Mechanical Landscapes

  • #513 – Abandoned Scammell Routeman

    #513 – Abandoned Scammell Routeman

    When I was a kid, I had a thing about trucks (lorries). I had loads of Corgi and Matchbox’s plus a few of the last Dinky toys made before they closed in the late 70’s. I could name every type of truck out there and during summer holidays would go on road trips with my…

  • #512 – Professional Image Maker Article

    #512 – Professional Image Maker Article

    It’s been a busy month for me, so this is a little late, but this month I’ve had the privilege of having a 12 page feature in Professional Image Maker magazine, the journal of the SWPP. I think the last time I had my work featured was in Amateur Photographer, not that I’ve transitioned from…

  • #511 – Pincroft Dyers

    Lancashire 1938? No, 2018. It looks like polluting black smoke emerging from the chimney, but it’s actually just steam, the vignette I’ve applied has had the effect of darkening the vapour. This is Pincroft Dyers is one of the few remains of  Lancashire’s once dominant textile industry. I spoke to one of the shift managers…

  • #510 – 500 Post Retrospective – Even More Railways

    Peak Rail – a rather short line currently at 3 miles, but with the potential to be a much longer and more interesting line if they can expand up to and beyond Bakewell. This 2-8-0 was based there for a while and was a very big engine in service on the day of the opening…

  • #509 – 500 Post Retrospective – More Railways

    More from the East Lancs Railway, this time they are all from the works and yard at Buckley Wells in Bury. It’s not normally accessible unless you work there, but is sometimes open for group visits or for photographic night shoots which is where all these were taken. 60163 Tornado, 24th October 2010 70013 Oliver…

  • #508 – 500 Post Retrospective – Railways

    #508 – 500 Post Retrospective – Railways

    I don’t do as much railway photography as I used to (or would like to) due to other priorities, but this and the next couple of posts are a selection from the past ten years. Today’s were all taken on the East Lancs Railway – it maybe not one of the bigger or more prestigious heritage…

  • #507 – 500 Post Retrospective – Slate

    #507 – 500 Post Retrospective – Slate

    I’ve only visited two slate quarries (Dinorwic and Pen-yr Orsedd) but every time I visit North Wales I am reminded of the physical impact this industry had on the landscape. Although some slate quarrying continues, it is on a much smaller scale than in days gone by, largely due to the building industry’s preference for…

  • #506 – 500 Post Retrospective No.6 -Ships

    #506 – 500 Post Retrospective No.6 -Ships

    Merger – sat beached and rusting in Glasson Dock near Lancaster, this little dredger was my first experiment with ND grad filters. The results weren’t bad, just not as good as they could have been. I’ve not been back since and it doesn’t appear on the most Google Earth views, so I won’t get the chance…

  • #505 – 500 Post Retrospective No.5 – The urban and industrial landscape

    #505 – 500 Post Retrospective No.5 – The urban and industrial landscape

    Monckton Coke Works – a relic from a bygone age, this place has since closed and is now demolished. Lune Mills Lancaster – a vast site on the banks of the RIver Lune in Lancaster. It was once home to a giant linoleum works and had it’s own power station  (which still exists), and although…

  • #504 – 500 Post Retrospective No.4 – Iron and Steel

    #504 – 500 Post Retrospective No.4 – Iron and Steel

    Britain once had a huge iron and steel industry, but there’s not much left now. The closure of the Redcar works in 2015 meant that there were only two major steelworks left in the UK, along with a number of rolling mills and electric arc furnaces. There had been much retraction of the industry in…

  • #503 – 500 Post Retrospective No.3 – Mills

    The mills of the north of England have held a lifelong fascination for me. Growing up in Bolton in the 1980’s meant that the towns industrial heyday had long passed and while there were still plenty of mills around, hardly any were still spinning cotton and with every passing year, more and more mills were…

  • #502 – 500 Post Retrospective No.3 – Mining

    #502 – 500 Post Retrospective No.3 – Mining

    Grove Rake (2007 and 2016) – another of those rare places I visited twice. The place had been abandoned for several years before my first visit and was reasonably intact. I visited again in 2016 after the majority of the site had been cleared and the headgear was in danger of demolition. In the end…

  • #501 – 500 Post Retrospective No.2 – More Urbex

    #501 – 500 Post Retrospective No.2 – More Urbex

    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…

  • #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,…

  • 499 – Sarsia Revisited

    499 – Sarsia Revisited

    After my first visit to see Sarsia, I had an idea – what would the scene look like using a long exposure? For that I’d need a cloudy, dry weekend day, which as the summer progressed were annoyingly infrequent, however a careful eye on the weather showed one to be upcoming. I was quite happy…

  • #498 – North Truro Air Force Station

    #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…

  • #497 – Sarsia – Birkenhead Docks

    Following my visit to look at Cammell Laird, I made the short trip to Birkenhead’s East Float Dock to see the partially submerged RV Sarsia wreck. Histories of the ship on the internet differ, but the one here seems quite comprehensive, so I’ve joined that up with information from other sources to get a bit…

  • #496 – Denis Thorpe’s ‘A View From The North Exhibition’ and book

    #496 – Denis Thorpe’s ‘A View From The North Exhibition’ and book

    Cammell Laird’s 1988 I recently had the huge privilege of meeting Denis Thorpe at the opening of his ‘A View From The North Exhibition’ at Stockport Memorial Art Gallery. I’ve been a fan since seeing his exhibition at the Lowry a few years back and my copy of his book ‘On Home Ground’ is well thumbed.…

  • #495 – Cammell Laird 2

    #495 – Cammell Laird 2

    Is there anything more symbolic of shipbuilding than the cranes? In years past, these giant structures towered over the yards and the surrounding landscape like the chimneys of the textile towns. For miles, these huge cranes lined the banks of the Tyne and the Clyde, helping construct thousands of ships. While the Mersey is an…

  • #494 – Cammell Lairds 1

    #494 – Cammell Lairds 1

    As I stood on the Birkenhead Priory tower overlooking the yard the 10.55 hooter, followed by one at 11, I presume signifying a tea break. I remember my own time spent working in a huge factory where our day was dictated by the rhythm of the hooter. 7.30 hooter – pick up the tools and…

  • #493 – Teesside Industrial Tourism 4 – Brent Delta Oil in Monochrome

    #493 – Teesside Industrial Tourism 4 – Brent Delta Oil in Monochrome

    A few snaps of Brent Delta in monochrome.