Hi Moogie,

The challenge is to identify the man not the sheep.

Take a close look, most of the men are wearing bowler hats; our man has a flat cap and a huge beard. Now that should be a good clue.

And by the way it is not David Mellor Chairman of our inept planning committee although he does resemble our man in the photo.

R. S-S

I know for sure that Lady Madonna knows who our man in the photo resembles. He used to be a Carnival organiser; maybe he still is. He was landlord of a Whaley Pub and you often see him driving through Whaley on a tractor.

R. S-S

Edited by moderator 18 December 2012 13:10:39(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

If anyone is interested the man in the photo bears an uncanny resemblance to a certain Mr Peter Hodgson from Rookery Farm, Cadster.

R. S-S

Brightening the image brings out a bit more detail. The resolution is low so I can't do any better than this.

parabuild attached the following image(s):

Hi all

Google earth ruler in yellow shows approximate angle from outside the White Horse and through the house next to what now is a Nursery on Buxton Road.  The site of the pit is marked and is now a recreation area on Mevril Road. 

It would be easy to find the exact spot on the ground that the picture was taken, take a compass bearing on the chimney using the houses as a reference-then plot it on an OS map, after subtracting magnetic variation. 

Cheers

Edited by user 29 December 2012 00:04:17(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

BarryRudd attached the following image(s):

Good morning.

Fantastic photo R. S-S showing our beloved Horwich End.

Barry's Google map is a great help in solving this puzzle but I think he is slightly out with the starting point (red dot) outside the White Horse.

To me, it appears the photo was taken next to the White Horse from Lower Macclesfield Road and not outside the current Cloud Wine shop where Barry's red dot is.

If I am correct with the photo being taken from Lower Macclesfield Road and you use this point to match up with the house next to the current Toddbrook Nursery School, Barry's yellow line would pass directly through the former location of Shallcross Hall Pit.

No doubt Shallcross will definitely be able to solve the puzzle of Horwich End's mystery chimney.

P. S

Good to see you back R.S-S. You have been greatly missed and I hope you are now back to full fitness.

Hello Tarboat,

Thanks for that map it does show a chimney other than that of the more recent one

As I said I did some survey works for Edward Hall Limited some years back and one day whilst I was there we found a fox in one of the valleys formed by the roofs of the old buildings. It must have come into the Botany off Long Hill and fell down on to the roof valley. I don't know if it had just come from out of the White Horse as some of the men suggested but they put a ladder down for it and went away; a short time later the fox had made good his escape.

But the Chief Engineer was interested in the situation and came up onto the roof area which was flat.

Although interested in the fox he did notice an area about 8feet x 4 feet raised on the flat roof by two courses of bricks which had a plywood top covered in mineral felt.

What was it? Nobody had any idea so we took the top off and looked down into the darkness; as usual nobody had a torch. So we used the tried and trusted methods used in all good adventure films: we dropped a brick down and waited for the results.

It didn't splash so we were on firm ground but we estimated it might be as much as 40 feet to the ground. About the height of two houses. As nobody was prepared to go down on a Botany fashioned rope ladder or harness the Chief Engineer decided it would be best to cast a concrete slab over the hole so that no one could get in. This was done the following day.

But Botany decided that the place should be investigated and one of the older employees (dead now) said there was an old door on the other side of the river that allowed you entrance into the old workings.

I can't for the life of me think just how we got accross the river but we did and when we went in there was most certainly and old deserted factory in there. Most of the floor was chequer plated and the old Kier stages were there. So before any of the plant that so many of us remember there were operations adjacent to Buxton Road.

I think you have cleared up an old mystery for me Tarboat so thank you for that and I must say I like your description of the plant as Botany Bleackworks. A lot of the men thought it was bleak in there particulary in the winter but I have never heard it called the Bleackworks until this morning. A good name I think.

Another interesting item on Tarboat's map is the gasometer near to the chimney.

Gas in Whaley Bridge is another topic that may appear on here soon.

R. S-S

Many thanks for your kind wishes HE.

Thank you David and Barry. Tried to line up both side by side for comparison.

Norm

Norm attached the following image(s):

Hi

Don't know if this in an accurate map-found it on an earlier thread -But if a fire mission were to be called (based on its accuracy) on where the yellow pin is I think it might just go down the mine shaft :-)

Cheers

Edited by user 29 December 2012 17:31:11(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

BarryRudd attached the following image(s):

look at the map on page 4 of John Wesley's diary.

http://www.pdmhs.com/PDFs/ScannedBulletinArticles/Bulletin%2015-3%20-%20The%20Diary%20of%20John%20Wesley%20Harvey,%20Manager%20of%20the%20Whaley%20Bridge%20Colliery%20,%20Derbyshire.pdf

I know I have posted a photo of Shallcross colliery on here,  but I can't find the thread it's on.