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parabuild  
#1 Posted : 31 August 2010 23:48:38(UTC)
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Furness Clough, although quite a compact location allows a fascinating insight into the industrial archeology of the area. 

Coal mining had started in the 18th Century although only on a very small scale until the early 19th C. Even at the height of production this was a small mine; in 1928 30 men were working underground..  Early ownership of the mine is not recorded although by the mid 19th Century both the mine and a local limekiln were owned by Mr Boothman of Bothams Hall.  By the 1860's Mr West was the owner followed by Levi and Elijah Hall.  Two seams of coal were mined known as the White Ash and the Red Ash. The former also contained large quantities of fireclay and in 1890 it was decided to exploit this by establishing the Furness Vale Brick and Tile Works.  ( The Ordnance Survey map of 1899 shows and earlier brickworks further along Buxton Road; opposite the track leading to Carr Farm).  Both the colliery and brickworks were purchased by Richard Knowles in 1905.  From that time, coal was usually produced only for firing the kilns, most of the output being clay.  The colliery suffered increasing problems with water and eventually the quality of the clay was diminishing. The mine finally closed in July 1963.

In common with most mines, Furness Clough was served by a narrow gauge railway; the flanged tubs being hauled  by pit pony.  The tramway at Furness was to a gauge of 19inches and reached the surface at a gradient of 1 in 6.  The tracks continued through the clough towards the village and descended steeply alongside Williamson's greengrocer and chip shop in order to tunnel under Buxton Road. The line passed under the small building opposite and which is the present day "chippy".  A bridge carried the Buxton railway line over the tramway and adjoining footpath.  Immediately after the bridge a short spur branched sharply to the left to serve Knowles standard gauge private siding. Here finished products from the brickworks such as fire backs were loaded on to main line wagons.  At times fire clay was brought in, presumably to suppliment the output from the mine. The main route of the tramway continued just a short way further to the canal wharf.  Here it turned to the left to terminate alongside the water.  The dock was spanned by a small stone warehouse which by 1960 had become  derelict and roofless.  The building had at one time been occupied by Mr Fox, boatbuilder and painter of Whaley Bridge. Today a larger boatshed has replaced it and is still used for painting canal boats.

Below : Miss Lena Knowles and Star at the mine adit 1909

parabuild attached the following image(s):
p67.jpg
umtali  
#2 Posted : 01 September 2010 07:22:57(UTC)
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Very interesting research and well written Mr parabuild, it should be on the website, a bit of fresh air.

umtali

parabuild  
#3 Posted : 01 September 2010 08:26:09(UTC)
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There is very little evidence of the mine today.  The first photograph shows the site of the adit earlier this year.  The second picture was taken in 1963 just before closure; the last two miners taking a break.

parabuild attached the following image(s):
P1050627c.jpg
3600409439_8875f80d16_b.jpg
parabuild  
#4 Posted : 01 September 2010 08:33:34(UTC)
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Ordnance Survey maps showing the route of the tramway. The branch to the standard gauge siding is not shown.

parabuild attached the following image(s):
furness-map1.jpg
furness-map2.jpg
furness-map3.jpg
buggyite  
#5 Posted : 01 September 2010 10:15:29(UTC)
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I'm very impressed, Mr Parabuild. An excellently written article on an interesting subject.  I've attached a recent photo of bridge 32, where the tramway ducked under the main line railway. Summer time, with all its greenery and vegetation is not the best time of year for doing pictures of "where things were".

 

 

 

buggyite attached the following image(s):
bridge32.jpg
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parabuild  
#6 Posted : 01 September 2010 10:47:50(UTC)
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In latter days at least, bridge 32 shared it's space between tramway and footpath.  There was a corrugated full height partition separating the two.  The footpath runs from the end of Old Road which is a short cul de sac. Before the building of the railway Old Road had continued downhill to join what is now Station Road.

umtali  
#7 Posted : 01 September 2010 11:15:12(UTC)
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Website for this one Norm. (New page). Don’t you agree Buggyite?
buggyite  
#8 Posted : 01 September 2010 16:06:44(UTC)
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Parabuild,

I have what I suspect is the same 1899 map as you. This is the one showing the siding in what we think is the wrong place

Mine shows "Furness Vale Brickworks" in the place you describe, but when I look at what is shown where the present-day R E Knowles is, the only thing shown is "old coal shaft" up Furness Clough and a short tramway to an embankment approximately where the kilns were. Is it possible that they upped sticks, so to speak in the late 1890s/early 1900s from the original brickworks and built the kilns and factory on the present site around then?  It might explain why the maps show what I thought was the same siding in 2 different places, as maybe this also got relocated when the brickworks did.

Have you got a date for the maps that you have used above?

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parabuild  
#9 Posted : 01 September 2010 20:13:54(UTC)
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Buggyite, the map which I have used is the 1909 edition and no doubt very similar to yours.  The publication date of a map can sometimes be many years after the survey date.  O.S. frequently re-issued maps based upon an earlier survey with sometimes quite limited revisions.  It is quite common to see  a feature on a map long after it has closed, been demolished or otherwise modified.  New developments, likewise, do not always appear on a map until the next full survey.

