lower, or King's Ferry on the River Dee, for the shipment of coal from about 1740 when the Mancot Tramway was built to link Big Mancot Colliery with the Dee at Mancot Mark. Around 1793 this was replaced by an iron plateway. Aston Quay, as it came to be known, expanded further following the construction of a second tramway, or in fact a system of tramways, which extended from Pentrobin Colliery, Buckley. The various sections of the tramway had different names but are generally referred to as the Aston Tramroad. The south section was built by Rigby, the Hawarden Ironmaster, and Hancock, the Buckley brick manufacturer, after the formation of a partnership in 1792. The lower 1¼ miles was replaced by an iron plateway around 1799, which served a number of businesses including Lane End brickworks at Buckley and Aston Hall Colliery. The plateway was eventually replaced by the standard gauge Aston Hall Colliery Railway. All that now remains are a few of the timbers that formed part of the quay.

George Hargreaves & Co sank the shaft of Grimebridge Colliery in 1851 and soon after a 'ginny road' was built across the moors to transport the coal tubs to the road up the valley from Waterfoot. At the site of the Fox Hill colliery the chain hauled line became a steep incline which crossed a wooden viaduct and then passed through a long tunnel to reach the staith. The line operated for at least 90 years before the coal was routed through the hill to a wharf near Old Meadows on the Bacup to Burnley road. These are the remains of the viaduct on the incline from Fox Hill to the staith at Whitewell Bottom. The wooden viaduct would have been supported on these stone piers

The fourth and final tramroad linking the Caldon Low limestone quarries with Froghall Wharf on the Caldon Canal was built to the designs of James Trubshaw and completed in January 1847. It comprised four self-acting inclined planes of 3ft 6ins gauge and included a tunnel on the top section. The tunnel starts at the uphill end with a wide section which accommodated the three rail layout and four rail passing place, and then about a quarter of the way down narrows to a single track bore for the remainder. This image shows the tunnel at the point where the bore is narrowing down to single track. It was abandoned in 1920.

This metal mine had the stone blocks for a plateway remaining in the floor of one of the main access levels. To check on the possible plates used we took a couple of Outram type plates into the mine and discovered that they fitted the blocks perfectly. This gave the opportunity to relay a short section by taking multiple shots from a fixed point as we moved the plates along the tunnel. This is a composite of five images blended together. I am extremely glad that we did not have to carry more than two plates into the mine, they are very heavy.

Cornfield Colliery was operated by The Exors of John Hargreaves but closed in February 1897 after a dispute over mining rights under Gawthorpe Hall although it was retained for pumping in connection with Habergham Colliery. The shaft collapsed, taking the pumping equipment with it, in March 1933. The pit was connected by a chain ginney to a landsale wharf in Padiham. This line continued to run after the closure of Cornfield Pit as it had by that time been connected by an extension to Habergham Colliery which finally closed in 1941 due to labour shortages. Turning the direction of tubs on a chain hauled line was quite a complicated business involving the detaching of the tubs from the haulage chain before the change of direction and their reattachment afterwards. The operation was supposed to be automatic but there are many tales of problems which often necessitated a man being placed at the turn to supervise the operation. This image shows the remains of the turning block close to Grove Lane to the east of Padiham. The substantial construction reflects the heavy loads and hard use to which it was put.

Adventures in a disused tramroad tunnel. The horse path up the centre of the line is still in fair condition, but the plate rails have long gone.

Base of an air shaft in a disused tramroad tunnel. The pile of rubble on the floor may have come from a stone arched 'beehive' capping that has collapsed.

A Stockport-bound train leaves the station at Furness Vale and is about to cross Hall's Bridge which once crossed the tramroad carrying clay from the canal and railway sidings to, and bricks from, the works of The Furness Vale Silica and Firebrick Company Ltd. This continuous cable operated tramroad was on the line of the earlier tramroad that had brought coal from the Diglee Mine that was operating in 1811 and was later in the ownership of Levi and Elijah Hall by 1874. It is after these proprietors that the bridge was named. For details of the mining operations and tramway see: www.pittdixon.go-plus.net/upfc-furness-basin/upfc-furness...

