Limestone Quarry, Beer, Devon.

[Intriguediow]

Dear Foxlady - thankyou, that sounds like an excellent source of information and I will look into it. I am in touch with other Pictor descendents, including in Bolivia and Canada amongst others, so can pass on some of this information to them.

 

[Foxylady]

Cheers, Intrigediow. However, it was Hayman who gave you the info about the book. I'm glad you enjoyed the post, though. It's a great place but sadly I never managed to go back for another visit. Going past on the bus a few years ago it looked as thought the office had been cleared from the site (the only bit visible through the main gate) but I don't know what's happened to the rest of the buildings. I have a photo of some very old graffiti in the opposite Quarry Caves, where the Pictor family worked, but the only thing you can make out on it is the date 1750. I'll put it in anyway, in case you can decipher something of it.

And, welcome to DP, btw. Nice to meet you.

Y'ere 'tis! I had a very bad camera day in there and as you can see, it's a really bad photo!

 

[Intriguediow]

Many thanks FoxLady - that's fascinating, and a bit of a mystery! I think I may have seen a TV programme a while back, with Michael Portillo visiting Beer Quarry....

 

[Hayman]

Cheers, Intrigediow. However, it was Hayman who gave you the info about the book. I'm glad you enjoyed the post, though. It's a great place but sadly I never managed to go back for another visit. Going past on the bus a few years ago it looked as thought the office had been cleared from the site (the only bit visible through the main gate) but I don't know what's happened to the rest of the buildings. I have a photo of some very old graffiti in the opposite Quarry Caves, where the Pictor family worked, but the only thing you can make out on it is the date 1750. I'll put it in anyway, in case you can decipher something of it.

And, welcome to DP, btw. Nice to meet you.

Y'ere 'tis! I had a very bad camera day in there and as you can see, it's a really bad photo!

View attachment 513460

Try putting a thin handkerchief or something similar over the flash aperture on the camera - to soften the beam. It may dull the bright spot produced when taking close-up pics.

 

[Foxylady]

Try putting a thin handkerchief or something similar over the flash aperture on the camera - to soften the beam. It may dull the bright spot produced when taking close-up pics.

It's a good idea but I don't have flash on my camera; everything's taken in natural light. Unfortunately it was almost pitch black in there, lol. The spotlight was from a torch. Not easy to do when you have to hold the camera still for very long exposures at the same time. I should have taken a tripod but my camera is so good with low lighting that I didn't think to do that.

 

[Hayman]

It's a good idea but I don't have flash on my camera; everything's taken in natural light. Unfortunately it was almost pitch black in there, lol. The spotlight was from a torch. Not easy to do when you have to hold the camera still for very long exposures at the same time. I should have taken a tripod but my camera is so good with low lighting that I didn't think to do that.

Sorry - I thought the bright spot was the flash from the camera. The same method works with a torch: soften the beam and spread the light. Also try not to point the torch straight at the wall; at around 45 degrees the light will be spread over a larger area. Do have a mini-tripod, the sort that is about six inches long? For decades I have had one that contains an internal section that can be unscrewed, and then rescrewed with the three small feet locked in place for use. It can be placed against any surface. The head with the screw to hold the camera swivels to be locked at any angle. I've used it on all manner of cameras. Today there are plenty of mini-tripods to choose from.

 

[Foxylady]

Yes, that's a good idea, Hayman. Definitely worth looking into. I rarely take my big tripod out, although I've found it very useful for beating down brambles and nettles and for holding down barbed wire to climb over. Otherwise it's a pain having to carry it (I don't drive so I bus and walk everywhere). A small one would be ideal to go in my backpack. Something I do with a torch when I have a free hand is to move it around to spread the light when taking with long exposures, but again, it's something I rarely need in most explores.

 

[Intriguediow]

I've been to Box many times. I was there this morning and talking with someone who used to work in one of the quarries in the area. Derek Hawkins's Bath Stone Quarries book is an excellent record of the quarries in that part of Wiltshire and further afield. It is filled with page after page of photographs. And the name Pictor occurs again and again.

Many thanks for this Hayman - I will definitely look out for the book! Chris

 

[Hayman]

Yes, that's a good idea, Hayman. Definitely worth looking into. I rarely take my big tripod out, although I've found it very useful for beating down brambles and nettles and for holding down barbed wire to climb over. Otherwise it's a pain having to carry it (I don't drive so I bus and walk everywhere). A small one would be ideal to go in my backpack. Something I do with a torch when I have a free hand is to move it around to spread the light when taking with long exposures, but again, it's something I rarely need in most explores.

I'm pleased you have discovered the method of using a time exposure and sweeping an area with a torch to illuminate the whole subject. I've done that myself.

 

[Hayman]

Many thanks for this Hayman - I will definitely look out for the book! Chris

A pleasure. There is also his book on the underground military installations past and present in the area. And it is still possible to walk most of the length of the underground conveyor tunnel at Monkton Farleigh.