It was certainly at about 1890 that Hall's opened the present brickworks.  I have not seen any indication that they were connected with the earlier site although they might well have been.

Looking at an earlier map dated 1872-1888, I find that the first brickworks does not appear.  Interesting to see though,  that the siding extended as far as station road.

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1872-1888 map.JPG
snoopy  
#10 Posted : 02 September 2010 07:38:49(UTC)
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Hi

I notice on the map in the previous post that there is a PH next to the canal on Station Rd. Now pubs always interest me !

Anyone have any info on it?

Also I see on another thread there is a call for more pictures on pubs, I have looked through my collection from around the 50s 60s and I have none to offer. I am sure others must have more, hopefully anyway.

 

R. Stephenson-Smythe  
#11 Posted : 02 September 2010 08:03:26(UTC)
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Morning Snoopy,
 
The missing Furness pub was The Jolly Sailor.
 
I’ll have a look after work for pub photos but I think HE may be a little unlucky when trying to find a photo of the Lamb and Salmon.
I don’t think the camera had been invented when that closed.
 
R. S-S
G. Jackson  
#12 Posted : 02 September 2010 08:54:45(UTC)
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Cameras have been around for a thousand years but only Obscura types so we can ignore them as far as photographs are concerned.The first practical camera was around in 1826 but the cameras we all know and were used by ordinary people to take the photos we are talking about were first brought out by Eastman in 1888. It will be a very rare and professional photograph before this.

Edited by user 02 September 2010 08:56:31(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

buggyite  
#13 Posted : 02 September 2010 09:27:47(UTC)
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There is a fairly local link with early Photography, though. One of the people involved with publishing the Strines Journal, a news sheet for employees at Strines Printworks was one of the pioneers of photography, and if I remember correctly, there are photographs taken by him in the 1850s that are often shown in articles on the history of photography.

Whether he ventured further up the Goyt valley towards Furness Vale or Whaley Bridge, I do not know.

 

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umtali  
#14 Posted : 02 September 2010 19:14:29(UTC)
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Norm,

Do not miss this golden opportunity to escape from the Select – Copy – Paste syndrome that has prevailed so far on the forum website.

At last some original stylish work do not loose it ignore the gang of four sad diversionary tactics.
parabuild  
#15 Posted : 02 September 2010 21:26:44(UTC)
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There is little to be seen when trying to trace the route of the former tramway. That is not surprising for the rails were lifted over 50 years ago.  In the following photographs I have tried to indicate where those tracks ran. 

parabuild attached the following image(s):
P1050632.jpg
P1050634.jpg
P1060488.jpg
P1050196.jpg
P1050198.jpg
P1050485.jpg
shallcross  
#16 Posted : 02 September 2010 22:51:27(UTC)
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Hi Parabuild

This Image of Furness Wharf was posted at Newtown 29th March 1907 I wasn't going to put this one into the public domain as it  was quite an expensive purchase but you have put a lot of effort into this item and I think this shows how much things have changed on the canal in the last 100 years, you may have seen this one before I dont know.

Railways are not my speciality so very Interesting keep it up

Shallcross

shallcross attached the following image(s):
furness wharf (2).jpg
Shallcross
parabuild  
#17 Posted : 02 September 2010 23:41:07(UTC)
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Mr Shallcross. 

Delighted to see this picture and I really appreciate the fact that you have posted it to this thread.  The canal wharf is as  described  by older residents although in a much more servicable condition. 

Zooming in on the dock, one can see what may well be the tramway curving round in front of the stack of white material.  There are loading shutes alongside the wharf.  The narrowboat appears partly laden.  I would speculate that the cargo is coal and that the boat is waiting for a further load from the colliery to be delivered by tramway.  I shall try to discover what the building is to the left of the wharf

parabuild attached the following image(s):
dock.jpg
shallcross  
#18 Posted : 02 September 2010 23:47:20(UTC)
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Parabuild

To the Left of the picture at the front is a circular pit like structure can see it slightly better on the original any ideas?

Shallcross

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buggyite  
#19 Posted : 03 September 2010 00:05:23(UTC)
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I would say that the curved stonework on the left side of the canal is almost the mirror image of that on the opposite bank of the canal, and are therefore bridge parapets over a stream.

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parabuild  
#20 Posted : 03 September 2010 07:07:59(UTC)
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Yes these are the parapets to Furness Vale Aqueduct which carries the canal over a modest brook.  The bridge span is quite wide for a roadway runs alongside the water although it isn't apparent in the 1978 photo below.  Old Road originally extended from Buxton Road down towards the Bridge over the Goyt and as can be seen from the 1851 tithe map, passed under the canal.

 

parabuild attached the following image(s):
furness-brook-aq-11feb1978.jpg
tithe map 1851.JPG
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