Field Trips & Site Visits 2023
HOOTON - 11th SEPTEMBER 2023
Before settling on Hooton Park, we looked at one or two other interesting possibilities, but arranging an evening visit as in the past proved to be impossible. So, our “Social Evening” took place in the afternoon, with more than 20 members turning out. To round off the day, Pete Purland arranged a room for us at “The Tap” at Eastham Ferry.
Thanks go to Ken Turrell, who picked up members at Hooton Station and to the Hooton Park Trust for allowing the visit to take place, since it’s not normally open to the public. But first some history about the place: -
Hooton Aerodrome
The last horse race was run in August 1914, after which it became a training area for the nascent Kitchener’s army, where the 18th Kings Liverpool Regiment were formed. In 1917 it was turned into an aerodrome for training Royal Flying Corps pilots. The large “Belfast Truss” hangars we saw dated from this time. In WW2 a 6000-foot runway was built, and post-war, jet fighters such as the Gloster “Meteor” operated from it. The airfield closed in 1957 when the Royal Auxiliary Airforce was disbanded.
Vauxhall Motors
General Motors bought the site from the MOD and in 1962 began initially making engines and sub-assemblies for other Vauxhall factories. By 1964 the new Vauxhall Viva was built entirely at Hooton and from 1975 the Chevette. The site then became for many years “The Home of the Astra” and by 2019 it employed 1100 people.
By 2022 a variety of badged vehicles was being produced, the Vauxhall Combo, Fiat Doblo, Peugeot Rifter and the Berlingo van! The massive new unit we saw being built is a vehicle parts distribution centre for Stellantis Group.
One we had all assembled, a short bus tour gave us the chance to see some parts of the environs not normally visited. Regrettably the open-top bus that had been arranged had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the possibility of rain. So we couldn’t see over the hedges and walls of the places as we went past, which would have been nice.
Queen Elizabeth Dock
The idea of a new dock to unload tankers began in 1949, since the tankers were getting too large for the MSC. The dock was completed by 1954. The dock gates retreat into the dock wall. There are four berths. The emergency siren for Ellesmere Port is sounded from here and tested regularly. Within 6 years the dock was getting too shallow for the latest tankers. Hence the Tranmere Oil Terminal was planned and built to berth the larger tankers of that time.
Oil Terminal
A specialist oil refinery was built in 1966, a joint venture between Tarmac and Phillips Petroleum. It processes 400,000 tons of heavy crude per year. In 1989 a new joint venture was formed to make asphalt. They send hot asphalt all over the UK and to Ireland, in special road tankers that keep the bitumen hot, otherwise it solidifies! On our return from the very interesting bus tour, we thanked Glyn, our helpful driver and then we had a closer look at the other hangars, first into hangar No 17…….
Chester Tram Restoration
This newly restored aircraft hangar is full of old aeroplanes, bicycles, cars, aero engines, and possibly the most interesting exhibit, Chester Tram No 4. (Do we detect some bias here? Ed). It is being restored by volunteers after very little of the original had survived and the poor relic had lost more bits every time it got moved through various homes at Broxton, Tal y Cafn, Warrington, Wallasey, Birkenhead and now Hooton. Here, finally, it is safe.
Here you can see Rob Jones, dubbed by the Guardian, the “High Priest of Tram Restoration” showing visitors the poor condition of the 1903 ceiling veneer and then the restored panel, not believing how the same veneered plywood could be restored to “good as new”.
After the aeroplanes we saw buses, coaches and trolleybuses. But all too quickly the afternoon came to an end, and we retired to “The Tap” at Eastham Ferry where we partook of sandwiches made by Peter Purland and Sheila Fidler, to whom go our grateful thanks.
So ended a great afternoon.
Before settling on Hooton Park, we looked at one or two other interesting possibilities, but arranging an evening visit as in the past proved to be impossible. So, our “Social Evening” took place in the afternoon, with more than 20 members turning out. To round off the day, Pete Purland arranged a room for us at “The Tap” at Eastham Ferry.
Thanks go to Ken Turrell, who picked up members at Hooton Station and to the Hooton Park Trust for allowing the visit to take place, since it’s not normally open to the public. But first some history about the place: -
Hooton Aerodrome
The last horse race was run in August 1914, after which it became a training area for the nascent Kitchener’s army, where the 18th Kings Liverpool Regiment were formed. In 1917 it was turned into an aerodrome for training Royal Flying Corps pilots. The large “Belfast Truss” hangars we saw dated from this time. In WW2 a 6000-foot runway was built, and post-war, jet fighters such as the Gloster “Meteor” operated from it. The airfield closed in 1957 when the Royal Auxiliary Airforce was disbanded.
