*The following available from www.Moorebooks.co.uk
<http://www.Moorebooks.co.uk> and usual outlets*
*A History of Iron Working at Glaisdale* - Simon Chapman, Sb, A5, 65pp -
£6.95
Glaisdale can be found south of the Esk and near Whitby situated in the
North Yorkshire Moors, the book describes the areas of industry from mines
to furnaces and remains that can be found today, it was linked to the
Cleveland Railway which help distribute the ore and products.There is a
drawing and plan of the Ironworks and pictures of remaining artifacts.
Review Whitby Gazette 21 July - For the first time, a comprehensive history
of the working of Ironstone round the Glaisdale area can found in the New
Book by Simon Chapman. A History of Glaisdale describes the start of the
railway connection between Grosmont and Castleton as well as potential
lines linking Glaisdale to East Cleveland.
The impact of speculative attempts at several mines around the valley and
the struggle to provide a quantity of reliable Iron Ore to feed the
furnaces took its toll , not only on local roads but on Iron Ore Comapanies
fortunes. Glaisdale had 3 blast furnaces which in turn brought an influx
of work, trade and problems into a previously quiet agricultural place, all
of which make for an interesting read.
The up and down turns of the village's fortunes are surprisingly linked to
the whole of the Esk valley from Kildale to Grosmont, which is laid out
clearly in this publication. Ventures were pitched at the time holding
riches beyond imagination but to get the true story of Glaisdale's
industrial pat you can get no better than investing in the 65 page book
which is illustrated throughout.
*An Illustrated History of Chester Leadworks *- Geoff Pickard, hb, 216pp
275x215mm. Printed on gloss art paper with colour laminated board covers.
£25.00
(publisher review)
Chester leadworks is one of the city’s oldest industries. It was
established in 1800 on the banks of the Shropshire Union Canal, close to
the city centre. From lead shot used by soldiers in the Napoleonic Wars to
radiation shielding for nuclear submarines, during its two hundred years’
history the works produced an extensive range of products for many
different applications. Operating for many years as a family partnership
under the name Walkers, Parker & Co., it eventually became part of
Associated Lead Manufacturers Ltd which was one of the largest and most
important companies in the UK lead industry. Furnaces were employed to
smelt lead ore and other raw material to produce refined lead ingots. These
were further processed into finished products which included lead sheet and
pipe, red lead, white lead and a whole range of precision castings and
other lead fabrications. The products were supplied in large quantities
throughout the UK to customers such as battery manufacturers, builders’
merchants, potteries, glassmakers, paint manufacturers, major chemical
companies and the Ministry of Defence. At the centre of the site was a
tower where lead shot was manufactured using a patented technique that was
first pioneered in the late eighteenth century. Now a Grade II listed
building, it still stands today as one of the oldest remaining shot towers
in the world and a prominent feature on the Chester skyline.
1951 saw the start of a major rebuilding programme which transformed
production departments, office accommodation and general amenities across
the site. The first signs of this are evident with the large white
asbestos-clad warehouse to the left of the shot tower. This replaced one of
the 1830 buildings which had been demolished following the end of white
lead production. The steelwork frame for another similar structure is in
the process of being erected immediately to the left of it. These two new
buildings would eventually house the casting, fabrication and chemical
plumbing departments which grew rapidly around this time and were
eventually set up as a separate company in the 1960s. The Company house
was completely renovated and and a collection of other buildings were
demolished to make way for a new sheet mill.
*From The Mendips to The Sea, An imaginary journey through the Industrial
Landscape of North Somerset *- Duncan Harpe, Sb. 112pp, 210x148mm. Printed
on gloss art paper, perfect bound with laminated covers. £15
Benjamin Moon and his eldest son Joseph undertake an imaginary journey
through the industrial landscape of the North Somerset countryside. Father
and son lived and worked at the centre of the Somerset Coalfield, where,
during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the town of Radstock found
itself a focus of growing industrial expansion. Here is a record of that
insular Mendip world, a world of pithead winding gear and chimneys,
criss-crossing tramway tracks, railway inclines, embankments and bridges,
drifts of steam and billows of smoke.
Moorewood Colliery closed in 1932. Nearby in the hamlet of Benter, is the
Fire Engine Inn, so named after the fire or steam engines installed to
operate the earlier pits. It was referred to as the Colliers Arms in the
late 18th century, and was photographed here around 1920 when George and
Margaret Derick were the licensees. The building is still there today
though no longer an inn. In this view, the colliery lies a short distance
away behind it. The proposal by the Bristol & North Somerset Railway in
1865 to build a line down the Nettlebridge Valley would have linked several
pits to the mainline system, and given impetus to the industrial
development of the area, but it was not to be. A little further down the
valley is Tucking Mill, where the Coal Canal is seen here in its twilight
years, still just about in water, but now a more picturesque version of a
once busy working waterway. The mill, out of sight behind the photographer,
was part of the Fullers Earth industry which operated in this area for many
years and which made use of the canal at one time before the S&DJR arrived
at Midford.
Mike
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