Narrow Gauge Industrial Railway Under The Humber Bridge

 A couple of visits to the Far Ings tile works in the 1990s

The life of a brick or tile begins with clay in the ground. Along the south bank of the River Humber is some of the best clay and at one time the riverside around Barton on Humber was lined with small brick and tile works. The works were established next to the clay pits that supplied them but as the clay was gradually being taken from further from the works narrow gauge railways were used to take the clay to the works. The last of these railways was still in use in the 1990s at the William Blyth tile works and remarkably passed under the Humber Bridge with few people realising it was there.

I visited a couple of times while the railway was running, traveling from Hull by bike over the bridge. Firstly in 1994 when I saw and photographed the clay being extracted at the pit just east of the bridge. Secondly in 1995 with a visit to the works arranged as part of a school project.

1932 Map (the first brick works West of Barton)

Rail Map Online view (select "Industry" in Layers)

Below - Having brought the empty tipper wagon from the works the driver gets in the JCB and loads as much clay as it will carry.

Below - With the tipper fully loaded it it propelled back to the works.

Below - The railway passing under the bridge. With the track being in the grass it was easily missed looking from the bridge. As the pit was gradually worked out to the south the railway was realigned. It looked more like straight lengths of track joined at angles than a curved line. This railway was a completely different line to that shown on the old map from a pit to the south of the works.

Below - The line passed through the engine shed.

Below - The tipper was uncoupled from the loco (a Motor Rail named "Ivor") and hooked up to a rope worked incline into the works.

Below - Another view of Ivor, this is at the foot of the incline and just to the west of its engine shed.

Below - The smoking chimney of one of the kilns.

Below - The clay is tipped in to a hopper which feeds a machine that extruded blocks of clay that are then taken to be formed in to tiles.

The works now forms part of the Humber Bridge Garden Centre with William Blyth still in business at another old tileworks further east along the bank of the Humber (though not using narrow gauge railways). They mainly produce handmade tiles for historic building restoration projects.