Vauxhall Motors
General Motors bought the site from the MOD and in 1962 began initially making engines and sub-assemblies for other Vauxhall factories. By 1964 the new Vauxhall Viva was built entirely at Hooton and from 1975 the Chevette. The site then became for many years “The Home of the Astra” and by 2019 it employed 1100 people.
By 2022 a variety of badged vehicles was being produced, the Vauxhall Combo, Fiat Doblo, Peugeot Rifter and the Berlingo van! The massive new unit we saw being built is a vehicle parts distribution centre for Stellantis Group.
One we had all assembled, a short bus tour gave us the chance to see some parts of the environs not normally visited. Regrettably the open-top bus that had been arranged had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the possibility of rain. So we couldn’t see over the hedges and walls of the places as we went past, which would have been nice.
Queen Elizabeth Dock
The idea of a new dock to unload tankers began in 1949, since the tankers were getting too large for the MSC. The dock was completed by 1954. The dock gates retreat into the dock wall. There are four berths. The emergency siren for Ellesmere Port is sounded from here and tested regularly. Within 6 years the dock was getting too shallow for the latest tankers. Hence the Tranmere Oil Terminal was planned and built to berth the larger tankers of that time.
Oil Terminal
A specialist oil refinery was built in 1966, a joint venture between Tarmac and Phillips Petroleum. It processes 400,000 tons of heavy crude per year. In 1989 a new joint venture was formed to make asphalt. They send hot asphalt all over the UK and to Ireland, in special road tankers that keep the bitumen hot, otherwise it solidifies! On our return from the very interesting bus tour, we thanked Glyn, our helpful driver and then we had a closer look at the other hangars, first into hangar No 17…….
Chester Tram Restoration
This newly restored aircraft hangar is full of old aeroplanes, bicycles, cars, aero engines, and possibly the most interesting exhibit, Chester Tram No 4. (Do we detect some bias here? Ed). It is being restored by volunteers after very little of the original had survived and the poor relic had lost more bits every time it got moved through various homes at Broxton, Tal y Cafn, Warrington, Wallasey, Birkenhead and now Hooton. Here, finally, it is safe.
Here you can see Rob Jones, dubbed by the Guardian, the “High Priest of Tram Restoration” showing visitors the poor condition of the 1903 ceiling veneer and then the restored panel, not believing how the same veneered plywood could be restored to “good as new”.
After the aeroplanes we saw buses, coaches and trolleybuses. But all too quickly the afternoon came to an end, and we retired to “The Tap” at Eastham Ferry where we partook of sandwiches made by Peter Purland and Sheila Fidler, to whom go our grateful thanks.
So ended a great afternoon.
LOGGERHEADS - 15th July 2023
Roy Forshaw and Sue Stallibrass met 15 MAS & MIHS members at the Loggerheads Country Park on a very rainy Saturday morning. Roy briefed us on what is left of the local industries and how water management in the area was a key to their success or failure. The main industries were lead mining, limestone quarrying and logging, and they date from at least the medieval and Tudor periods. There might have been activity in the Roman era but there is no real evidence for this.
We walked alongside the river Alyn, which was flowing slowly below our path and which on Roy and Sue’s early visits last year was a dry riverbed. We first visited the mill race and what was left of the workings of the restored Pentre mill (1796), which had been a sawmill and a flour mill during its life. The river suddenly disappears from view as it flows through the limestone sink holes which have caused so many problems for the lead miners and logging businesses in the area. We followed the public path and alongside this was the man-made leat or water channel which powered the waterwheels and which dates from 1823. There have been more recent attempts to overcome the problems of the sink holes via the insertion of large pipes to culvert the leat, but problems continue further down the route.
Roy supplied us with excellent guidance notes which explained the history, geology and archaeology of the area. It was difficult to imagine this now overgrown and forested area as a place with several industries, with their “…waterwheels, tunnels, tramways, water channels and….spoil heaps”. The odd spoil heap was visible occasionally as part of a hill that looked as if it shouldn’t be there, and we peered into large cave-like rocks where the original mines were situated. Further along the path was the Glyn Alyn Mine wheel pit and pumping house, with much of its remains hidden in the undergrowth. The mine operated in the 1860s.
