tarboat's photos with the keyword: st helens

The MAN type gasholder on Jackson Street, St Helens which was built in 1972 and was the largest of its kind in the UK. Standing 85m tall, it had the capacity to store 3m cubic feet of gas. It was demolished in 2012.

This is the former site of Ravenhead Colliery with a background of the MAN type gasholder on Jackson Street, St Helens which was built in 1972 and was the largest of its kind in the UK. Standing 85m tall, it had the capacity to store 3m cubic feet of gas. The gasholder was demolished in 2012.

With the remaining gasholders in Britain being redundant it is just a matter of time before they are all demolished. This is the MAN type gasholder on Jackson Street, St Helens which was built in 1972 and was the largest of its kind in the UK. Standing 85m tall, it had the capacity to store 3m cubic feet of gas. It was demolished in 2012.

The Ravenhead Sanitary Pipe and Brick Co. was located alongside Burtonhead Road in between Ravenhead Colliery's nos. 7 and 8 pits and nos. 9, 10 and 11 pits. It had been established around 1850 by W. Edwards, David Horn and John William Kelly, trading as Lavender and Co. with premises at Ravenhead Pottery and in Liverpool. In May 1857 Edwards left the partnership and the firm became Horn and Kelly and later the Ravenhead Sanitary Brick Company. In May 1874 the duo's partnership was dissolved when David Horn appears to have taken over the business and in 1875 it was registered as the Ravenhead Sanitary Pipe and Brick Co. The Upholland Brick and Tile Co Ltd was taken over in 1908.

The Ravenhead Sanitary Pipe and Brick Co. was located alongside Burtonhead Road in between Ravenhead Colliery's nos. 7 and 8 pits and nos. 9, 10 and 11 pits. It had been established around 1850 by W. Edwards, David Horn and John William Kelly, trading as Lavender and Co. with premises at Ravenhead Pottery and in Liverpool. In May 1857 Edwards left the partnership and the firm became Horn and Kelly and later the Ravenhead Sanitary Brick Company. In May 1874 the duo's partnership was dissolved and David Horn appears to have taken over the business and in 1875 it was registered as the Ravenhead Sanitary Pipe and Brick Co.

The Greengate Brick and Tile Co., also owned Greengate Colliery at St Helens. Later the brickworks passed to Pilkington's. It was situated close to the railway on land at the rear of the current Pilkington's Greengate factory. The works in 1923: www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw009301

In 1893 chemical manufacturer Sir David Gamble offered a plot of land plus £20,000 with which to build a library and technical school in St Helens. Designed by architects Briggs and Wolstenholme the Institute's foundation stone was laid in 1894. The building was formally opened by the Earl of Derby on 5 November 1896. It now houses the town's Central Library.

The St Helens Hippodrome was opened in 1902 as the Empire Palace Variety Theatre, on the site of the 1893 People’s Palace. The architect was J A Brown from St Helens, and the terracotta work is by the Bispham Hall Terracotta Company of Orrell. The bricks were supplied by the Withnell Brick Company of Chorley. Converted to a cinema in the 1930s, the building is now in use for bingo.

A look at some of the fine decorative terracotta work on the St Helens Hippodrome of 1903. Terracotta by the Bispham Hall Terracotta Company of Orrell and the brickwork were by the Withnell Brick Company of Chorley.

This 'retail park' was once the site of the Ravenhead Collieries that operated from the eighteenth century until October 1968. The last shafts were situated roughly where the 'next' premises can be seen. So much of the heavy industry in Britain has been swept away without a trace. Whilst I was here the demolition men were working hard to erase a nearby glassworks, and I suppose that the remaining gasholder in the distance will also soon be gone.

Sutton Oak has fallen upon very hard times and much of what has not been demolished stands derelict and ready for demolition. Amidst the open spaces stands this terrace row, facing onto a cobbled street and a few 1960's terraced properties on the other side. The local residents told me of the developers who had felled all the trees on the adjacent land ready for a development of new housing, and who had now abandoned the project and left the site in a sad state.

Doulton operated a brickworks in St Helens for many years producing tiles and sanitary ware as well as bricks. This may have been the works that was situated on Boundary Road.

Pilkington's owned a number of collieries in the St Helens area and also the ancilllary brickworks. Greengate Colliery was at one time owned by the Greengate Brick and Tile Co. The colliery closed in 1915 but the brickworks appears to have continued after this. It was situated close to the railway on land at the rear of the current Pilkington's Greengate factory.