#228 – Robert Fletchers Paper Mill – Part 2

Employees Handbook para (d)

Long Service Benefits

It is hoped that your association with the Company will be a long one, and that you will qualify for a Long Service Award. After 42 years’ service, men receive a gold watch, and after 37 years’ service, women receive a silver teapot.

Big, bad Beloit from Bolton. The room was unlit, save for a shaft of light through a window at the far end. A long exposure helped, but I was too far away for my light painting to have much effect.

Moving on, we knew there to be an even bigger machine lurking nearby. Off in a large extension to the side was a huge Beloit Walmsley paper machine, built less than 5 years before the mill closed, and apparently, still not paid for. I wanted to see this machine as I grew up not far from the vast Beloit Walmsley works in Bolton, and remember the massive machines which were dragged out on huge heavy haulage vehicles. Sadly, the last owners, Sandusky shut the place down, and now it lies empty, apart from the state of the art foundry which was built just before the works shut. The paper industry has been devastated by high energy prices since 2000, with most of the local paper mills closing, and this industrial Armageddon has had a knock on effect on the ancillary industries too.

As we made our way round the lower floors, we heard movement outside. Freezing, we heard the noise of a Transit Van driving round outside. Shit. Police? Azubi ventured closer for a look. Panic averted, it was a flatbed and the driver had parked it up by the containers outside, and was wandering off. Good. Carry on.

Rather than make our way outside and to the lower mills, which were closer to security, we decided to head back upstairs. We were keen to see the contraption known in the urbex community as the ‘Death Star’. Incorrectly described as a ‘potcher’ in many reports, this weird device is a ‘pan’ where the chopped hemp and flax would be boiled under pressure with caustic acid for a few hours. Needless to say the smell was still revolting.

A pan, not a potcher

Conveyors. Flax would be pitch forked onto here by hand, a particularly unpleasant job apparently.

Continuing upstairs, we made our way to the top floor. This was where the raw material started it’s journey through the mill, and needless to say, large bales of flax were still sitting there, waiting their fate.

Bales of flax given a stay of execution when the mill closed. Normally they would be chopped up, beaten, boiled in acid and then squeezed between rollers.

Wandering round the emergency respirators were reminders of how nasty the manufacturing process could be. Large amounts of chlorine and acids are integral to making paper, and you really don’t want to be hanging around if there’s any kind of leakage.

It was in these areas that we saw reminders of the human side of factory life. Lockers. Discarded payslips. Offices with power still going to the computers (yes, we tried). Out of date calendars. I flicked through the production records at the side of the machines, and found the last entry. Did the operators know that they wouldn’t be making another? Maybe not.

The last shift

The last payslip

And so, the light started to fade. You don’t get much light in the middle of December anyway, and lurking in the shadows of an unlit mill gave even less. Retracing our steps to our access point, we made our way back towards the hole in the fence, stopping off on a grassy knoll to look down over the site. Spotting a large lodge, below us, I headed down the slope to its banks. Noticing that the water was unusually still, and never one to miss the opportunity to photograph a reflection, I stepped down onto the marshy silt to capture the reflection of the mill in the water.

# 217 – The View From The North

Just realised that it’s now over four years since I launched theviewfromthenorth.org. I know that four years is neither here nor there, as we only tend to celebrate anniversaries that are divisible by 5 for some reason, but slowly but surely, interest has grown in the website, and it’s moved from being a place where I put my photos online through being a showcase for my best stuff, to more of a project to photograph the industrial landscape of the north of england, to bits of the industrial landscape I find interesting from all over the UK. And steam trains. OK, so the focus of it has always been somewhat confused, and I will someday create a separate website just for my railway photos, but I just don’t have the time at the moment. But what the heck, it’s my website, and I get so blinded by strategy, objectives, and god knows what else at work that in my own time I like to freestyle it as I’ve only got myself to please.

But as I approach the landmark of a million page views, (that’s divisible by 5, so I’ll have to think of something to celebrate that), it’s nice to look back and see how far I’ve come as a photographer. It’s nice to know read the dozens of fascinating messages I’ve had from viewers about how it’s provided inspiration and information, encouraging guest book comments (I delete the ‘your picture are sh!t’ ones) and the friends and contacts I’ve made through the site, and this gives me the encouragement to push on and keep it going for as long as I can. So, if you’ve not visited the site before, please have a look, and if you like it, tell your friends, tweet it, ‘stumble it’, like it or whatever else you can do with this new fangled social media stuff!!

 

 

 

 

 

#200 – 200 not out (time for a holiday)

2 years, 200 posts. I’ve somehow managed to make an average of 2 posts a week for 2 years, no idea how (OK, the first few were reposts from my old blogspot blog, but let’s overlook that…). Mind you, I’ve been places and done stuff that I’d never even heard of  two years ago, so if I make it to 300 posts then I imagine I’ll have written about stuff that is as of yet unknown to me now!

