STAR MODEL YACHTS FACTORY - BIRKENHEAD by Rob Jones
This was a model yacht making company in Birkenhead that by 1922 was based in Marion Street, which went on to be the home of Star Yachts for almost 70 years until closure in 1990. Although no exact figures were kept, the estimate of total production well exceeded 200,000 yachts. Starting with only one building in Marion Street, and expanding in 1937 by buying adjacent, a new two floor extension was built allowing the works to roughly double its floor area, giving the more recognisable frontage in the photos that you see today.
In the early 1950s the premises of builders’ merchants Coward & Davies to the right hand rear in the adjacent Adelphi Street became available. This was merged into an even bigger Star Works. This new acquisition was at first used for extra storage but was not fully utilised and was eventually sold on before closure.
For more information you can contact [email protected] or www.birkenheadstaryachts The Star Yachts enthusiasts had a stall at the history fair in Birkenhead, and the former owner was there. He said that after the council compulsorily purchased the works, the factory lay empty but he was able to go back in, using his old keys, the power was on, and he could use his old wood working machines again!
This was a model yacht making company in Birkenhead that by 1922 was based in Marion Street, which went on to be the home of Star Yachts for almost 70 years until closure in 1990. Although no exact figures were kept, the estimate of total production well exceeded 200,000 yachts. Starting with only one building in Marion Street, and expanding in 1937 by buying adjacent, a new two floor extension was built allowing the works to roughly double its floor area, giving the more recognisable frontage in the photos that you see today.
In the early 1950s the premises of builders’ merchants Coward & Davies to the right hand rear in the adjacent Adelphi Street became available. This was merged into an even bigger Star Works. This new acquisition was at first used for extra storage but was not fully utilised and was eventually sold on before closure.
For more information you can contact [email protected] or www.birkenheadstaryachts The Star Yachts enthusiasts had a stall at the history fair in Birkenhead, and the former owner was there. He said that after the council compulsorily purchased the works, the factory lay empty but he was able to go back in, using his old keys, the power was on, and he could use his old wood working machines again!
STONE SLEEPERS by Maurice Handley
Stone sleeper blocks were commonly used on horse tramways in the 18th century, for example on Benjamin Outram's Peak Forest tramway at Bugsworth. Typically the blocks were between 18 in and 2 ft square and about 12 in deep. The top surface had two holes into which a wooden plug was inserted so that a metal spike could be driven to fix the chair or pedestal supporting the rail.
Local sandstone sleeper blocks were used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L & M R) except where the line was subject to settlement when wooden sleepers were preferred (e.g. across Chat Moss or on embankments). However the higher speeds and greater loads on the railway meant that the stone blocks tended to break or sink into the ballast. Also they were labour intensive to quarry, dress, transport and lay. Within ten years of the opening of the L & M R, the stone sleepers were replaced by wooden sleepers. Perhaps they used stone blocks because the original plan was for the L & M R to be horse drawn and they needed to leave a space for the horse to run between the rails? Before the invention of a preservative for the wooden sleepers, oak would have been in demand for shipbuilding and may have been more costly than stone. Suitable sandstone is abundant in the Merseyside area.
Bertram Baxter in his book Stone Blocks and Iron Rails (Tramways) estimates that 4000 stone sleepers were needed for one mile of single railway line, so its not surprising that many of the redundant blocks were reused in a variety of locations. Some may have been recycled in tramways such as at Hilbre Island and others were perhaps reused more than once in walls and buildings. Original L & M R rails are thought to have been reused at Storeton Quarry but the quarry probably supplied its own sleeper blocks.
A novel use of the blocks can be seen on the entrance drive to the Wildflower Centre at Court Hey in Huyton, where they have been stood on end to form a kerb. Robertson Gladstone, (the elder brother of the prime minister W. E Gladstone) was a director of the L & M R and he arranged for the blocks to be sold to his mansion at Court Hey. Some of the blocks have the plug holes arranged diagonally indicating that the blocks were set in a diamond pattern under the rails, presumably in an attempt to stabilise the blocks.
Stone sleeper blocks can also be found built into the wall on the south side of Huyton Station. Nearby, alongside Hale Bank Road, broken sleeper blocks are incorporated in a stone wall on the site of the Willis Branch Line which opened in the mid 1830's. The branch linked the L & M R with collieries in Whiston and was probably constructed using stone sleepers and iron rails discarded from the main line.
A good place to see these recognisable blocks is on the tow path of the Sankey Canal near the new bridge leading from the World of Glass Museum to the rugby ground in St Helens (also nearby are the remains of the Cannington Shaw Bottle Works). Perhaps this collection of straight and diagonal sleeper blocks came from the nearby St Helens and Runcorn Gap railway which opened shortly after the L & M R; or were they reused on one of the many colliery tramways in the area before being used to repair the towpath edge?
