Urbex has always been a means to an end, rather than an end in itself for me. My interest is in the industrial landscape which is why the overwhelming majority of the places I’ve seen have been industrial with the odd non-industrial place thrown in because the opportunity presented itself. I make no apologies for…
Category: Urban Exploration
#500 – 500 Post Retrospective No.1 – Urbex
Well it’s taken 11 years, but I’ve finally reached number 500! I’m conscious that I don’t post as often as I used to, primarily because I’m not as prolific a photographer as I used to be which means I’ve less to post. In fairness, my life has changed over the past 11 years (I’ve married,…
#498 – North Truro Air Force Station
Normally my holiday photographs are restricted to family snaps and the places we go, however, I always keep my eye out to see if there’s anything worth making a detour for, for example, last year I visited the Telamon when in Lanzarote and I visited the PS Ryde in the Isle of Wight a few years back…
#488 – Manchester Mayfield Station 3
And so to the last few from Mayfield. Running the full length of the station and its platforms is a vast undercroft. Many old Victorian stations have these vast underground areas, some of which are accessible and in use some aren’t. For example, the area under Manchester Central – the former Manchester Central station –…
#487 – Manchester Mayfield Station 2
After closure, the site remained in Railway ownership and has been used as a location for numerous TV series. In 2005 it was hit by a fire, and in 2013 the majority of the huge roof structure was removed due to it being unsafe. A small section of framework was kept in place, probably to…
#486 – Manchester Mayfield Station 1
Manchester Mayfield Railway Station (NOT ‘train station’ please, we’re not in America), is the largest derelict space in Manchester, a remarkable feat given that it’s been abandoned for over 30 years. It’s even more remarkable when you consider the extraordinary amount of development that has happened in Manchester since the infamous bomb in 1996. Mind…
#471 – The View From The North 10 Year Retrospective – Book Now Available
In 2007, I decided to create a website. I can’t remember why, but it must have seemed like a good idea at the time. I’ve never looked back. To celebrate the first ten years, I’ve pulled together a book of some of my favourite images. Truth be told, I’d have liked to include a lot…
#466 – Return to Grove Rake 1
I rarely return to places I’ve explored, primarily because they tend to be demolished, regenerated or burnt down in the time that follows my visit. I made an exception this week to revisit Grove Rake Mine on the windswept wastes of County Durham, a place I previously explored in November 2008. The place was as…
#462 – Mechanical Landscapes Website Relaunch
So after two years of wrestling with my Zenfolio hosted http://www.mechanicallandscapes.com, I’ve ditched it and moved to Squarespace. While I can’t fault Zenfolio’s customisation options, it drove me round the twist sometimes, and despite doing everything recommended on the SEO front, traffic was next to nothing. So I’ve cut my losses and built a much simpler site…
#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…
Mechanical Landscapes 