There were three main areas visited – the winding engine hall, the adjacent power house and the heapstead under the upcast. The winding engine hall is now used as an events venue and has a large collection of mining memorabilia which was interesting but not what I wanted to photograph. The power house was more…
#653 – Clipstone Colliery Revisit Part 1
I’d last visited Clipstone Colliery in March 2009, not long after the site had been cleared, leaving just the magnificent grade 2 listed headstocks and power house standing alone in a recently graded field. In fact there were still piles of rubble round the back and the fence had not been erected around the buildings….
#652 – Clipstone Colliery 2009
These are some photographs that I’ve never published on this blog, although if you follow me on social media you will have seen them, and the colour versions appear on theviewfromthenorth.org. I visited here in 2009, and the site had just been cleared of all the surface buildings. All that was left was the grade…
#651 – Pleasley Colliery Revisit
I first visited both Clipstone and Pleasley Colliery on the same day in March 2009 and while Clipstone was my priority this time I thought I’d pay a quick visit to Pleasley as it was only 25 minutes away. Back in 2009 I was years away from starting my headgear typology but while I had…
#650 – Imperial Mill Blackburn 2
As I moved out of Blackburn in 2004 and stopped working there in 2006, I rarely go back unless I have to. It’s a town I have mixed memories of, and as I wasn’t born there, and most of my friends from there have also moved elsewhere, so there’s little to take me back. Nonetheless,…
#649 – Imperial Mill Blackburn
I lived in Blackburn for a few years in the late 90’s / early 2000’s and used to work near this place, Imperial Mill. I took some photographs of it that I don’t think I’ve ever put on here but you might have seen the one above on my website if you’ve ever visited it….
#648 – Vine Mill, Oswaldtwistle
I was in ‘Ossy’ on the way back from somewhere else, so I thought I’d swing by this place as it’s been in my list for a while. It’s not the most visually interesting mill, so I took a couple of record photographs and then went down a lane at the side to see if…
#647 – Stonebridge Mill, Oswaldtwistle 2
In days gone by, a mill at the end of the street was a common site in Lancashire and Yorkshire, with the terraced housing being built for the mill workers. Let’s not romanticise it though – these places were noisy and had smoke billowing out of the chimney 24/7 so I can’t imagine they were…
#646 – Stonebridge Mill, Oswaldtwistle
Oswaldtwistle is one of those northern towns like Slaithwaite (Slawit) and Barnoldswick (Barlick) that is not pronounced as it is spelt. Locally it is pronounced ‘Ozuldtwissle’ or just ‘Ozzy’ if you’re really local. Actually, it’s not really a town, it’s more a suburb of Accrington (which is pronounced as it is spelt, although generally abbreviated…
#645 South Wales Road Trip Part 13 – Big Pit
Big Pit was my last port of call as it was the most easterly pit and therefore – technically – on the way home. It’s the home of the Welsh Mining Museum so like all museums is free to enter, but they do charge £5 to park so regard that as an entry fee of…
Mechanical Landscapes 