Church tar siding
 

I am sure I have seen a photograph in an old railway magazine of some rail siding at Church and I think they were opposite Blythe's old entrance. There were rail tanks there and I seem to think they were for tar maybe there was a gas works there.

I worked for Gilbraith Tankers for 30 years from 1969 and was told that Henry Gilbraith had bought some tar tanks and the buisness from Lol Heys and that's how Gilbraith Tankers started. Lol carried tar and somehow I came to believe that he worked from Church.

This must have been over 55 years ago.

Are there any old codgers (or young) like me who can enlighten me on the above.

Gremlin R.T.

Re: Church tar siding
 

wasn't Blythe's once known as Tar Billy's

Re: Church tar siding
 

No Tar Billy was William Metcalf,
it was near Blythes, but not part of it.
He lost 2 son's in WW1.
Blythe's Chemicals made explosives during WW1, part of it became known as Canary Island, Picric Acid stained every thing yellow.


Retlaw.

Re: Church tar siding
 

Thanks Retlaw , would that be where the coke ovens near the canal were?

Re: Church tar siding
 

Do you mean those brick beehive shaped structures that you could see on the right if you were on the top deck of the bus going to that sh1t hole called Blackburn.
I think they were part of Tar Billys outfit, for some time you could see the remains of the cast Iron vessels he boiled the tar in.

Retlaw.

Re: Church tar siding
 

Inthe period 1955/65 the national coal board transport based at altham garage next to the coke works had a 8wheeler tanker whose sole job was delivering tar made there at the coke works the main customer was the lancashire tar distillers who I think took metcalfs over the driver of the tar tanker was nicked named by all the other drivers and the coke works staff tar billy and lived in hopwood street accrington His normal daily deliveries were 2loads down to church and then either the lancashire tar preston or lancashire tar at litherland close to liverpool docks

Re: Church tar siding
 

back in the mists of time used to be canal boats 2 i think delivered coke to those beehives, was/is n overgrown little jetty yon were they used to pull in, looked smaller than the usual Leeds/Liverpool canal working barges? Blythes had photographs of these boats which i saw when i was yon, even though they were not actually Blythes boats.:):confused:

Re: Church tar siding
 

I'm getting a bit confused with this tar and coke thing , I allways thought the old style gas works used coal in some sort of "oven/retort" to get the gas out and the 'by product' was coke but don't remember tar being produced . (least not at Gt. Harwood gas works )
Anyone know how they got the "tar" out of the coal ? or was Tar produced by further processing of the coke , dont remember any gasometers near the coke works by the canal near Blythes

hope the above makes sense :D

Re: Church tar siding
 

yer only as confused as me steeljack,coke/coal cannot remember, seen the photos, was told the history, but senility has set in.:confused:

Re: Church tar siding
 

The gases that come of when coal is burnt in a confined space is distilled just like in an oil refinery, tar being the heaviest settles at the bottom, as many as 20 different substances can be obtained from those gases. I think its called fractional distillation

Retlaw.

Re: Church tar siding
 

I had a pint with a chap much older than me or Keith, so he says and he remembers Tar Billy driving a little three wheel Scammell with an articulated tanker trailer before he got an eight wheeler, the chap worked with Tar Billy.. They Scammells were called Scarabs or mechanical horses like the railways had.
What Keith is saying was confirmed by my drinking partner.

Gremlin R.T.

Re: Church tar siding
 

A great grandfather of mine was recorded as being a labourer in a tar works on the 1881 census. He and his family were living in James Street, Church (was off Market Street north of the railway station) so the works could have been in Church.