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MGCraig #280443 4th Jan 2009 11:10pm
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follow the water from by levers u can see some sort of lock!

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Dj_Macca #280496 5th Jan 2009 12:51am
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Fantasic pics,would`nt even like to hazard a guess when they were taken. thumbsup

Dava2479 #282744 11th Jan 2009 3:35pm
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I don't suppose anyone has any pictures of the old Station Masters' house that used to be there?? It was where the car park is now I think. They've built new houses on that site.

Thanks.


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Mad_Babs #322615 24th May 2009 1:50am
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When sunlight factory was built, a railway cutting was dug out that runs parallel to Bromborough Road, then parallel to Mill Road, then parallel to Magazine Lane. It starts at about Port Sunlight Station and ends up at the mersey.

From Spital Dam to Thermal Road, it is a true cutting in solid sandstone, the width of the cutting vary from about 20 feet to about 50 feet. At spital dam a tunnel was built to take the water under the cutting.

These pictures are taken from the same spot.

The sandstone ridge at Spital Dam must have finshed very rapidly, the end of the cutting is about 90ft above the dam, but before the tunnel was built the river used to flow across her on its path??? That is a lot of earth that has been piled up.

Attached Images
IMG_0655s.JPG (98.31 KB, 475 downloads)
The spital dam
IMG_0656s.JPG (90 KB, 485 downloads)
Spital Tunnel
IMG_0657s.JPG (106.26 KB, 485 downloads)
Spital Dam Pillbox

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diggingdeeper #322628 24th May 2009 6:49am
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Time to get my dinghy out the shed and in2 that tunnel armed with my super bright torch laugh

LukeORourke #322658 24th May 2009 8:39am
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I can sort the super tunnel torch lol If you have a dinghy lol

How deep is that water any one know ??

Originally Posted by Lukeo25
Time to get my dinghy out the shed and in2 that tunnel armed with my super bright torch laugh


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UrbanEx2U #322661 24th May 2009 8:47am
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how long would it take to get to that tunnel from australia in a dinghy..cos thats where his location says he is lol

phalinmegob #322670 24th May 2009 9:47am
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i was jokin, but it would be good to see inside that tunnel, but it would take a very long time from down under to birkenhead by dinghy via the mersey

LukeORourke #322759 24th May 2009 3:58pm
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Got my snorkel, see what I can do over the next couple of days. As there is a sewage treatment works there, better start taking my antibiotics now!!!


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diggingdeeper #322790 24th May 2009 7:08pm
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Originally Posted by diggingdeeper
Got my snorkel, see what I can do over the next couple of days. As there is a sewage treatment works there, better start taking my antibiotics now!!!


we will keep away from you mate for a bit wink raftl


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diggingdeeper #335310 10th Jul 2009 10:34pm
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The photo can't be 1903 because the wind mill was demolished in 1878 after being there since 1777.
I, too, was wondering how the boat got near the mill.
Here's another fair-sized boat just below the dam.

The railway embankment for the line to Price's Candle Works, etc., was built in 1910 but before that the River Dibben would have had a clear run down to the Mersey, apart from the Dam, which provided the head of water for the mill.

The high view with the car (bull-nosed Morris?) would have been from the railway level.

The early maps show that the river was tidal, way up into Brotherton Park, presumably at extreme high tides. The mill race bypassed the dam but I assume the boat could have got up that way, so it may have over-topped the Dam at one of the high tides, assuming the railings weren't there.

The other boat is in what would have been the normally tidal part, before Bromborough Dock was completed in 1930.

I lived at the other end of Bromborough Road, Lower Bebington, up to the 1960s and well remember the awful smell and the yellow oily water below the Dam. They dumped chemicals from the factory further down stream apparently but the river flow was not sufficient to keep the water 'sweet'!

Try to imagine the rural scene before any of the industry got there. Lever chose the Dibben inlet from the Mersey to have water access for the import of the soap ingredients and packaging and the export of his products to the rest of the world. The River Dibben was never the same again! Most of it below the Dam seems to be hidden in pipes now?

Bri


Attached Images
3700.jpg (123.24 KB, 331 downloads)
Windmill was demolished in 1878
sp_dam_em.jpg (92.6 KB, 340 downloads)
Another boat, below the dam
sp_dam_1910_em.jpg (91.81 KB, 348 downloads)
The culvert being built, 1910
sp_dam_3_em.jpg (99.13 KB, 343 downloads)
A test train?
Spital_Dam_1_em.jpg (183.13 KB, 339 downloads)
Before the railway embankment (Tidal in blue)
Spital_Dam_3_em.jpg (180.36 KB, 333 downloads)
The dam and the mill race
Spital_Dam_2_em.jpg (193.75 KB, 337 downloads)
In Brotherton Park, tidal limit
bri445 #335314 11th Jul 2009 12:06am
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1903 picture - I scanned the picture in and it was definately dated 1903. Was the windmill destroyed by wind in 1878 meaning the sails were destroyed and then it may have been repaired.

I am not sure if I read somewhere that the water-mill was a tidal mill!


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diggingdeeper #335326 11th Jul 2009 7:37am
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The Bromborough Society published an account of the mills at Bromborough in 2000, in this they state:

Quote
The structure of the windmill had deteriorated over a period of time and it was blown up in 1878. The man responsible for its destruction stated that the whole mill was blown several feet into the air and then, falling to the ground, disintegrated into pieces.

I haven't found any supporting evidence for this.

The Bromborough Watermill was tidal powered, this meant it could only operate for four hours every tide. In about 1860 it was converted to steam power.


Last edited by uptoncx; 11th Jul 2009 8:43am.
uptoncx #335337 11th Jul 2009 11:05am
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The other factor that concerned me is, effectively saying that every picture of that windmill was taken before 1878, whilst not impossible - the quality and quantity of photographs would suggest otherwise.

Thanks Upton for the confirmation of the tidal mill and additional information. I should have realised there is a chimney there ... doh!

Also I realise now that I may not have scanned the "1903" picture after all, thought it was one of a batch, but it wasn't.

I can't see any advantage in blowing up the windmill, it was by a hill side, the debris would end up everywhere. Explosive demolition in those days wasn't very refined. Structure like that were sometimes brought down by undercutting the structure (removing some of the bottom layer of brick) then a team of horses would be roped up to pull the remaining key pieces out. This was supposed to be a spectacular sight with teams of 16 horses not uncommon.


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diggingdeeper #335392 11th Jul 2009 6:02pm
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Spot the difference ....

These photos are identical except that sometime in the 130+ years since the original was taken, someone has 'improved' the image by painting out the debris and piles of building material and replacing them with a smooth water surface.
The retouched image is the one which is usually seen in the history books.
And this was done before Photoshop existed!

Attached Images
Mills pre 1878 original.jpg (235.82 KB, 300 downloads)
Mills pre 1878 original
Mills pre 1878 retouched.jpg (645.74 KB, 297 downloads)
Mills pre 1878 retouched
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