The disused railway bridge

January 6, 2024 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Not far from where I live there are lots of remnants of the coal mining that was once a major industry in the area. Some of these are gradually becoming subsumed into the landscape, but some are more apparent such as the bridge seen in today’s pictures.

I went out on this day with the hope of getting some autumnal colours lit by the setting sun, but as I walked the sun dipped behind a bank of cloud on the western horizon and the bright glow disappeared. I thought about heading back home but, having been caught out in the past by a sudden resurgence of good light when it was too late to take advantage, I decided to wait a little longer.

After a while the sun descended below the cloud and cast some dim but pleasant light across the scene – enough to cast shadows from the bridge’s ironwork. I didn’t hold any great expectation for the photos, but I was pretty happy when I saw the scans emerge. The colour is more subtle than it might have been had the sun been un obscured, but the warm tones work really well, I think.

Canon Sure Shot Z135 & Kodak Gold. Lab developed. Home scanned and converted using Negative Lab Pro.

Taken 5 November 2023.

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Derelict

October 20, 2022 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

I came across this building while wandering. I’ve no idea what it was used for in the past although, as it’s in the midst of some sizeable caravan sites, it might have been a club or something similar. It’s considerably overgrown with shrubs at the front now.

The Velvia blue skies make it look kinda nice though, despite its disuse.

Nikon F80, Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 D & Fukichrome Velvia 50 (expired 2011). Lab developed & home scanned.

Taken on 17 September 2022

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

The same bridge thrice

March 3, 2021 fishyfisharcade1 Comment

Don’t worry, I’m not going to compare three almost identical photos of the same bridge today. Instead, it’s the same bridge but photographed from the footpath that runs beneath. The sun kept peeking out from behind the clouds so I timed the shot for when the bridge supports were catching some extra light and I think it’s lent the picture a nice three-dimensionality.

Above the river
Girders of steel support
The ghost of rail tracks

Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford Delta 400. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 8mins @ 20°.

Taken on 12 February 2021

Film photography · Medium Format · Photography

Below and besides an old bridge

February 17, 2021February 17, 2021 fishyfisharcadeLeave a comment

Part of the network of disused and dismantled railway lines that used to run where the Trans Pennine Trail and Rother Valley now reside. This metal bridge is derelict with much of it’s bed missing and it’s brickwork coated with graffiti. It makes for interesting photographs though.

I’m unsure of when it was constructed but it appears to have been after 1910 and before 1945 from examining old maps of the area. While I suspect that, from an environmental angle, it left something to be desired, I expect it would have been an impressive and dramatic sight to behold steam locomotives about their business in the area.

Steam locomotives
Steam and smoke filling the air
Passed this way before

Yashica Mat 124G & Ilford HP5+. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 1 February 2021

35mm · Film photography · Photography

Abandoned bridge

April 20, 2020April 20, 2020 fishyfisharcade10 Comments

The area close to where I live was once occupied by coal mining. The local colliery – Brookhouse Colliery – closed for good in 1985. While the colliery land has been re-purposed in the intervening years – much of it as a country park with large lakes where opencast workings once were – there is still plentiful evidence for it’s industrial past.

In the area around the Trans-Pennine trail there is a network of railway lines, one still active for passenger and goods use, but the others now disused with the tracks and the other equipment removed. Their presence can be felt in the various cuttings and bridges that still remain though.

Today’s images are of one of the surviving bridges – this one crossing the River Rother. Once, while exploring the surrounding area, I found myself atop this bridge and walked its length – a process that became significantly hastier when I noticed holes in the metal beneath my feet! I’ve not been atop the bridge since then, but there is a footpath that runs beneath it beside the river, which is where these were taken.

Canon Sure Shot Telemax & Ilford Delta 400 – Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins

Taken on 4 April 2020