Including: Rubber Production In Manchester, Chimneys, Things Of Beauty?, Canals In The North West, Lost Headstones.
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RUBBER PRODUCTION IN MANCHESTER
SCOTTISH chemist, Charles Macintosh and English engineer Thomas Hancock experimented with the rubber manufacture process in the later and early part of the first two decades of the nineteenth century. At that time the solvents used to prepare the gum, normally turpentine and camphene, were expensive and imperfect, only allowing the dissolved rubber to be added to the cloth without the use of machinery.
In about 1820 Macintosh discovered, or more accurately re-discovered the use of coal tar oil as a cheap and effective solvent. This enabled him to place the solution between two fabrics. Also in the 1820's Hancock invented the "pickle" or rubber kneading machine which aided the process of rubber manufacture.
The double texture cloth which Macintosh produced in his factory at Glasgow was used to make water-proof cloaks. These cloaks were erroneously called Mackintoshes, however the name and spelling stuck. Besides being a boost to the rubber cloth industry, it was also useful employment for coal tar, a troublesome by-product of coal gas production.
Macintosh wanted to get his factory in a location closer to the centre of production of the fabric needed in the manufacture process so he came to Manchester. He was introduced to two cotton manufacturers, Hugh Hornby Birley and his brother Joseph. They owned premises on the east side of Cambridge St, all of which were employed in spinning and weaving of cotton. These three men together with a Mr Barton, formed the firm of Chas. Macintosh & Co in 1824. They built a factory on the west side of Cambridge St, with the thought in mind that if their venture failed, they could convert it to cotton production. However, as a result of the success of their products and the cotton famine, by the end of the 1860's both the east and west plants were employed in the manufacture of rubber products. It is worth noting here that Goodyear was also responsible for certain new innovations in rubber production, but this is not the place to discuss them.
Although at first Hancock and Macintosh kept their business ventures separate, Hancock became a partner in the business in 1831. In 1843 when Charles died, his son George Macintosh joined the Board, but he left after a couple years and was the last family member to be associated with the company. So it was that in 1845 that when George Macintosh and Henry Birley both retired, Richard Birley, Thomas Hornby Birley, Herbert Birley, Thomas Hancock and William Brockedon continued the partnership.
The company remained in business until 1923 when it was taken over by Dunlop. Between 1939 and 1945 the Dunlop factory was at full production. They manufactured the very large barrage balloons that were a feature of the skyline during that period. More bizarrely they produced inflatable Sherman tanks and anti-aircraft guns. They were of pneumatic construction and were used in many theatres of war. This type of dummy was blown up in a similar fashion to the barrage balloons. When deflated they could fit into a case the size of a cricket bag. Pictures of these articles can be seen in The Archives at Manchester Central Library. The collection includes one photograph of a Sherman tank sitting on a small hill, but all is not what it seems. Production at the factory ceased in 2000. Fortunately the area was designated as part of the Southern Gateway Regeneration Programme. Many of the buildings have been refurbished whilst keeping their original facades. Run down, soot covered mills have become sort after dwellings and fine student accommodation.
CANALS IN THE NORTH WEST
THE story of the construction of the Manchester Ship canal has been well documented, but perhaps that is not the case with other earlier projects. Some of us may have studied Economic Social History in the dark and distant past.
The Romans improved transport by using wheeled carriages and building roads and bridges, but they did not go any further, as they did in East Anglia and in some southern places. The first canalisation on the river Mersey was the deepening and straightening of the tidal flow below Warrington which enabled small seagoing boats to get to the town at high tide and thus allowed access to the main road between London and Scotland. Later came work on the fords at Warrington so that barges could reach the slower, deeper stretches of the river which went up to the Irwell. Other more minor improvements of the banks, jetties and locks were carried out over time. There is a tale in history in 1745 that a Warrington ship carried the news that Bonny Prince Charlie had landed in the Hebrides to the people of England.
The first modern waterway in west Lancashire was planned to carry coal from St Helen's to Warrington. This was in 1755. It was envisaged that the Sankey Brook could be widened and deepened, but the problems that were encountered many years later on Chat Moss proved too difficult to solve. Therefore the engineer, James Brindley cut a fresh channel nearly all the way. So instead of flowing into the Mersey, the channel continued on the Lancashire side of the river past Fiddler's Ferry, where a lock connected it to the river, to Widnes, where it becomes tidal. The distance between Widnes and St Helen's is thirteen miles with ten locks. This is a true canal.
The next major scheme in the area was a result of the Mersey and Irwell Navigation Company overcharging a coal mine owner for transporting of his coal to market. This coal mine owner was the Duke of Bridgewater. He first met Brindley in July 1759 at Worsley Old Hall. Soon after an a Act of Parliament was drafted for a water channel to be cut from Worsley to Salford and then on to the Mersey. This involved the construction of stone aqueduct at Barton, six hundred feet long and thirty six feet wide using a system of arches, in order to cross the River Irwell without the use of locks. It had to be high enough to allow traffic on the Irwell below to pass under without impediment. To prevent leaks Brindley used puddled clay and lined the aqueduct with lime cement.
In July 1761 the aqueduct was filled for the first time and when it was fully in operation helped to halve the coast of transporting the Duke's coal. Eventually the canal was extended from Stretford to Runcorn and had several branch canals to various coal mines. The waterways soon became a financial success and sparked a flurry of canal construction by other people. However the boom did not last long and the canals lost most of their cargoes to the train.
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