OK it’s a visual cliche, but it’s a scene that will soon vanish. Beehive Mills, a grade 2 listed twin mill in Bolton will soon be demolished for more housing, so I thought it prudent to go and have a look while I still could. The first mill was built in 1895 with the second…
Category: Urban Landscape
#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…
#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….
#445 – Samsung Galaxy S7 Shoot – London Road Fire Station, Manchester – 3
Final selection from London Road. Not much else to say really that I haven’t already said. A word or two about the phone – yes, I was being paid to shoot these photographs, but that aside, I was very impressed. The HDR mode was immensely useful in these high contrast conditions, and the screen was fabulous….
#444 – Samsung Galaxy S7 Shoot – London Road Fire Station, Manchester – 2
London road fire station is an amazing site, arguably well ahead of its time in that it was a multi purpose building featuring a fire station (plus accommodation), ambulance station, bank and a coroners court in one large triangular site in the heart of the city. It served as a fire station until the 1970’s…
#443 – Samsung Galaxy S7 Shoot – London Road Fire Station, Manchester – 1
Opportunities pass, they don’t pause, someone wise once told me. It was one of those passé sound bites that stuck with me and would spring to mind whenever an opportunity appeared, or more regularly when I failed to take one and regretted it after. So when out of the blue I was contacted by a…
#432 – Rossendale Mills – Albert Mill, Haslingden 5
I mentioned in my previous post about the east Lancashire mill towns being located in valleys or on hillsides. In some respects, it’s similar to the coal mines in the Welsh valleys – although in this instance it is geography rather than geology that dictated this. The textile industries initial growth was powered by water…
#427 – Rossendale Mills – Albert Mill, Haslingden 1
Going east from the sun-drenched lowlands of Chorley where I reside, the landscape starts to quickly get hilly, and within the many valleys of the West Pennine Moors are numerous former mill towns. Haslingden is one although there aren’t many mills left here. Albert Mill and its characteristic north light windows are almost a landscape…
#416 – Blackburn Gas Holder
A few years ago I spent some time living in Blackburn, and my house was a mile or so away from this huge gas holder. To be honest I never really noticed it. I mean, I knew it was there, but it was just part of the local landscape. I’ve no particular interest in gas…
Mechanical Landscapes 