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 Originally titled ”Mr Brown North Skelton Mine” when this image arrived to the Archive, prompted the question: ”Who was Mr Brown?”. Neil Baldwin now tells us: ”Mr Brown was an engineer at North Skelton pit, he was my father-in-law’s great grandfather (along the Butler family side).” Image courtesy of several sources, thanks also to Neil Baldwin for resolving the query.  Now the Archive knows that these are some of the workmen from the mine (possibly one shift?); but what date would it be? Also can anybody provide any names?  A view of the former Hummersea alum workings, almost disappearing under the eroded surface. The stone outlines are the remains of liquor channels used to move the resultant liquids to the settling tanks. Image and information courtesy of Eric Johnson.  Here on Staithes station locomotive L1 2-6-4T number 67754 stands adjacent to the signal box with a mixed train of 2nd/3rd class composite coaches, the first carriage being quite a modern example, while the rest are pre-1939. Eric Johnson has advised: “Engine no 67754 was in charge of the last passenger train from Whitby to Loftus, in 1958. on the left of the photograph (behind the boys on the platform) can be seen a camping coach, several of the stations between Staithes and Scarborough had these carriages in sidings at the stations, for holiday makers.” The old station building still stands, it is now a private house, but still is an obvious former railway building. Image courtesy of Maurice Grayson and several sources, thanks to Eric Johnson for the update.  This is the sight you would have seen entering Skinningrove, from the Carlin How to Loftus road, dating from about 1937; Loftus mine was to the right and the ropeway took ironstone from the mine to the steel works on the top of the hill, on it’s return it brought shale which was tipped at the back of the mine. This ropeway was known locally as ’the buckets’. This is a view of the bottom pylon of ’The Buckets’ complete with protective screen above the road. Just to the left of the pylon can be seen the air shaft for the mine. This airshaft still can be seen today, beside the entrance to the footpath up to Carlin How. The row of houses on the extreme right of this image is that of Overman’s Cottages, colloquially known as ‘Hoss Muck Terrace”; owing to the proximity to the surface stables for the mine. Image courtesy of the Pem Holliday Collection, the David Linton Collection and others.  Liverton works, with the spray bars in the right-foreground, this was actually part of the Liverton ironstone mine. Graham Suggett asked: “My grandfather worked at the Liverton Mines pit until it closed, he was winding engine foreman. He lived at Graham Street (note my given name). He kept ducks on the reservoir. Presumably the reservoir fed the spray bars. Please, what were the spray bars used for?” Simon Chapman advised: ”The water spray in the reservoir did two things: it was the exhaust steam from the engines so it was condensed back to water which also warmed up the water in the reservoir before it was pumped into the boilers. This was part of an extensive modernisation scheme at the mine about 1903 to make the place more efficient” Graham also added: “How ingenious and energy conscious those miners were. My grandfather, Harry Brown, operated the hoist until the mine closed and he retired.” Image courtesy of the Pem Holliday Collection and others; also thanks to Graham Suggett and to Simon Chapman for the updates.  Taken in 1933 this shows the brick wheel and the work force on the steel works. Robert Proctor told the Archive: “The purpose was to make bricks from molten blast furnace slag , many of these bricks can be found in most back alleys, they are grey with siliceous blue bands running through. It consisted of a number of moulds arranged on the outside of a wheel supported from the top by tie rods , which looked like spokes. These moulds had to be filled from a slag ladle and once set were released from the mould by dropping a door , the bricks were then put into an oven to cool down slowly so as to avoid any fractures, a type of heat treatment.” Eric Johnson supplied the following brief description of brickmaking: ”The slag was brought from the furnaces in slag ladles adapted with a tap hole. a chute was placed between this and led down to the wheel moulds. The making of slag bricks was a very labour intensive operation; once started was continuous hard, hot work. The wheel was a steel circular construction, with the steel moulds round the perimeter with a hinged bottom held with a catch. This can be all be seen in the photograph, the wheel was driven by a geared electric motor with hand operated backup. As the slag ran down the chute into the moulds, the wheel rotated, the filled moulds cooled down and at a point near the kilns, the catch was struck the hinged bottom opened the hot brick fell to the ground. It was picked up with the large “gripes”. some of the men can be seen holding in photo, carried to the kilns and stacked inside, when full the kiln was closed. as the kiln was already hot from the previous batch the working conditions for the men can be imagined.” Second man front right is Harry Dack from Carlin How; does anyone know any more of the men here? Image courtesy of Derick Pearson and others; thanks to Robert Proctor and Eric Johnson for the updates.  Taken in the 1950’s the Skinningrove iron and steel works were at full production and covered a large area. The four large chimneys are the exhaust chimneys for the furnaces on the melting shop; on the cliff edge can be seen No. 5 Blast Furnace.  Stripping moulds from 4.75 ton ingots of steel, in a place appropriately called the Stripping Sheds. The numbers on the moulds provided traceability to the cast from which the steel was made (probably the pot too). From here the ingots went to the Soaking Pits to be kept at an even temperature ready for Cogging. Thanks to Eric Johnson for supplementary information.  Not the “Boys from the Blackstuff”, but the boys from the potash mine. This photograph was taken outside the surface workshops. From left to right: Bob Beadnell, Jack Wren, Wilf Mackinder, Gordon Fletcher, Albert Breckon, Jimmy Warral, John Richardson, Les Atkinson, Mel Picket, Raymond Pearson, Frank Smith, Ray Broom, John James, Colin Philipson, Alan Cox, Terry Robinson, Jeff Verrill, Dennis Bulman, and last but not least Colin Readman. Image and names courtesy of Brian Jemson. |
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