View allAll Photos Tagged workmen
A British Road Services truck squeezes passed workmen from Walsall Corporation’s Transport Department, removing a redundant trolleybus traction pole from Wolverhampton Road at Bentley, Walsall in the late 1960s. Those poles painted a light grey colour in the picture, had been retained for streetlighting purposes, and therefore would last a few more years.
So what had happened to the trolleybus services along this road?
From 16th November 1931 until 31st October 1965, Wolverhampton Corporation, and Walsall Corporation ran a joint trolleybus service between the two towns, the service numbered 29, running successfully until the 1960s. Very few places in Britain ran joint trolleybus routes, so the sight of Walsall’s blue trolleys intermingling with Wolverhampton’s green and yellow trolleys was quite novel.
In 1961, Wolverhampton’s Transport Committee suddenly announced that the Wolverhampton trolleybus system would close, and that trolleybus operation would be gradually phased out subject to the acquisition of replacement motorbuses to be purchased each year until all routes were converted. The committee no doubt being mindful of the Town’s rate-payers who would be funding the conversion.
On the other hand, Walsall Corporation Transport, under the guidance of its famous General Manager Mr R Edgley Cox were enthusiast exponents of the trolleybus, and advocated that the trolleybus service between the two towns continued until at least 1967. However, the coming of the motorway age was upon them, and it was clear that the planned route of the M6 Motorway connecting the Midlands to the Northwest would sever the route at Bentley. Construction of the M6 began in 1963, and by 1965 had reached Bentley, near Walsall. The decision had by then been taken by the powers that be, that trolleybuses would not be allowed to cross over the new motorway, effectively ending any possibility of the through service continuing beyond 1965.
Despite the increasing problems with trolleys getting through the roadworks at what was to become Junction-10 of the M6, operations continued until the constrictions imposed by the construction works finally halted the service, ending 34-years of trolley bus operation along the route.
On this modern day Google aerial view of Bentley, you can see how the M6 Motorway cut through the Wolverhampton Road at this location:
© Brian Callahan 2010 All rights reserved.
Part of the crew engaged in the repair and rehabilitation of the Scott Fountain. In this you can see the size of the Native American in a canoe panel that I posted earlier. Sorry about the flare.
James Scott died in 1910 and left the city $500,000 to build a fountain and a life size statue of him on Belle Isle, however at the time he was looked upon as a storyteller, a gambler, and people really didn't want to accept the money he donated because it would only immortalize this man they hated, even J.L. Hudson stated "would be a monument to nastiness and filthy stories. Mr. Scott never did anything for Detroit in his lifetime." ,it was debated for 15 years before the fountain and statue was finally built.
The fountain is currently undergoing an extensive renovation. The lead linings of the lower bowls will be completely replaced. The fountain piping and drains will be put back in working order. The lights will be properly mounted and insulated. It is a costly project, and even as such some of the original beauty such as the Pewabic Tile designs that surrounded the lower bowl well be lost.
If you live in the area, or will be in Detroit, this beautiful structure is a must see, even, under repair.
More about the fountain here:
apps.detnews.com/apps/history/index.php?id=193
And still more here:
detroit1701.org/James Scott Fountain.html
These workmen were putting a traffic island in place. If you look very closely (though granted the resolution of the Polaroid makes it hard) you'll see they both have cigarettes in their mouths. You can't zoom in with the Polaroid Now camera. The shadows in the foreground are also a feature of this composition.
Taken with the Polaroid Now camera on I-Type instant film.
n 1888 Queen Victoria granted Belfast the status of the city and it was agreed that a grand and magnificent building was required to reflect this new status. City Hall opened its doors on the first of August 1906, at a time of unprecedented prosperity and industrial might for the city.
The new City Hall was designed by Alfred Brumwell Thomas in the Baroque Revival style and constructed in Portland stone. The incredible building cost £369,000 to complete, the equivalent around 128 million pounds today but remains an extraordinary beacon of success and civic pride for Belfast.
