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QUARRIES
THIS PAGE IS DIVIDED INTO FOUR SECTIONS.
THE FIRST ILLUSTRATES THE PORTLAND CRANES. THE LANDSCAPE OF PORTLAND QUARRIES WAS DOMINATED BY CRANES. MANY OF THESE WERE HAND DRIVEN BEFORE STEAM AND ELECTRIC DRIVES WERE INTRODUCED. THIS SECTION SHOWS THE CRANES OF THE PRE-WORLD WAR 2 ERA WITH MODERN PICTURES OF THE REMAINS OF CRANES LYING DISCARDED IN QUARRIES. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CRANE PICTURES.
SOME QUARRIES WERE WORKED BY PRISONERS. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THESE PICTURES.
PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES OF THE QUARRY WORKERS.
THE REMAINING SECTION ON THIS PAGE SHOWS GENERAL QUARRYING PICTURES. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VISIT THAT SECTION.
PORTLAND CRANES
ABOVE WE SEE A TYPICAL QUARRY LANDSCAPE BRISTLING WITH CRANES.
ABOVE WE SEE A TYPICAL PORTLAND HAND-DRIVEN CRANE. AT ONE TIME THERE WERE DOZENS IN USE IN THE QUARRIES. HOWEVER ONLY ONE QUARRY CRANE SURVIVES PRESERVED AT PRIORY CORNER AS SEEN IN THE RECENT PICTURE BELOW. FOUR CRANES STILL SURVIVE ON THE EASTERN COAST FOR USE BY FISHERMEN.
THE PICTURES BELOW SHOW A REMARKABLE SURVIVING CRANE IN SUCKTHUMB QUARRY WHICH I PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1989. I WORKED HARD TO HAVE THIS CRANE PRESERVED BUT TO NO AVAIL. OVER THE YEARS FROM 1989 I RECORDED ITS GRADUAL DECAY AND DESTRUCTION BY THE WEATHER AND VANDALS. BY 2013 NO SIGN WAS LEFT OF THIS BEAUTIFUL CRANE.
THE CRANE BELOW LIES ABANDONED AND DECAYING OPPOSITE THE LIME KILN ON THE ROAD FROM THE PORTLAND HEIGHTS HOTEL TO EASTON.
No.32 RUSTON BUCYRUS EXCAVATOR, 1933. FIRST EXCAVATOR AT BATH STONE FIRM.
STANDING IS GEORGE PARFITT.
BUCKET CRANE LOADING LORRY (RUSTON BUCYRUS)
A BATH & PORTLAND STONE FIRMS EXCAVATOR (RUSTON BUCYRUS). THE FIRST MECHANICAL EXCAVATOR WAS INTRODUCED INTO PORTLAND IN 1933 BY SOUTH WESTERN STONE CO. Ltd.
ELECTRICALLY POWERED QUARRY CRANE, PORTLAND
POSSIBLY A COMBEN IN DOORWAY OF ELECTRICALLY POWERED CRANE IN QUARRY.
PRISON QUARRY PICTURES
NOTE THE RAILWAY LINES. THESE WERE FREQUENTLY DISMANTLED AND RELAID. FOR A ‘SNAPSHOT’ OF LINES IN THIS QUARRY SEE AN OLD MAP BY CLICKING HERE. THE MODERN PICTURE BELOW SHOWS SOME WOODEN SLEEPERS THAT WERE BRIEFLY EXPOSED BY HEAVY RAIN IN THE AREA OF THE ABOVE PHOTOGRAPH.
CONVICTS AT WORK 1907.
CONVICTS AT WORK AT THE GROVE 1907.
AN ‘OVER THE WALL’ VIEW. IN VICTORIAN TIMES SIGHTSEERS WOULD COME FROM AS FAR AS FROM LONDON TO PAY SIXPENCE TO SIT IN AN UPSTAIRS ROOM IN HOUSES IN THE GROVE AND WATCH PRISONERS WORKING.
STONE DRESSING YARD. CONVICTS AT WORK.
ST PETER’S CHURCH IS ON THE LEFT. THE UPSTAIRS ROOMS ON THE RIGHT ARE WHERE SIGHTSEERS WOULD SIT AND WATCH THE PRISONERS WORKING. THE FOOTBALL GROUND NOW OCCUPIES THIS SITE.
THE ARCHED BUILDING ON THE LEFT MAY BE THE VICTORIAN LIME KILN SHOWN IN THE MODERN PICTURE BELOW. THIS IS A SCHEDULED BUILDING.
QUARRY WORKERS’ PICTURES
SPLITTING STONE. NOTE LARGE EIGHT WHEELER LORRY IN BACKGROUND.
BILLY COOMBES QUARRY IN BUMPERS LANE. 2nd LEFT STEWART LYNHAM, 4th LEFT (BOY) LYNHAM. FRONT CHARLIE GOULD, REAR NORMAN COMBEN, 3rd LEFT JACK ELLIS (CRANE DRIVER).
QUARRY GANG POSING IN FRONT OF CRANE - 1910? NOTE BLONDIN IN BACKGROUND. PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR AN ARTICLE ON BLONDINS.