One of the more unusual uses can be found in Preston, where limestone sleeper blocks from the Preston and Longridge Railway were used to build the steeple of St Walburge's Church. However there are few sites where blocks remain in their original location and if you know of any near Merseyside let me know.
Maurice Handley
Sources:
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway by R. H. G. Thomas
Stone Blocks and Iron Rails (Tramways) by B. Baxter
Liverpool & Manchester Railway Operations by T. J. Donaghy
A History of Court Hey Park by G. Peet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Walburge,_Preston
Stone sleeper blocks were commonly used on horse tramways in the 18th century, for example on Benjamin Outram's Peak Forest tramway at Bugsworth. Typically the blocks were between 18 in and 2 ft square and about 12 in deep. The top surface had two holes into which a wooden plug was inserted so that a metal spike could be driven to fix the chair or pedestal supporting the rail.
Local sandstone sleeper blocks were used on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L & M R) except where the line was subject to settlement when wooden sleepers were preferred (e.g. across Chat Moss or on embankments). However the higher speeds and greater loads on the railway meant that the stone blocks tended to break or sink into the ballast. Also they were labour intensive to quarry, dress, transport and lay. Within ten years of the opening of the L & M R, the stone sleepers were replaced by wooden sleepers. Perhaps they used stone blocks because the original plan was for the L & M R to be horse drawn and they needed to leave a space for the horse to run between the rails? Before the invention of a preservative for the wooden sleepers, oak would have been in demand for shipbuilding and may have been more costly than stone. Suitable sandstone is abundant in the Merseyside area.
Bertram Baxter in his book Stone Blocks and Iron Rails (Tramways) estimates that 4000 stone sleepers were needed for one mile of single railway line, so its not surprising that many of the redundant blocks were reused in a variety of locations. Some may have been recycled in tramways such as at Hilbre Island and others were perhaps reused more than once in walls and buildings. Original L & M R rails are thought to have been reused at Storeton Quarry but the quarry probably supplied its own sleeper blocks.
A novel use of the blocks can be seen on the entrance drive to the Wildflower Centre at Court Hey in Huyton, where they have been stood on end to form a kerb. Robertson Gladstone, (the elder brother of the prime minister W. E Gladstone) was a director of the L & M R and he arranged for the blocks to be sold to his mansion at Court Hey. Some of the blocks have the plug holes arranged diagonally indicating that the blocks were set in a diamond pattern under the rails, presumably in an attempt to stabilise the blocks.
Stone sleeper blocks can also be found built into the wall on the south side of Huyton Station. Nearby, alongside Hale Bank Road, broken sleeper blocks are incorporated in a stone wall on the site of the Willis Branch Line which opened in the mid 1830's. The branch linked the L & M R with collieries in Whiston and was probably constructed using stone sleepers and iron rails discarded from the main line.
A good place to see these recognisable blocks is on the tow path of the Sankey Canal near the new bridge leading from the World of Glass Museum to the rugby ground in St Helens (also nearby are the remains of the Cannington Shaw Bottle Works). Perhaps this collection of straight and diagonal sleeper blocks came from the nearby St Helens and Runcorn Gap railway which opened shortly after the L & M R; or were they reused on one of the many colliery tramways in the area before being used to repair the towpath edge?
One of the more unusual uses can be found in Preston, where limestone sleeper blocks from the Preston and Longridge Railway were used to build the steeple of St Walburge's Church. However there are few sites where blocks remain in their original location and if you know of any near Merseyside let me know.
Maurice Handley
Sources:
The Liverpool and Manchester Railway by R. H. G. Thomas
Stone Blocks and Iron Rails (Tramways) by B. Baxter
Liverpool & Manchester Railway Operations by T. J. Donaghy
A History of Court Hey Park by G. Peet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_St._Walburge,_Preston
A VISIT TO HARTLEY’S VILLAGE by Rob Jones
Imagine my surprise while driving along Long Lane in Aintree to see a rather beautiful brick chimney with a grand daffodil at the top. I had to stop the car and take some snaps. I’d fallen on Hartley’s Village. I had to investigate. Wikipedia tells me some of the following:
The firm of Hartley's was founded by William Pickles Hartley near Pendle, Lancashire, in 1871. Later he moved to Bootle where he used earthenware jars to store marmalade in. The company was a great success and in 1884 he moved to Aintree and built his model factory and village.
Unfortunately, jam making moved to that mecca of the jam world, London. I can’t find a date for that. There’s a website for the community around Hartley’s Village, but it has that new phenomenon, “website decay” where it started with great enthusiasm around 2013 and seems to have died subsequently.
One of the early achievements was in December 2011, when Hartley's Village was designated a Conservation Area following a campaign by the HVHC with support from local residents, Liverpool City Council Conservation Team, local councilors and the city’s Heritage Champion. Conservation Area status was seen as an important step in enabling residents to protect the character and significance of the whole area and promote this important part of Liverpool's history for future generations. HVHC also believe that this status will help to generate opportunities for improvement.
