The 150-ton crane appears in many Sankey images, starting from when it was built in 1907. 

This image has been selected as it clearly shows the crane and the neighbouring East Shop, with its large curved glass filled facade, in juxtaposition with the High Level Bridge.

On the night of 7th/8th May 1941, two men, Thomas Martin Cooke (54), a crane driver, East Shop, and Christopher Fieldhouse (20), an apprentice fitter, Truck Mounting Shop, were on duty at the top of the crane as fire watchers. Their job was to plot the bearings of any bombs and to communicate this to the Local Control Centre. The fire watching role was a paid duty assigned to essential workers.(1)

Unfortunately, these brave people were killed just after two draughtsmen had relieved them from their duty. The crane was significantly damaged by bombing. Amazingly, the two draughtsmen safely descended the remains of the wrecked crane structure. 

Geoff Cain, another fire watcher on the cranes, described the scene the following morning, “The fallen crane, once standing so proud, was now a pitiable sight. It looked like the death throes of a mythical mighty dragon.” (2) He went on to say that there was a shortage of volunteers for this particular fire watch duty after this week of bombing.

The second image, rescued from a skip by the late Mr James Swainson Littlewood, shows workers, deep in thought, looking at the wreckage of the crane, which was lying across a railway wagon.

Local woman, Margaret Bainbridge, recorded the bombing in her diary (7th May) “Siren at 00.25 hours, All clear 4.00AM. The 2nd largest crane in Vickers was hit & came down falling across a comparatively small vessel, narrowly missing the aircraft carrier (3). 

The 150-ton crane was rebuilt during the war, with a slightly modified structure. It was finally demolished in 2010, and a memorial plaque to the two men killed was placed on the stub of one of the crane’s leg.