Wigan Album

My dad worked for Fairclough and worked on the Springs road bridge
I remember one Sunday afternoon we both rode our bikes to Springs road so my dad could start up a water pump to drain out a hole

I doesn't really seem all that long ago, but realistically I suppose, it must be getting on for 40 years since I delivered material ( I don't recall precisely what this far down the line, but most likely high tensile steel wire from Longford ) to a pre - stressed concrete beam manufacturing plant on Whinney Hill road at Huncoat near Accrington.
I'm almost certain that it was Leonard Fairclough's place although I realise the company was based in Adlington.
I recall that It was in a massive long building, not an illogical choice of site in which to manufacture bridge beams in my view.
I've had a look on Streetview , and it would appear that the building is still there, although it's been tarted up somewhat and is now used as a storage warehouse and distribution depot for Benson's beds.

Mick, on album (work M6 motorway) #29024 shows Spring Road and the Bridge in the background. McAlpine's site office entrance was on the far side of the bridge.

Barrie there a program on channel 5 at 9pm tonight about 60 years of motorways

Saw it in the Radio Times and have set the DTR to record it. A few years ago BBC4 had a 3 part series of the history (or love) of the British Motorways which I have kept on the machine.

Ozy you are correct that Faircloughs had a pre-stressed site at Huncoats, Accrington. I worked there as a draughtsman for a short spell, probably 1970. My father Bill Lange worked in the plant dept at Adlington.

Thanks for the reassurance nightchap , I was fairly sure that I'd got it right, as it's my understanding that It's the short term , as opposed to long term memory loss that indicates the onset of dementia.
I seem to recall grasping the opportunity to take myself on a self guided tour of the premises whilst waiting to be off - loaded....you could do that kind of thing back in the days before the entire UK workforce became legally obliged to prostrate itself at the temple of Health & Safety.

Lord, please grant me the ability to go back to the sixties ,....or failing that, the seventies.
........even the early eighties would do at a push,...after that,..forget it.

Thanks God......Respect. Ozy .

Extract from my late dad's biography:

I then joined a company that was the most experienced in the country in the construction of bridges. They were called Leonard Fairclough Ltd. Mr Fairclough had started his working life as a 14 year old apprentice mason. He had built up this company over the years and owned 95% of the shares. The contract to which I was appointed as agent was on the construction of the M6 motorway. Messrs Alfred McAlpine were to build the roadway and Faircloughs, the bridges. This contract stretched from the river Mersey to Preston in Lancashire, and there were 73 bridges to build. The companies divided the contract into four sections, so that there would be a roadways agent and a bridges agent on each section, who would have to work together in planning and progressing work on their sections. My boss was a Contracts Manager, Mr Shuttleworth, in charge of the two northernmost sections. This system worked very well indeed. The other agent on his section was Bob Nightingale who had the section to the north of mine. Our two sections shared a large concrete batching plant, the concrete being delivered to the bridges by specially adapted lorries.
Every Friday, Mr Shuttleworth called a meeting with Bob and myself to program the following week's work and to allocate the concrete deliveries. These meetings were always to be held in the lounge of a large pub on the main A49 road about 4 miles away from the offices. Mr Shuttleworth always paid for the drinks. This was also his entertainment centre for us, and the client’s Engineers on Christmas Eve, when he would be "in the chair" from 11am to midnight. How he then drove his car home is a matter of speculation. Mr Shuttleworth liked his whiskey.
Shortly after starting on this contract, we bought our first house, in Fulwood, north of Preston, and the family moved up from Stevenage.
My section of the contract, which stretched from the main railway line just south of Orrell to the Chorley-Southport road, consisted of building 29 bridges varying from two viaducts, one carrying the motorway over a flood plain and the other over a gorge, to several bridges carrying the motorway over country lanes and principal roads, and some carrying those same kinds of road over the motorway. Sometime before the contract was due to finish, Bob left to join some other company, and I was to take over his section as well. At this point there were only two bridges to build and four to complete.

I grew up in Lancaster and have always loved the Snowhill Ln bridge. It is a fabulous bridge

Worked for leonard fairclough 1968 till 2003 spent most of my time delivering bridges from accrington for M62 the other side of invernss

I finished my schooling in late 1962 and started work for Leonard Fairclough as a chainman with the possibility of progressing to setting out engineer. Today glancing through a supplement of the Observer there was a picture of Snowhill Lane bridge which is unique. One of the engineers I worked with was called David...can't remember his surname. In his free time he went rock climbing in the Lake District. Faircloughs needed some surveying done for a new job which was in the Lake district. I went along with David as his assistant. Whilst there he did a spot of climbing with a good friend of his by the name of Chris Bonnington. That winter of '63 was the coldest for many a year and is remembered by anybody working at that time. Working on those bridges along the Lancaster by-pass was very special. There was many a workman wearing clogs, especially if they were from one of Lancashire's mill towns.

Just caught up with the later comments on my photo. Pleasing to read of other experiences during the construction periods and of long ago memories. I wonder if in 50 years time a site like this will be posting photographs of the working lives of the 21st century and what comments will they put.