City Hall has many connections with the famous ocean liner Titanic. Viscount William Pirrie who was Lord Mayor in 1896-1897 just before City Hall’s construction, was also managing director of Harland & Wolff Shipyard. He is the man credited as having the idea for both ambitious builds. He used many of his skilled workmen in the fit-out of City Hall which is why the interiors today are considered an incredible insight into the finish of Titanic’s lounges and suites, the ship’s carving panelling being very similar.
When getting my lunch there was a fire alarm at New St Station so all the workmen had to evacuate and gather on John Bright St. I often see bunches of them outside BOM waiting to march off to work (their offices are above us) but this was ALL of them, all in orange hi-viz. It’s quite the sight. I took a few photos and wasn’t the only one. Really pleased with how this came out.
There is some movement in here, not quite what I was after, but these guys were blade shearing, the old way. Two gentlemen standing by were the judges. Taken at the Nhill show, and the shearing is a feature for most of the day.
Two workmen installing a Stainless Steel Flexible Liner (Flue) which is used to reline an existing chimney for use with a gas appliance primarily in this case a gas fire. The flue is used to safely convey exhaust gases from the fireplace out into the atmosphere….!
There's no Photoshop trickery here! The effect comes from the workmen being behind a green, gauze-like sheeting hung over chain link fencing. Bright sunlight illuminated them so they kind of dissolved into the shadows. Couldn't quite believe my eyes!
Workmen seen boarding up windows and doors on the west side of the Illinois State Capitol Building on Saturday, January 16, 2021, as U.S. state capitals and Washington brace for potentially violent pro-Trump armed protests in wake of the U.S. Capitol Attack.
On Friday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker activated 250 National Guard troops following warnings from the FBI of potential threats to state capitols leading up to the presidential inauguration. The troops are being stationed at Camp Lincoln in Springfield, minutes away from the State Capitol Building should their presence be needed.
Alex, Jay and Charlie
I was crossing over Marine Parade when I saw these 3 hi-viz workmen sitting in the bus shelter and thought what a lovely Brighton frame it made. There were another two workmen on the seats behind and a further one on the side. I noticed them from the central reservation and took a couple of shots before I crossed over to them. I think I took them by surprise when I asked to take their photo and having taken it asked their names.
See the rest of the Brighton Street series so far:
www.flickr.com/photos/chris_marina/albums/72157718328180528:
Excerpt from oakvillehistory.org:
The Workmen’s Cottages at 18-26 Thomas Street: While these homes were built in about 1852 as workmen’s homes for his shipyard workers, Duncan Chisholm did not himself live in them. Duncan was a son of George Chisholm, William Chisholm’s brother. Born at Burlington Bay in 1824, he came to Oakville in the year 1848 and opened an iron and tin business.
He first lived at Colborne and Dunn Street, sharing half a frame building with Mrs. Mary Wilson, who operated a bakery in her half to the east. In about the year 1853 Duncan Chisholm built a new brick residence and shop at the southwest corner of Dun and Colborne, and lived there until his retirement.
It was in the late 1850s that Duncan Chisholm established a shipyard on the Sixteen at William Street. He built there the “Victoria”, the “Monarch and the last boat to come from his yard in 1867, the “White Oak”. Launched on July 1, 1867, it was expected that she would be named the “New Dominion”, but niece Kate christened her the “White Oak”.
Duncan Chisholm was also ship owner and a master mariner, serving as captain on the “Oddfellow”, the “Royal Oak”, and “Three Bells”, among others. He was the instigator of Captain Maurice Felan’s epic Christmas voyage of the “Victoria” – they shared her ownership – to Oswego and back.
The Oakdale Workmen's Institute was built in 1917 to serve as a focus for social, educational and cultural life within the newly established coal mining community there. It was funded by a loan from the Tredegar Iron and Coal Company, which the miners then repaid over the following years.
The Institute eventually closed and was removed to St Fagans Museum in 1995.