- 01 | A winter perspective of steelworks and railway tracks, Middlesbrough
STRUCTURES 7 displays industrial structures as one of an ongoing series on similar themes. The discovery of rich iron ore in the nearby Cleveland Hills was first exploited by the 1837 Grosmont Ironworks near Whitby. Middlesbrough’s first followed shortly after and constant innovation led to the first commercial steelmaking in 1875 when there were over one hundred iron smelters in operation. Now steel working is but a shadow of those pioneering days.
- 02 | Former Dorman Long steelworks, Middlesbrough
Established 1876 as a steel fabricator by partners Arthur Dorman and Albert Long their Company soon moved into steel making, becoming a major international producer. Expanding into bridge building, the Sydney Harbour Bridge of 1928 must be one of their best known structures. Nearer to me is its smaller1928 predecessor, the New Tyne Bridge at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Internationally, the Company remains involved in major steel construction projects such as stadia and bridges.
- 03 | Former Dorman Long steelworks perspective
In this composition the contrast of the facetted metal cylinder, the concrete forms and the triangle of conveyers and brick office structure appealed.
- 04 | Former Dorman Long steelworks perspective
I took several variation shots of this structural grouping of which I thought this the most effective.
- 05 | Egger wood products works at Hexham
The Egger works loom large in the Tyne Valley at Hexham. Their sheer scale and complexity of forms are visually imposing but not popular with some local residents. Viewed against the skyline the bright metal forms and the more sombre box forms of the underpinning buildings can be dramatically lit by the low sun at both ends of the day.
- 06 | Egger wood products works at Hexham
It manufactures a wide range of timber and wood-based products for use in building and construction. Much of its raw materials come from the Kielder Forest in the Upper North Tyne Valley. This was developed across an austere upland landscape from the1920s by the State-owned Forestry Commission. It’s the largest man-made forest in Britain and, with the Egger works, is a major local employer.
- 07 | The Lake Union Dry Dock Company, a ship repair yard in Seattle
Established some ninety years ago the Lake Union Dry Dock Company specialises in ship repair and conversion, with shipbuilding part of its past activities. The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks link this freshwater lake with the seawater of the Puget Sound. In its lifetime the extensive yard has accumulated a growing collection of structures including a large and fine old timber building: see the Seattle Lake Union gallery.
- 08 | Demolition of a building at Swan Hunter’s shipbuilding yard, Wallsend
The Swan Hunter Shipyard operated from 1850 until closure in 2006. Much of its engineering equipment, several cranes, a floating crane and a floating dry dock were sold to an Indian company. All were shipped there in 2009 after two years of dismantling and demolition. Images taken between 2007 and 2009 are posted in the two “A WAKE FOR SWAN HUNTER” galleries. This one shows a fragment from the destruction of one of the large assembly sheds. Shipbuilding yards once lined the River Tyne: now only one ship repair yard remains.
- 09 | Improvised workshop, Middlesbrough
Much of the old industrial area around the docks and riverside has been cleared for re-development. This improvised building seems as though it’s been constructed from reclaimed steels, corrugated iron and shipping containers, standing perhaps on earlier foundations. Even after passing it several times I’m still unsure as to what activities it supports.
- 10 | Works and storage structure, Middlesbrough 2011
Set well back from the road behind a high fence and manned entrance gates this is the closest point for photography. This image from a first visit to Middlesbrough a fair number of years ago looks across a deep expanse of cleared ground. The building’s proportions and wide span doors suggest that it’s a recycled aircraft hanger.
- 11 | Works and storage structure with concrete blocks, Middlesbrough 2014
Three years later a summer photograph shows different concrete blocks close to the fence amidst bramble/ blackberry thickets. Time has not moved the sliding doors which seem locked in exactly the same position as when last shot. I’d like to look at it more closely before its certain demise. Will it still stand as interestingly if I return in this new year of 2020?
- 12 | The structural geometry of a straw storage barn, rural Northumberland
One great feature of the British landscape is the constantly changing style of the vernacular architecture from place to place. Farm buildings offer changes prompted by agricultural need, local custom and traditional building materials. In Northumberland, old farmhouse, cottages and steading buildings are in sandstone, or similar, under grey slate roofs. New working buildings now look much the same anywhere, like this one in concrete block, timber and corrugated iron. (continued)
- 13 | A waterside structure, Bremerton Island, Washington State
Some 4,500 miles westward and beyond Seattle the same three materials were used in this waterside structure on Bremerton Island. Three tiny gold flashes against seeming monochrome echo the hues of English straw. Luckily for me the tide was low and the stony beach clear for scrambling around with a camera. Tides have softened the mortar holding the blocks whilst westerly winds have loosened, torn and removed some of the corrugated cladding. The site has since been cleared.
- 14 | Quayside oil storage tanks, Aberdeen
An early foray with my first simple digital camera took me around the harbour perimeter in Aberdeen, not really knowing what to expect or what I wanted to do. Some of the ship images are included in one of the boats and ships galleries, translated from quite strong colour to monochrome. The original colours were quite vivid straight from the camera which I quite liked then but not so much now after more than a decade.
- 15 | Quayside oil storage tanks
Like the steelwork shots earlier in this set I was drawn to the cylindrical forms of the tanks and the arcs of stairways and railings. The slanting November afternoon light seemed to add density to the greys and blues.
- 16 | Grain silos, Seattle waterfront
Strong afternoon light, white concrete, shiny metal and the proximity of the quayside edge encouraged shooting detail rather than the wider view. The blue-black afternoon sky in the image was anticipated. In spite of time spent this is almost the only image thought worth the effort although opinions might differ. The very long Seattle waterfront offers a great variety of walks, close to or at the water’s edge. Ships, ferries, cranes, leisure and retail activities, industry and more are set against wide sea views to the west. Behind, the rising city skyline offers a great visual contrast.
- 17 | North Yorkshire Moors Railway: exterior detail from a prefabricated building
The North Yorkshire Moors Railway operates some 18 miles of track through dramatic and picturesque landscapes in north-east England. Designed in 1831 by George Stephenson, a great railway pioneer, it opened between coastal Whitby and inland Pickering in 1836. As railways everywhere proliferated it became part of the national network. The severe rationalisation of the 1960s threatened closure but efforts of a Preservation Society led to the NYMR operating its first passenger trains in 1973.
- 18 | NYMR: interior detail from a prefabricated building
Funded by its fares, grants and donations, the NYMR is operated largely by unpaid volunteers. Its workshops can undertake almost all the maintenance and rebuilding required to keep its fleet of steam and diesel locomotives, carriages and freight wagons in use. These two images show details from a prefabricated metal building erected to protect equipment used to remove and replace a locomotive’s driving wheels. They explore the metal’s pictorial possibilities rather than describe its function. Several NYMR GALLERIES are posted elsewhere.