mr_bones
Gormless Moderator
South Wales day of coal.
Our day started very early, and after a strong coffee Reaperman and I hit the road at 5.45am!
Our main goal was to see Cwm Coke Works in south Wales, a site which Reaperman had mentioned on several occasions as being a great example of heavy industry on a large scale.
We arrived at our meeting point just before 10am, where Jaff Fox and Havoc had just arrived.
It was a group decision to look at Penalta Colliery first, it was nearby and had already undergone some conversion works.
We started with the bath house, where most of my shots were taken on film (not developed yet). We made our way round the site and past the headstocks to the winding house - it had been stripped of the winders and left a huge empty building - on our way out, Havoc and Reaperman went for a little climb!
A little later than planned, we were back at Cwm and I couldn't wait to get in - especially after seeing the whole site from the top of the hill. We made our way onto the site and were dwarfed by acres of pipes, machinery, chimneys and and ovens.
Reaperman led us into the base of one of the two coal 'batteries' where the adventure would begin.
image from Wikipedia of what these 'batteries' would have looked like while in use (at a different coke works): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coke_Ovens_Abercwmboi.jpg
Krela's avatar
We made our way round the site, including the top of the ovens with Reaperman explaining each of the processes that would have taken place during production of coke.
The second part of our tour was going to lead us into the area of the plant which recovered and processed by-products such as bitumen and gas.
We had a brief scare when we saw others on site, who had obviously spotted us but luckily it turned out to be 'UKMayhem' and another explorer. We carried on to 'by-product recovery'
The final part of our tour was an ambitious climb to the top of the central coal silo - it was tough going for someone who is scared of heights. We had to find our way out to the base of the 2 part conveyor, get inside and walk up a steep set of steps - much of the cladding was missing and there were constant reminders of how high we were climbing. Reaperman and Jaff finally dragged me up, and it was worth it for the view alone. Breathtaking.
We made our way out, all of us were knackered - it was time to head home.
Arrived back at 11.40pm!
Our day started very early, and after a strong coffee Reaperman and I hit the road at 5.45am!
Our main goal was to see Cwm Coke Works in south Wales, a site which Reaperman had mentioned on several occasions as being a great example of heavy industry on a large scale.
We arrived at our meeting point just before 10am, where Jaff Fox and Havoc had just arrived.
It was a group decision to look at Penalta Colliery first, it was nearby and had already undergone some conversion works.
We started with the bath house, where most of my shots were taken on film (not developed yet). We made our way round the site and past the headstocks to the winding house - it had been stripped of the winders and left a huge empty building - on our way out, Havoc and Reaperman went for a little climb!
A little later than planned, we were back at Cwm and I couldn't wait to get in - especially after seeing the whole site from the top of the hill. We made our way onto the site and were dwarfed by acres of pipes, machinery, chimneys and and ovens.
Reaperman led us into the base of one of the two coal 'batteries' where the adventure would begin.
image from Wikipedia of what these 'batteries' would have looked like while in use (at a different coke works): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coke_Ovens_Abercwmboi.jpg
Krela's avatar
We made our way round the site, including the top of the ovens with Reaperman explaining each of the processes that would have taken place during production of coke.
The second part of our tour was going to lead us into the area of the plant which recovered and processed by-products such as bitumen and gas.
We had a brief scare when we saw others on site, who had obviously spotted us but luckily it turned out to be 'UKMayhem' and another explorer. We carried on to 'by-product recovery'
The final part of our tour was an ambitious climb to the top of the central coal silo - it was tough going for someone who is scared of heights. We had to find our way out to the base of the 2 part conveyor, get inside and walk up a steep set of steps - much of the cladding was missing and there were constant reminders of how high we were climbing. Reaperman and Jaff finally dragged me up, and it was worth it for the view alone. Breathtaking.
We made our way out, all of us were knackered - it was time to head home.
Arrived back at 11.40pm!