Forums Forums Wirral History : Chasing the Past History Information Request EAST FLOAT DOCK

Slightly off topic:

All the tall university buildings (all built in 60s) in Leicester seemed to have paternosters - not sure they are still allowed to use them. I still have the occasional bizarre dream about them. You'd always find a couple of gormless students in fresher's week going under the bottom or over the top - it had to be done

Here it is if you've never seen one!
[youtube]OXSnNzGJDdg[/youtube]

The paternosters on youtube are quite elaborate compared to the one at the mills and a lot more like a conventional lift. It was literally a vertical conveyor belt running all the way up through holes in the floors with nothing more than handles and small steps attached. You where not enclosed in a box.

I was not allowed to go on it but I had a few sneaky go's. I was enjoying it so much that I forgot to get off once. Luckily it did have at least one safely feature which was a cut off switch in case a dozy 16 year old apprentice forgot to get off it at the bottom duh.

Edit: It was like this

[img:left]http://www.harriscompanies.com/Harris%20International/ladder.bmp[/img]

Hello. I knew the staff who last looked after the contents to this building during it's working life.

It's the pneumatic engine house that fed compressed air to the two moving quayside grain elevators of the Liverpool Grain Storage & Transit Company silo. It had 4 exhaust stacks to the roof. These were painted for the historic war ships but I see has now been gutted. I've got pics and details of the engines somewhere, they had brass parts and were lovingly maintained by staff. The hoist was used to lift the engine parts in and out.

I was taken on tours by staff before closure and before demolition. There were grain conveyors in most of the covered overhead gantries, as with the Spillers and Ranks mills further along the dock road.

thank you for that mate great info there mate! also welcome to wiki!

cheers for the welcome The engine house is the last building still standing on the former grain company's 3 sites and i think is destined to disappear under the Peel development of the East Float