I’ve had a long fascination with the steel industry. Where this stems from I don’t know, possibly from my time at technical college learning metallurgy from a former British Steel metallurgist, and getting my head round such terms as Jominy End Quench, and other such stuff. The attraction of the photography of Michael Kenna is…
Category: Black and White
#455 – Vernon Carus Revisited
I visited Vernon Carus’ old Penwortham Mills site back in 2007, not long after the site had closed and work transferred to a new factory round the corner from my house in Chorley. At the time, there was a full time security guard on site who kindly let me wander round for a couple of…
#454 – Lambert Howarth Mill Demolition
I’d read that this mill was being demolished, but hadn’t been able to get over to see it, until demolition was pretty much complete. This is probably the last bit of the Weavers Triangle to be redeveloped, and had been empty since Lambert Howarth closed in 2005 after the owners Lambert Howarth lost a contract with M&S….
#453 – Colne Mills
North Valley Road through Colne used to be lined with several sister mills to the Smith & Nephew Brierfield Mills, but all have been demolished and replaced with shiny new supermarkets and car dealerships which gives a veneer of modernity to impress people passing through. But away from this facade is another typical East Lancashire…
#452 – Rossendale Mills – The Lancashire Sock Company
Not too long ago, there were many little mills, bleachers and dyers in the valleys of northern England. The past 20 years has seen them disappear or redeveloped into apartments, as property prices increase and gentrified semi-rural living has become more popular. The valleys of Rossendale though are strangely untouched in this regard, with many…
#451 – Rossendale Mills – The Lancashire Sock Company
I was comforted to discover that a company called The Lancashire Sock Manufacturing Company exist in a mill in Bacup. I’m not saying this in a patronising, sneering kind of way – I’m always pleased to discover traditional, long established manufacturing companies in old mills. There’s also the no-nonsense ‘does what it says on the tin’…
#442 – Grafters Exhibition – Oldham Panorama
If you’re a regular reader of this blog or my Planes, Boats, Trains blog, you’ll know my fascination for the Library of Congress archive, and especially the gigantic panoramas of industrial, urban and dockyard scenes. So you imagine my delight when I saw this gigantic panorama taken in Oldham in 1876 at the Grafters exhibition…
#441 – Brierfield Mill Part 8 – The Shopfloor
I’ve saved the shopfloor to last as, well, there wasn’t much of interest to shoot. 380000 square feet of basically f*** all and pigeons. The mill had been methodically stripped of everything. But as a photographer, that’s fine as it forces me to look beyond the empty space and try harder to see things. It…
#440 – Brierfield Mill Part 7 – Doors and (more) Windows
Like all big mills, Brierfield has lots of windows. Hundreds of them. So here’s a few more, plus a door. Weaving shed floor. This was a more modern portal framed building roof built onto an older weaving shed, giving the place substantially more volume. This wall runs alongside the Leeds Liverpool Canal affording some lovely…
#439 – Brierfield Mill Part 6 – The Clock Tower
The clock tower is an interesting focal point from a photographic perspective. However on closer inspection it doesn’t look quite right. Site Supervisor Paul worked in the mill for a large part of his career and is of the opinion that not only is it a somewhat later addition, but that the design was actually…
Mechanical Landscapes 