QUARRY GANG USING FIRST STEAM POWERED CRANE 1920 - OPPOSITE THE MERMAID, WAKEHAM. 4th RIGHT WALT SLADE, 5th RIGHT GEORGE SLADE, TOP RIGHT BILL BUTT CRANE DRIVER. STONE QUARRIED FOR LONDON CENOTAPH.
MOVING STONE USING PORTLAND JACKS AT DURDLE. LEFT JOHN FLANN, 3rd RIGHT FOREMAN RIGGER NOBBY CLARKE.
QUARRYMEN AT BACK OF GROVE. WILLIAM FLEW SAMSON HINDE (ON LEFT) WITH OTHERS UNKNOWN.
QUARRYMEN. FROM L:- WILLIAM FLEW SAMSON HINDE, NEPHEW THOMAS (TOMMY) HINDE, WILLIAM JOSEPH HINDE, SON OF WILLIAM F.S. HINDE
UNKNOWN MAN SHAPING A STONE BLOCK.
QUARRY GANG WITH LADY. LIL WAGNER, WALLACE WHITE, WILLIAM HINDE, ROBERT JOHN HINDE, AND ROBERT SPENCER HINDE.
QUARRY GANG. WALLACE WHITE, WILLIAM HINDE, ROBERT JOHN HINDE, AND ROBERT SPENCER HIND.
PREPARING TO LIFT BLOCK OF STONE.
A NATURAL GULLY SHOWING THE TYPE OF CAVITY SOMETIMES FOUND THERE. MR. BERT SMITH, QUARRY FOREMAN AND MARKER.
INSPECTION OF BLOCK BEFORE DESPATCH. BERT SMITH FOREMAN.
QUARRY MEN MARKING STONE. UNKNOWN DATE.
HILLS AND BOWERS MASONRY YARD, BEFORE 1931. HILLS AND BOWERS MASONRY YARD AT WINDMILLS, PRIOR TO 1931, WHEN IT CLOSED IN THAT YEAR OF THE "SLUMP". JACK READ THIRD MASON FROM LEFT
BATH STONE FIRMS, 1933. BATH STONE FIRMS TOP YARD AT PARK ROAD, EASTON 1933 WHEN BEN SAUNDERS OPENED IT AFTER THE "SLUMP". RIP SAUNDERS, HIS FATHER, AND BILL FLAN STILL CLEARING UP THE STATION YARD OF BARNES - SO NOT IN PHOTO
BOTTOMCOOMBE MASONRY WORKS 1931? GROUP IN MASONRY WORKS.
BACK ROW:- LEN ATTWOOLL, FORD BROWN, ? JOLLIFFE, EDWARD SHRIVES, REG ATTWOOLL, ?, RON PAVEY, ?, GEORGE STEWKESBURY, TOM MILLER, HAROLD RODENHURST, BOB PETERS, FRED GARDNER.
FRONT ROW:- EDWARD SHRIVES, ?, HARRY HIBBS .
GROUP OF QUARRYMEN. FAR RIGHT; FRED (MOLLO) HANSFORD
FOSSIL PARK 1911. FRANCES PEARCE.
QUARRY GROUP 1914. JOHN OTTER, JOHN RICHARD OTTER JNR., WILLIAM OTTER?
STONE WORKERS 1915. HARRY SMITH SECOND FROM LEFT
STONE TRAIN ON MERCHANTS RAILWAY
LOADING STONE AT PRIORY CORNER.
WITH THEIR HEADS IN THEIR NOSE BAGS, A FOUR HORSEPOWER TRAIN IS ABOUT TO DEPART FROM PRIORY CORNER ON ITS JOURNEY TO THE TOP OF THE INCLINE RAILWAY TO CASTLETOWN PIER.
TRACTION ENGINE BRITANNIA, 1928. FRONT RIGHT IS GEORGE PARFITT.
GROUP PICTURE OF QUARRYMEN. NO DETAILS AVAILABLE
D COMBEN AND FRIENDS IN QUARRY
UNKNOWN GANG POSING NEXT TO STEAM CRANE.
QUARRY CREW, FOUR MEN AND A DOG, DATE UNKNOWN.
GENERAL QUARRY PICTURES
THE ROSTONE BRIDGE NEAR CHURCH OPE COVE TO RIGHT OF PICTURE. SPOIL WAS TIPPED OVER THE CLIFF FROM THE TOP OF THE BRIDGE, AND A SMALL RAILWAY WENT BENEATH IT
OLD QUARRY WORKS PORTLAND BILL
BELOW IS A RECENT PICTURE TAKEN IN THE ABOVE AREA.
BELOW WE SEE THE SCENE IN MODERN TIMES
COUPLE POSING WITH FOSSIL COLLECTION OUTSIDE QUARRY OFFICE, EASTON LANE.
WEST WEARES CLOSE TO BLACKNOR FORT. THE PICTURE BELOW SHOWS THE REMAINS OF THE WORKMEN’S HUT.
THE ROUND OBJECT NEAR THE CLIFF EDGE IS THE REMAINS OF A WORLD WAR 2 ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN EMPLACEMENT.
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