But for now, its’s time for a bit of a break while I go on my summer holiday, take a well earned rest, take some photos  and start to write some of the next 100 posts!

# 194 – The Myth Of Manual Mode

A recent discussion on Talk Photography got me thinking about camera technique, something I don’t tend to give much thought to. Someone had asked why they should use manual mode, and the consensus seemed to be, quite refreshingly, use it when you need to, but don’t use it slavishly. Great advice, although some people still insist that they’re a better photographer because of it. Good for them, personally it’s something I use maybe 10% of the time in my photography.  Sure, in some situations it’s essential – panoramas, studio phtoography and wherever you need absolute control of the settings. For everything else though, I personally use Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Program (no scene modes on my current camera, not that I ever used them on my old camera).

While there is some merit in using manual for people learning photography, it’s a bit like learning to drive a car – you do everything by the book, then once it’s all internalised, you can do a lot without giving it conscious thought.

Where speed is required, manual mode falls down (although street photographers still use it, often with their camera pre-set though), especially on modern cameras where the shutter and aperture settings are not as visible as on old cameras, and either require looking though the viewfinder or on a screen to set up, rather than twisting an aperture lens on the lens or a dial on top. To me, letting the camera take partial or full control of exposure allows me to concentrate on composition, which is something you can’t adjust in post processing, whereas exposure can be tweaked using levels and curves.

Bottom line is this – no-one has ever asked me what mode I used to take a photograph, or complimented me on not allowing the camera to make exposure decisions. No-one cares. They’re bothered about what the photo looks like, not the finer points of technique!

#188 – Royal Photographic Society Portfolio – part 5 statement of intent

For the ARPS and FRPS distinctions, a Statement Of Intent is required to be submitted with the panel. Basically this put the panel into context and sets the scene in the minds of the assessors. It’s not difficult to put together, but it does need some thinking about.

As a professional engineer, I am fascinated by the structures, processes and machinery of industry. However, my lifetime has seen huge changes in the industrial landscape with the skylines of the northern industrial towns rapidly changing to something unfamiliar.

The past ten years have seen a quickening of this transformation, with changes in the global economy meaning that many traditional industries have all but vanished. These workplaces, once the hub s of their communities, lie empty, stripped of their assets and smashed up by vandals and copper thieves. An uncertain future awaits the buildings and their former workers.

In the gap between closure and re-generation, I have been recording these landmarks before all traces of our industrial past are erased forever.

#186 – Runner Up

Time to blow my own trumpet again – after 5 years of entering, I have finally managed to place in the Brownedge Arts Festival, coming second with my Duke Of Lancaster photo! I also took two commendeds for Tornado and Dinorwic, thus giving a 100% record for my print entries! I’ve not seen the other entries this year, but the better ones are normally of a very good standard.

Interestingly enough I had high hopes for my entries last year, where I entered 5 prints that had all come first or second in camera club competitions as well as doing well in external competitions – and got nothing whatsoever.

So I collect my cheque for £100 next week at the opening ceremony, which I suppose covers the cost of entry, mountboard and paper, as well as the large canvas I had made of the image a while back!

They say good news comes in three’s, so following on from the RPS distinction, I feel I’m on a roll – better buy some lottery tickets I think!

#118 – only post this week!

As my baby daughter has just arrived, my priorities are currently elsewhere, so this will probably be my only post for a week or two. Back soon!!

Andy

#50 50th Post

OK, so it’s not that many, but it’s a milestone nonetheless! It’s about 6 months since I moved my blog to this one, and I’ve made more posts in that 6 months than in the previous 18 months, which isn’t bad going when you consider I spent 3 months on secondment with work at the other side of the country.

Plans for this year – err, well nothing specific, other than whatever I feel like writing about. Hopefully some stuff on creativity, and useful bits and bobs that I pick up on the way!

#48 Panasonic LX3 high dynamic mode part 2

Another day out, another test of the LX3. The above shot was taken on the beach at Southport (not sure what it is , but it’s old, iron and rusty, so is therefore interesting), with the high dynamic mode on. I then turned the camera into program mode and took another shot (below). The difference is noticeable.

What I don’t like though is the strange halo effect around the top of the pipe in high dynamic mode, and I’ve no idea how to get rid of it. This is something I’ve found before in this mode, and can also be seen when using the ‘Shadow and Highlights’ tool in Photoshop. I suppose the lesson here is that the High Dynamic mode is useful in certain circumstances, but I’d advise taking one in program mode as well, just in case!