There were many land ownership disputes caused by the poor parish and county boundaries, and which resulted in the name of the area, as the landowners were “at loggerheads with each other”! Roy talked of the resulting skullduggery with the miners working under each other’s land to extract the valuable minerals in the area. Some well-known individuals were in dispute with each other including the Grosvenor family, the Lords of Mold and the Earls of Derby. This was a fascinating day and thanks go to Roy and Sue for their excellent research and guidance.
Roy Forshaw and Sue Stallibrass met 15 MAS & MIHS members at the Loggerheads Country Park on a very rainy Saturday morning. Roy briefed us on what is left of the local industries and how water management in the area was a key to their success or failure. The main industries were lead mining, limestone quarrying and logging, and they date from at least the medieval and Tudor periods. There might have been activity in the Roman era but there is no real evidence for this.
We walked alongside the river Alyn, which was flowing slowly below our path and which on Roy and Sue’s early visits last year was a dry riverbed. We first visited the mill race and what was left of the workings of the restored Pentre mill (1796), which had been a sawmill and a flour mill during its life. The river suddenly disappears from view as it flows through the limestone sink holes which have caused so many problems for the lead miners and logging businesses in the area. We followed the public path and alongside this was the man-made leat or water channel which powered the waterwheels and which dates from 1823. There have been more recent attempts to overcome the problems of the sink holes via the insertion of large pipes to culvert the leat, but problems continue further down the route.
Roy supplied us with excellent guidance notes which explained the history, geology and archaeology of the area. It was difficult to imagine this now overgrown and forested area as a place with several industries, with their “…waterwheels, tunnels, tramways, water channels and….spoil heaps”. The odd spoil heap was visible occasionally as part of a hill that looked as if it shouldn’t be there, and we peered into large cave-like rocks where the original mines were situated. Further along the path was the Glyn Alyn Mine wheel pit and pumping house, with much of its remains hidden in the undergrowth. The mine operated in the 1860s.
There were many land ownership disputes caused by the poor parish and county boundaries, and which resulted in the name of the area, as the landowners were “at loggerheads with each other”! Roy talked of the resulting skullduggery with the miners working under each other’s land to extract the valuable minerals in the area. Some well-known individuals were in dispute with each other including the Grosvenor family, the Lords of Mold and the Earls of Derby. This was a fascinating day and thanks go to Roy and Sue for their excellent research and guidance.
GREENFIELD VALLEY HERITAGE PARK - 17th JUNE 2023
A large selection of photographs of the Greenfield visit can be seen on your web master's own web site - click here
Photographs of Basingwerk Abbey can be found here - click here
Our guide, site manager Helen Roberts opened with three attention seeking broadsides “This place is fantastic”, “It is a hidden gem” and the coup de grace, “This site is the Merthyr Tydfil of North Wales”. She had us in the palm of her hand from then on.
We learned that, over time, there were 20 mills in the valley. One reason was that the water, coming out of the ground at St Winifred’s Well, was at the same temperature throughout the year (thus decreasing the chances of it freezing in winter). It was also particularly pure, just what you needed for paper manufacture. With a port at the bottom of the valley from which ships/lighters etc. could take manufactured goods to Liverpool for transhipment across the World, it all added up to a success story that ended only in 1985 when the last mill closed, the Courtaulds Viscose factory.
The adjacent remains of Basingwerk Abbey were extensive but evidence of industrial manufacture, such as lead mining and processing was not possible to find. The various mill locations we saw relied on water wheels for power and over time made cotton, copper rod, wire and nails (at one time, over 40,000 nails for ships per week), processed rubber, copper sheets for ships’ bottoms, fine quality paper, rayon thread, wool and manufactured garments.
Our day started at the large house, now converted into a café, where we had morning coffee and then our lunch. The house had been built in 1925 as a wedding present for the Deputy Mill Manager! Space does not allow me to cover each mill we visited and the remains, as we went up the hill. We came back by railway, sorry, by the course of the railway! Which, at a steady gradient of one in twenty-seven, was one of the steepest in the country.
The Editor spotted one old favourite, which cheered his little heart - a Henry Pooley weighbridge. He briefed the guide about it; she had never ever had anyone take an interest in the exhibit! She got the full story! I noticed the similarity between the 1925 house, and one shown in the Bayco modelling system. Even the roof, the chimney and the gables looked the same. Thanks to Malcolm and Renie for making this trip run smoothly. It didn’t just happen; they had been on reconnaissance the day before to make sure it was going to work.
