Follow My Tracks

Taking advantage of a warm summers night I went to the local playground that La Porte was becoming. I picked my way across a different section of the waste grounds that surrond the tin structure, gazing in through some tumble-down, slate roof buildings, but I had come out to do some macro work and so didn’t want to wander too far in.

I enetered down the creaking, dusty steps of the refinery, the dust falling to the floor sounding like whispers from under the stairs. The inside was bathed in a golden afternoon light that gave the place a surreal dreamy feel, but one that could quickly turn to nightmare as the darkness flooded out from the corners as the sun retreated over the horizon.

I crept into a new part of the site that I had missed last time and side by side in two wire cages stood great metal beasts. Their small black eyes narrowed on me and they stood perfectly still though holes in the wire made it look as if they had grown arms and tried to force themselves free. I wanted to photograph them quick before they moved but my macro would not do them justice. I tip-toed away.

There are a lot of tiny details that are deserving of attention and tonight was just the tip of the iceberg.

TTFN

Sometimes it’s nice to stay close to home. Like the inhabitants of any city, it is very easy to overlook the gems on the doorstep in favour of more distant sites, the journey to which, influence our experience of the explore. The prolongd build up that comes from hours or days of driving, to a site gives them greater importance due to the effort applied in getting there, which is not to say that you will get in.

But on a warm, lazy Sunday, whilst nursing a hang over that lurked just behind my eyes, local was just what I needed. The site is tucked far away off the road that you wouldnt know it was there if you just drove past and it is a walk on. Recent stripping by travellers or chavs has led to parts of large machines now stripped naked and their inner cladding and workings are on show for all to see and whilst not pristine in nature, there is a lot of industrial beauty to be seen.

The site is not large and it is the little details that give it an edge that make it worth a trip or two. Inside the main building it was cool and any noise travels far. The wind rattles the tin roof and loose doors. Another group of explorers were there and we bumped into them. We trod carefully as recently there had been trouble inside where some explorers had met a group stripping out the metal and thought it best to leave, especially as one of them was reaching for his phone and eyeing up the camera equipment lustfully. Today there was no such trouble.

“The largest known deposit of mineral [Fuller's Earth] in the UK extends for some 9km between Redhill and Godstone. The western section has been extensively worked, but production at Redhill ceased in 1996. There are two further important deposits near Woburn in Bedfordshire and near Faringdon in Oxfordshire. Smaller reserves exist in West Sussex and Hampshire.”

The mineral was refined and processed and used in a variety of industrial and domestic products such as cat litter and old bags of various brands adourne the walls. Today the processing plant lies in neglected ruin, the giant tumblers that would have worked the raw extract into its fine dust lay still and clutters of spiders have woven great webs up and down their drive chains.

In all a quick visit but some great shots and greater potential. A return visit is a must.

TTFN

I had been told about Steetley by a few other UE people and decided that as I was up at The Farm for the weekend anyway that I would take the extra hours drive out to Hartlepool and have a look for myself.

The place was wide open and the day was beautiful. I haven’t seen such a stunning run of coastline that was so deserted. Steetley stands there, crumbling but generally unmoving as it is battered by the wind.

A long peer runs out to sea and off it men who once worked at the site now fish on the good days. Several attempts have been made to start to clear the site but the larger settling tanks, a chimney and a few shells of buildings remain.

The colour of the water in the tanks is an awesome shade of blue. It matches the sky that day and so I set about with my tripod to capture the site in HDR, a technique that was very new to me.

Here were the results:

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