Ironstone mining was once quite widespread in Cumbria and helped feed the blast furnaces of the iron and steelworks of the county. Both the mines and the steelworks have now all gone, but up until the late 1960’s there were significant steelworks at Barrow, Workington and Millom. These all gradually stopped steel production and closed,…
Tag: Cumbria
#576 – Florence Mine 1
Florence mine is just a few miles away from Haig Colliery, so as I was in the area (and West Cumbria is not somewhere I visit regularly) it struck me as being worth a look. Unlike the rest of the mines on my recent mining binge, Florence was an ironstone (haematite) mine rather than coal….
#575 – Haig Pit 2
Haig colliery sits on a cliff above the town and looks out to sea. While I couldn’t capture it relative to the town, I did manage to photograph this scene showing the coastline and the cliffs that fall steeply to the sea. This land between the cliff and colliery was previously home to the railway…
#573 – Haig Pit 1
Cumbria in the 21st century is a place we most associate with the Lake District. It’s rugged beauty brings millions of visitors every year, but as you head west through the county, you hit the little visited industrial coastline. There’s not that much there now except Sellafield and a few old industrial towns, but for…
#485 – Rockets, Missiles and a corner of Cumbria
It was something of a surprise to me to learn that in the 1960’s, Britain had an advanced rocket program that was looking to launch rockets into space. Though my interest in aviation, I knew of the Blue Streak ballistic missile program which was cancelled but didn’t make the obvious leap to think of it’s…
#335 – theviewfromthenorth.org Backbarrow Pictures on the BBC
I was approached by the BBC asking for permission to use 6 of my photographs of Backbarrow Ironworks in a story they were doing. Only two were used in the end, better than nowt I guess. The Ironworks site has been sold and some of the vacant land is going to be used for a holiday village,…
#149 – Accidental Landscapes Part 2
One from a couple of years back when I was on the way back from Grove Rake mine. If memory serves me correctly, this was the road down from Alston into the Eden Valley, and as I drive down the winding road, I was treated to some spectacular views. Unfortunately, there are precious few places…
#43 – the importance of a good title
When entering photographs into competitions, especially ‘open’ (i.e. unthemed) ones, it is critical to choose a great title for your entry. A good title can make the difference between a judge (or any viewer) looking at the image and thinking ‘I don’t know what the photographer is trying to say!’, or thinking ‘Ah, I get it’….
Mechanical Landscapes 