A large selection of photographs of the Greenfield visit can be seen on your web master's own web site - click here
Photographs of Basingwerk Abbey can be found here - click here
Our guide, site manager Helen Roberts opened with three attention seeking broadsides “This place is fantastic”, “It is a hidden gem” and the coup de grace, “This site is the Merthyr Tydfil of North Wales”. She had us in the palm of her hand from then on.
We learned that, over time, there were 20 mills in the valley. One reason was that the water, coming out of the ground at St Winifred’s Well, was at the same temperature throughout the year (thus decreasing the chances of it freezing in winter). It was also particularly pure, just what you needed for paper manufacture. With a port at the bottom of the valley from which ships/lighters etc. could take manufactured goods to Liverpool for transhipment across the World, it all added up to a success story that ended only in 1985 when the last mill closed, the Courtaulds Viscose factory.
The adjacent remains of Basingwerk Abbey were extensive but evidence of industrial manufacture, such as lead mining and processing was not possible to find. The various mill locations we saw relied on water wheels for power and over time made cotton, copper rod, wire and nails (at one time, over 40,000 nails for ships per week), processed rubber, copper sheets for ships’ bottoms, fine quality paper, rayon thread, wool and manufactured garments.
Our day started at the large house, now converted into a café, where we had morning coffee and then our lunch. The house had been built in 1925 as a wedding present for the Deputy Mill Manager! Space does not allow me to cover each mill we visited and the remains, as we went up the hill. We came back by railway, sorry, by the course of the railway! Which, at a steady gradient of one in twenty-seven, was one of the steepest in the country.
The Editor spotted one old favourite, which cheered his little heart - a Henry Pooley weighbridge. He briefed the guide about it; she had never ever had anyone take an interest in the exhibit! She got the full story! I noticed the similarity between the 1925 house, and one shown in the Bayco modelling system. Even the roof, the chimney and the gables looked the same. Thanks to Malcolm and Renie for making this trip run smoothly. It didn’t just happen; they had been on reconnaissance the day before to make sure it was going to work.
CHESTER DOUBLE HEADER - 3rd JUNE 2023
On a very warm and sunny Saturday, 15 members gathered for a morning exploration of some of Chester’s former industries, with a tour of Thomas Brassey’s station in the afternoon. Stewart Shuttleworth, our morning guide, started off along the left bank of Brindley’s Chester (later Shropshire Union) Canal, passing the Steam Mill of 1834 and arriving at the Lead Works (1799). The lead shot tower, built in 1800 (see picture), is now the only remaining historic shot tower in Britain and was the high point of our visit.
Stewart then steered us away from the canal to a point where 90-yearold 3’ 6” gauge tram tracks marked the location of the former depot, now the Tramways student accommodation. We then looped back towards our starting point, pausing beside the wall of the former Hydraulic Engineering Company (1869) in Charles Street, once “world-class” in Stewart’s view, and the Providence Foundry and Engine Works (also 1869) in Brook Street.
In the afternoon our guide (not Stewart) met us at the station to recount the story of Brassey’s building it in record time. Unfortunately, this visit did not come up to our usual standards. The interior tour was very curtailed, and members complained of a dumbed down approach, and of being stood for a long time on a hot and noisy street corner being told of the illustrious personages who have passed through the station. We are very sorry about this lapse.
On a very warm and sunny Saturday, 15 members gathered for a morning exploration of some of Chester’s former industries, with a tour of Thomas Brassey’s station in the afternoon. Stewart Shuttleworth, our morning guide, started off along the left bank of Brindley’s Chester (later Shropshire Union) Canal, passing the Steam Mill of 1834 and arriving at the Lead Works (1799). The lead shot tower, built in 1800 (see picture), is now the only remaining historic shot tower in Britain and was the high point of our visit.
Stewart then steered us away from the canal to a point where 90-yearold 3’ 6” gauge tram tracks marked the location of the former depot, now the Tramways student accommodation. We then looped back towards our starting point, pausing beside the wall of the former Hydraulic Engineering Company (1869) in Charles Street, once “world-class” in Stewart’s view, and the Providence Foundry and Engine Works (also 1869) in Brook Street.
In the afternoon our guide (not Stewart) met us at the station to recount the story of Brassey’s building it in record time. Unfortunately, this visit did not come up to our usual standards. The interior tour was very curtailed, and members complained of a dumbed down approach, and of being stood for a long time on a hot and noisy street corner being told of the illustrious personages who have passed through the station. We are very sorry about this lapse.