Passing place on the upper reaches of the Haytor Granite Tramway. The Haytor Granite Tramway was opened in September 1820 by George Templer to carry stone from his quarries around Hay Tor down to the Stover Canal for onward shipping. It is remarkable for the rails being made of the same material as its intended traffic. It operated until the late 1850s when competition from rail served quarries caused a significant decline in demand.

A remarkable survival is this twenty arch viaduct that once carried the wooden waggonway from Lane End Colliery to the Calder at Horbury Bridge. The actual date of construction is uncertain but the evidence suggests that this section was constructed in 1790-93. It was later converted to an edge railway of gauge 3ft 9ins and was presumably abandoned when Lane End Colliery closed in 1893.

In 1840 Robert Williamson opened the Tower Hill Colliery in Staffordshire, to the east of Mow Cop. To take coal to the markets available along the Macclesfield Canal he constructed a railway of 4ft 8ins gauge connecting Tower Hill and his nearby Trubshaw colliery to a wharf on the canal at Kent Green. Construction was under way quickly and the major work, a tunnel through the hill at Mow Cop, was being driven by February 1842. The line opened on Boxing Day 1842. On the west side of the tunnel the line descended via two self-acting inclines to Kent Green. This view is from close to the head of the lower incline along the line of the tramroad towards the upper incline. This section is known as "The Brake" to this day. The presence of the line caused the unusual shape of the end of the terraced houses built alongside the road to the area known as "The Bank". The line closed with the pit in 1887.

In 1840 Robert Williamson opened the Tower Hill Colliery in Staffordshire, to the east of Mow Cop. To take coal to the markets available along the Macclesfield Canal he constructed a railway of 4ft 8ins gauge connecting Tower Hill and his nearby Trubshaw colliery to a wharf on the canal at Kent Green. Construction was under way quickly and the major work, a tunnel through the hill at Mow Cop, was being driven by February 1842. The line opened on Boxing Day 1842. On the west side of the tunnel the line descended via two self-acting inclines to Kent Green. This view is from the remains of the embankment of the lower incline, looking down to where the line passed under the North Staffordshire Railway just before the wharf which is behind the long brick building that incorporates a canal warehouse. The white gable end is a building associated with the coal wharf. There is no trace of the underbridge by which the line passed under the main line railway, but it was situated just to the right of the road bridge. The line closed with the pit in 1887.

A recent discovery at Endon Wharf, Kerridge, is a piece of fishbelly rail from the tramroad built by William Clayton in the later 1830s to carry stone from his Endon Quarries to the sawmill by the Macclesfield Canal. The rails are 6ft long and fixed into the chairs with an iron pin as a wedge. The chairs were mounted onto the stone sleeper blocks using two spikes. Excavation of some track left in situ has revealed that the gauge of this tramway was 3ft 6ins.

George Hargreaves & Co sank the shaft of Grimebridge Colliery in 1851 and soon after a 'ginny road' was built across the moors to transport the coal tubs to the road up the valley from Waterfoot. The line operated for at least 90 years before the coal was routed through the hill to a wharf near Old Meadows on the Bacup to Burnley road. There were three tunnels on the line and this is the interior of one of these. It is about four feet high and would have held a double track plateway for the tubs.

Sadly the exploration of this tramroad tunnel ended where the land beyond the portal had been infilled. Clearly others had been here before and had left behind their milk crate and plastic drum. The paved area for the horses walking between the plate rails can still be clearly seen.

George Hargreaves & Co sank the shaft of Grimebridge Colliery in 1851 and soon after a 'ginny road' was built across the moors to transport the coal tubs to the road up the valley from Waterfoot. At the site of the Fox Hill colliery the chain hauled line became a steep incline which crossed a wooden viaduct and then passed through along tunnel to reach the staith. The line operated for at least 90 years before the coal was routed through the hill to a wharf near Old Meadows on the Bacup to Burnley road. This is the point where the ginney line changed angle and started down the incline at Fox Hill. It is now in a ruinous condition and the land around had been changed through tipping and reclamation such that the surface arrangements here are no longer clear.