IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Fletcher Street, BOLTON, BL3 6AN

Emmaus is a charity tackling homelessness. On this site is a shop selling furniture which provides employment as well as raising funds.

Thomas Walmsley - the last company to roll wrought iron using steam driven hand mills. They had stopped rolling by now and had become steel stockholders. The rolling mill area was now looking very ramshackle.

Thomas Walmsley's after they had stopped rolling.

The last commercial forge to roll wrought iron. This photograph was taken during a tea break. Note the cooling water spray. The rolls were two-high, non-reversing stands driven by a 1921 steam engine.

This was the last site in the UK to make wrought iron by the puddling process and when this stopped c1975, the works continued to re-roll scrap wrought iron until 1983. The rolls were driven to the end by one of two inverted vertical single cylinder engines built by Hick, Hargreaves & Co Ltd of Bolton in 1919-1921. This is the later engine, No. E. 8/19 and stopped first in 1976. The working engine is to its left. The cylinder was 28" x 36" and fitted with Corliss valves with crab-claw trip-gear. The engines were rated at 285 indicated horsepower at 80 rpm. The flywheels were 12' diameter and drove the rolling mills by cotton ropes. I had the great pleasure of seeing the left hand engine run several times and this picture was taken whilst the site was still hard at work. Sadly, the engine were scrapped in 1983. A little of the excitement can be recaptured on the infrequent occasions when the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust power up the ironworks at Blists Hill.

This retail park is always full of cars when I come up here as you can see by the stream of them coming out.

The sign says save our Church and from what I can see round Bolton they are in decline.

Stopped for fuel and took this photo of the shopping area by Sainsbury's at Bolton.