WEEK 12 - Day 47 West Gable Stove House 1

The west gable of Stove House 1 fronts Ollershaw Lane. The different types of bricks show the endless repairs that has been necessary to this gable since it was built in 1894.

The south side (right) is a curved wall at its base which was built on the line of a garden wall which led into the Red Lion Hotel, after which the salt works was named. Salt Pan 1,which was to the left, was built in the coal yard of the Red Lion Hotel, between the Hotel and the Trent and Mersey Canal. The window at road level provided light into the stove area. The doorway was used to wheel salt from the warehouse floor to the Salt Store on the opposite side of Ollershaw Lane.

Ollershaw Lane becomes narrow here as it approaches the hump backed bridge over the canal, and there are no footpaths at the side of the road.

To provide safe access for the erection of a scaffold 'stop - go' boards had to be used to control the flow of traffic past the stove house.

The scaffolding will allow safe working as the brickwork is dismantled. Each rebuilding phase will be taken down in sequence and stored on separate pallets for re-use when this part is rebuilt.

A metal hoarding will be erected on the scaffold to keep the site safe and secure.

WEEK 12 - Day 46 Dismantling Furnace to Pan 5

This is getting to look like an archaeological site. With most of the superstructure dismantled we can see the flues underneath the salt pan.

The first photograph is looking east from the Stove house end looking towards the furnace front, but from the interior. The collapsed brick flue walls have been cleared to show the flue walls where they are infilled with flue ash, sand and cinder deposits. This a deliberate part of the construction to reduce the amount of bricks used in the furnace.The were four firing positions, with two 'dead-draft' flues along the outer walls to prevent the salt crystals from burning on the bottom of the pan as the crystals were drawn to the side. At the end of the pan (bottom of picture) the flue arrangement changes as the flue gasses were ducted underneath a walkway between the end of the pan and the front wall of the Stove House. The flue chamber is the wider infilled channel, with an ash filled space between each flue.

This second picture of Pan 5 furnace is taken looking west from the front of the furnace looking towards the Stove House 5. There is a clearer space within the flue at the fire end. Pan 5 was originally fired with coal or coke and later altered to burn recycled oil.

WEEK 12 - Day 45 Lifting Pan No5

Today we lifted the pan from off its firebox. For a video of the lift link to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NG2XzYito4

and http://www.youtube.com/user/Saltteller#p/a/u/0/1CDa6xhk58Y

WEEK 12 - Day 44 Preparations for Lifting Pan 5

Whilst also continuing to dismantle the brickwork of Stove House 5 final preparations were made to lift the salt pan No.5 off the furnace. Packing wedges were inserted between the iron beams and the underside of the salt pan so that the weight of the pan is evenly distributed and there are no unsupported areas. Paul and Simon spent a couple of hours in the cramped space underneath the pan inserting the wedges. Like many salt pans the sustained heating the brine over a long period of time causes the iron plates of the pan to distort and buckle making each position an individual fit. You can see the rows of rivets which join each of the pan plates.

Lifting eyes have been attached to the ends of the main beams. It is to these that the hooks will be attached to the crane's lifting chains tomorrow. The crane is arriving at 8am with the lift taking place about 10.30am. The operation will be uploaded tomorrow afternoon.









See uploaded time lapse video, which shows the dismantling of the roof trusses of Stove House 5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW4g1xKlfmQ This took place on Thursday 16 September, 2009 and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 2--23 September, 2009.