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Latest contributions
Fri Mar 28 2025
The Packhorse bridge
Sat Mar 15 2025
On Hillfoot Bridge
Opposite Aldi,
The flytipped woods of Cuthbert Bank.
The parapets are still proud,
Elaborate iron spikes
That once held grand lamps,
To see through the industrial smog,
Flames powered directly from the gasholders,
Stoked by coal.
The gasworks are long gone
(Joe Cocker once worked there),
Along with the terraced houses
That trembled in their shadow,
Next to a pub with smart white walls,
Trams rumbled across the sturdy arches.
The Fairfield Arms rots now,
Tidemarks on its abandoned bar
From the flood nearly twenty years ago
That broke it open and sealed its fate.
The river was too much
For the three wide spans of the bridge,
The ancient mother goddess
Bursting her banks, into everyone’s lives.
Next to the dual carriageway
That smashed down houses and pubs
In its wake of progress,
Few see the wide river Don,
Meandering towards the city centre
In its deep, walled channel.
On the far bank, a strip of woodland,
Catkins, pussy willow and holly wears the crown
At the end of winter.
Otters secretly roam this river now;
The weir downstream has a fish ladder.
A precarious alder leans over the water
Creating a v-shape in reflection,
Defiance in nature.
Fri Mar 14 2025
Derelict ganister mine
The old mine site where ganister for making bricks was mined. Nature is now reclaiming the concrete structure
Fri Mar 14 2025
Storrs Bridge lane
Sign at the bottom of the lane, fly-tipping, a bag of broken asbestos and graffiti
Fri Mar 14 2025
Path besides Old Wheel Pond
A broken security sign on the fence around the derelict brickyard buildings. A rusty box abandoned by the millrace is the same colour as the water. There are signs of spring.
Fri Mar 14 2025
The Brick Graveyard
Bricks and pipes that couldn't be sold were dumped at the eastern end of the brickyard. They are surrounded by their plastic wrappers which have degraded and shredded. Other waste has been dumped on top of them.
Fri Mar 14 2025
Rowell Bridge Loxley valley
Rowell bridge facing East. Exposed riverbed beneath the bridge made up of stones plus bricks and pipes washed down from the brickyard