They don’t make doorways like that these days.
The Company name was W Hartley & Son. The village was designed by Leek based Sugden & Sons after they won an architectural competition. It had a total of 49 houses, which surrounded a central bowling green, and later expansion took the number to 71. Within the village all of the streets were named after ingredients in jam, including “Sugar Street”,”Red Currant Court” and “Cherry Row.”
CLOCKS AND A VISIT TO NOTTINGHAM - by Rob Jones
I recently went to Nottingham for a Meccano convention, yes I know it's hard to believe, but that's another story, unless someone sends me copy for the next newsletter. I had some spare time before my convention and so visited the Southwell Minster and on reading the guide book discovered that when they installed a “clock” (I'm sorry I've not been able to find out the date), to enable it to be set to the right time, they built a sun dial.
Of course, before the new-fangled clock was installed this was the most accurate time keeper. Well it makes sense doesn't it? The accuracy of time has only incrementally improved until now when it's accurate to, well, within a few seconds! What more could you want? (The picture is of the actual sun dial used to set the clock!)
Close by was the “British Horological Institute” where the helpful and enthusiastic curator insisted on taking us on a personal tour. We saw the actual pocket watch that Captain Scott used. It was set to go off every two hours, so that hypothermia wouldn't set in during rest periods! Our guide asked where we were from and I said “Liverpool” and I made it sound like I had personally been involved in the writing of the History of Watchmaking in Prescot! And of course we bemoaned the closure of the clock museum there that we once visited.
Anyway, the curator took us into a large room where “speaking clocks” were kept. And I was able to see the actual speaking clock from Liverpool and the electro - mechanical parts and glass rotating “disks” on which the words such as “At the first stroke” were embedded. The museum isn't always open so look it up on the internet first. It is located at a little village called Upton, Newark on Trent. Nice to know that a little bit of Liverpool's important telephone history is safe. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Imagine my surprise while driving along Long Lane in Aintree to see a rather beautiful brick chimney with a grand daffodil at the top. I had to stop the car and take some snaps. I’d fallen on Hartley’s Village. I had to investigate. Wikipedia tells me some of the following:
The firm of Hartley's was founded by William Pickles Hartley near Pendle, Lancashire, in 1871. Later he moved to Bootle where he used earthenware jars to store marmalade in. The company was a great success and in 1884 he moved to Aintree and built his model factory and village.
Unfortunately, jam making moved to that mecca of the jam world, London. I can’t find a date for that. There’s a website for the community around Hartley’s Village, but it has that new phenomenon, “website decay” where it started with great enthusiasm around 2013 and seems to have died subsequently.
One of the early achievements was in December 2011, when Hartley's Village was designated a Conservation Area following a campaign by the HVHC with support from local residents, Liverpool City Council Conservation Team, local councilors and the city’s Heritage Champion. Conservation Area status was seen as an important step in enabling residents to protect the character and significance of the whole area and promote this important part of Liverpool's history for future generations. HVHC also believe that this status will help to generate opportunities for improvement.
They don’t make doorways like that these days.
The Company name was W Hartley & Son. The village was designed by Leek based Sugden & Sons after they won an architectural competition. It had a total of 49 houses, which surrounded a central bowling green, and later expansion took the number to 71. Within the village all of the streets were named after ingredients in jam, including “Sugar Street”,”Red Currant Court” and “Cherry Row.”
CLOCKS AND A VISIT TO NOTTINGHAM - by Rob Jones
I recently went to Nottingham for a Meccano convention, yes I know it's hard to believe, but that's another story, unless someone sends me copy for the next newsletter. I had some spare time before my convention and so visited the Southwell Minster and on reading the guide book discovered that when they installed a “clock” (I'm sorry I've not been able to find out the date), to enable it to be set to the right time, they built a sun dial.
Of course, before the new-fangled clock was installed this was the most accurate time keeper. Well it makes sense doesn't it? The accuracy of time has only incrementally improved until now when it's accurate to, well, within a few seconds! What more could you want? (The picture is of the actual sun dial used to set the clock!)
Close by was the “British Horological Institute” where the helpful and enthusiastic curator insisted on taking us on a personal tour. We saw the actual pocket watch that Captain Scott used. It was set to go off every two hours, so that hypothermia wouldn't set in during rest periods! Our guide asked where we were from and I said “Liverpool” and I made it sound like I had personally been involved in the writing of the History of Watchmaking in Prescot! And of course we bemoaned the closure of the clock museum there that we once visited.
Anyway, the curator took us into a large room where “speaking clocks” were kept. And I was able to see the actual speaking clock from Liverpool and the electro - mechanical parts and glass rotating “disks” on which the words such as “At the first stroke” were embedded. The museum isn't always open so look it up on the internet first. It is located at a little village called Upton, Newark on Trent. Nice to know that a little bit of Liverpool's important telephone history is safe. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.