tarboat's photos with the keyword: burning

JS 6261 is in charge as another load of burning spoil is deposited on the tip at Sandaoling opencast coal mine.

Some of the waste material being removed by the stripping shovels at Sandaoling opencast coal mine was on fire. This material was taken to a specific tip where it could burn itself out. The clouds of dust and smoke in the distance are from a wagonload of spoil just being tipped.

During a walk looking at the lost industries on the moors north of Rochdale we came across this site just below Catstones Quarry. There were plenty of signs of burning and several large fused blocks of stone and carbonaceous material. Old maps give no clue as to what this migt represent. We did consider beehive coke ovens but were are no collieries in the immediate vicinity and why transport coal to this remote spot for burning? Any theories as to what was going on will be very welcome.

Not all large limekilns were great stone edifices; some late eighteenth and early nineteenth century kilns were rather more basic. The area to the south of Buxton has a significant concentration of these kilns that produced lime on a commercial scale. This example is just outside the gates to the High Edge Raceway and lies just inside the Peak National Park. The bare ground just left of centre is the face of the waste tips, whilst up and to the right of this is the kiln itself with a gap at the front where the burned lime has been raked out. The quarry that provided the stone lies behind.

Charcoal burning near Nanpiao, Liaoning Province, China. The charcoal burners were established by the roadside but there were hardly any trees to be seen in the vicinity. The men working the kilns told me that charcoal is used in restaurants.

The use of running kilns of this type has long ended in the UK with only abandoned structures remaining. In China they are still very much in use in rural areas such as here in the Mongolian Autonomous Region. The process is fairly unspectacular and the stone is gently cooked over many hours. The pot is seen filled to the top with layers of coal and limestone and the barrow used for moving the raw materials standing by for the next charge.

Those who know my obsession with limekilns will understand why I had to dash straight out this afternoon after Eagle1942 drew my attention to a book that had a photograph of a kiln quite near to home that I did not know about. This is a fine intermittent kiln at the side of the old road that ran down from the Whaley Bridge to Buxton turnpike to Errwood in the Goyt Valley. It is unusual in being situated in the gritstone area rather than nearer to the limestone quarries. It would, however, be able to take advantage of coal supplies from the numerous small mines in this area. Today the old road has been cut by the Errwood Reservoir that was constructed in the 1960s and motor traffic now uses the line of the Bunsall Inclines of the old Cromford and High Peak Railway. The view is taken looking at the top of the kiln into the filled-in pot. Behind lies Errwood Reservoir and beyond the land rises to the Tors with Shining Tor off the left side.

Darkness falls as another load of burning spoil is deposited on the tip at Sandaoling opencast coal mine.