#517 – Slater’s Terrace and Sandygate Mill, 2006

I’ve recently been digging through my archive for forgotten or undiscovered images and I took a look through an album of photographs I took in 2006 around the Weavers Triangle area of Burnley. It was a bright Saturday morning and unfortunately I was shooting into the sun, a fairly elementary error in my planning which…

#453 – Colne Mills

North Valley Road through Colne used to be lined with several sister mills to the Smith & Nephew Brierfield Mills, but all have been demolished and replaced with shiny new supermarkets and car dealerships which gives a veneer of modernity to impress people passing through. But away from this facade is another typical East Lancashire…

#452 – Rossendale Mills – The Lancashire Sock Company

Not too long ago, there were many little mills, bleachers and dyers in the valleys of northern England. The past 20 years has seen them disappear or redeveloped into apartments, as property prices increase and gentrified semi-rural living has become more popular. The valleys of Rossendale though are strangely untouched in this regard, with many…

#451 – Rossendale Mills – The Lancashire Sock Company

I was comforted to discover that a company called The Lancashire Sock Manufacturing Company exist in a mill in Bacup. I’m not saying this in a patronising, sneering kind of way – I’m always pleased to discover traditional, long established manufacturing companies in old mills. There’s also the no-nonsense ‘does what it says on the tin’…

#61 – British Industry

I took this photo about 5 years ago on an old film camera, and developed the film myself. For some reason, it’s one that I keep coming back to and remains one of my favourite industrial images. The composition was almost forced upon me as I just poked the camera through a fence and hoped,…

#52 – Adding a Bit of Atmosphere 2

Following on from my last post, here’s another from the East Lancs Railway. Same idea, as before, although the engine is now a much larger part of the overall scene. However, I chose to compose it with the mill, water tower and signal box all in the scene, to help add a bit more visual interest….

#51 – Adding a Bit of Atmosphere 1

I’ve now been using the Nikon D700 for exactly a year, and I know this because the first place I took it was to the East Lancs Railway winter steam gala at the end of January. One year on, time for a return visit. Other than a nightshoot at Bury, I’d not done any railway photography since then,…

#45 – re-visiting old images

I took this photo back in 2005 at Ramsbottom station on the East Lancs Railway. I loved the photo, especially the station master emerging from the steam on the right. Unfortunately, as I was shooting straight into the light, I got some ugly lens flare on the front of the engine, and try as I…

#29 – Inside Looking Out (3)

Doorway To Oblivion.  Once there would have been a fire escape or walkway to the old Huncoat Power Station that once stood on the huge expanse of wasteland. This was demolished but the office block was kept in use for a few years after, until this to was abandoned. It’s stood empty now for some…