My Home Area

[lupestripe]

Realising that there are some of you who may not know where I come from, I would like to share some pictures of my home area with you. Perhaps you could link to or post some pictures of your home towns on your LJs (or as a comment to this post) as I am interested to discover where you come from and what makes it famous.

The North of England is synonymous with heavy industry - from the cotton mills of the North-West to the coal mining in Yorkshire to the steel and shipbuilding of the North-East. I come from Middlesbrough, a town that was built on steel and the chemical industry. It is sadly in decline now but Teesside Steel built a lot of famous bridges - including the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Today, I visited nearby Redcar with my friend and then off to South Gare to take some pictures of the Corus Steel Plant that is threatened with closure. It is set to close down next month, ending a 150 year steel-making tradition in my area. You may not think chemical works take good photographs but in the sludgy greyness of the January sky, I think the pictures I obtained were pretty good, particularly as they were only on a 2 mega-pixel phone camera.

The chemical plant is on the south bank of the River Tees where it meets the North Sea. It was very windy being on this confluence but we saw a few hardy souls fishing. The wind whipped the waves into a frenzy yet simultaneously turned the water into a thick grey sludge. It was rather ominous looking - I don't think I have seen so many shades of grey as I have today. As the waves crashed against the rocks, spray shot up, threatening to sweep my friend and I out to sea. Perhaps being there was silly but we got some good shots.

We also saw a barge leaving Teesport and heading into the ocean. I am unsure as to what ship it was but it could be the one that takes all the sewage away and dumps it somewhere. I'm not sure about that though.

Anyway, the pictures are here - I think they are quite beautiful in their own special way. It would be great to see pics of your home town :-)

*Before that, I also had a Cornish pasty and a pork pie with loads of that lovely jelly in it from Petch's pies in Great Ayton - a small Yorkshire village about 20 minutes drive from where I live. Top quality locally produced food. Now I feel fat though.

My Home Area

Comments

[megadog.livejournal.com]

Truth be told, I always find big chemical plant, oil-refineries etc to be deeply appealing at a visual level. Moreso at night - flare-stacks and industrial illumination give such places a wonderful ambience. The big refineries along the Mersey around Runcorn and Ellesmere Port are wonderful. Sellafield-by-night is spectacular too!

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

I think the dusk light and the grey skies really added to the imposing presence of the factories. Completely agree about flare-stacks though, they give a futuristic feel which I love :)

[shep-shepherd.livejournal.com]

I'm in agreement with you, Dog. I always find Stanlow oil refinery at night particular ethereal, especially when driving past it listening to the OMD track of the same name :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

And me, and me. You're in agreement with me too :P

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Aww you love my town *wags* - it's a strange place but I see what you mean. It's one of schizophrenic contrasts.

[schnee.livejournal.com]

It would be great to see pics of your home town :-)

There's many, many in my photostream on Flickr. :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Cools, I'll try check them out :)

[moth-wingthane.livejournal.com]

I think my town could be famous for being the most boring town on the south coast? :D

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

What's the town? I am sure it's famous for something.

[moth-wingthane.livejournal.com]

Peacehaven :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Hmm, okay, I'd be lying if I say I'd heard of it. It's between Brighton and Eastbourne, which doesn't help. Ooh, it looks like you are on the meridian which is exciting. Even more exciting, Charles W Neville, your town's father, was born in Darlington, which is extremely close to where I live. You see, interesting :)

And as for famous - you defeated Southern Water in their plans to build a sewage works in the town in 1987. There you go :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

And I have been to Boscombe - believe me, Peacehaven is not the most boring town on the South Coast - it can't be :P

[fargowolf.livejournal.com]

Interesting pics. :)

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked hun - I was surprised at how well they turned out.

[fen-ra.livejournal.com]

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside, oh I do like to be beside the sea.

Seriously though, there's a subtle charm to those pictures that I can't put my finger on. I like it.

[lupestripe.livejournal.com]

It was very windswept and grey - I guess that was partly due to the weather but having a massive steelworks next door doesn't help. Still, kids come down to the beaches in the Summer, it's quite a popular place to come :)