Peak Alum Works, a photo from North Yorkshire, England

Photographer's Note

This was taken on the same day as all the Robin Hood’s Bay shots. We had driven to Ravenscar about 10 miles north of Scarborough and then walked along the old disused railway line and back along the cliffs. We came across the ruins of the Peak Alum Works. It was a bit disconcerting to see a notice telling us to take care, as the ruins were home to a colony of adders; we didn’t see any.
It was quite a big works for its time, employing about 150 men. Alum production took place here from 1650 to 1860. It was situated here, as behind in the hillside, is where the alum shale was quarried. I have put a view facing the other way in the WS.
Alum is a crystal, containing aluminium sulphate. It was ground into “flour” to be used as a fixing agent in the textile dyeing industry and as a preservative for tanning leather.
In the 17th and 18th centuries there were over 30 alum producing sites in North Yorkshire; Britain’s first chemical industry. By 1780 5,000 tons of alum were being produced; 10% of that at these works here. A by-product of alum production was Epsom salts used in medicines.

carper, nwoehnl, Vicky, rhizomes, DLM, Cliffy, john_c, Tue, singuanti, sarju, huynt, Paolo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

carper (96) 2005-10-02 5:49

nice shot Kath,
yes I like the shot, the lines of the stones, the colours and the depth with the sea, very good details, nice job,
gr. Jaap

nwoehnl (122) 2005-10-02 6:51

Hi Kath. In addition to the ruins making an interesting subject in the foreground, I would like to say that this photo really stands out from a technical perspective - the sharpness is amazing without looking overdone, the colors are well saturated, and the depth is very good too - all the way to the horizon and the boat moving out on the sea. Good shot.

danyy (0) 2005-10-02 7:03

Bonjour Kath,
couleurs bien capturées, intenses, dans des lumières pas trop violentes et des contrastes bien marqués.
Décidément un pays où il y a beaucoup de choses à voir et pas trop inondé de touristes.
Un bon dimanche à toi.
Daniel.

rhizomes (15343) 2005-10-02 7:22

Hi Kath,
Very nice picture ! I like the light and the composition of your pictrue !
Thank you for your note too !
Christophe

Vicky (1442) 2005-10-02 7:23

Very well composed shot, Kath, the ruins showing good clarity and detail, and your well chosen PoV has managed to include the whole structure. I do like seeing pictures depicting our English history. The colours are good too and the inclusion of the ship in the distance adds further interest.
Very well taken.
(You have a great gallery. Gonna spend some time looking at your pics!) TFS.
Kind regards, Vicky

PixelTerror (0) 2005-10-02 9:53

Hi Kath,
I like here your Pov allowing the wall remains to build criss crossing diagonals, the pleasant colors helped by the fine English weather (!) add to the attractivity of this view.
Have a nice sunday,
Jean-Yves

DLM (6479) 2005-10-02 9:59

Hi Kath you certainly do go through some shoe leather to consistantly find these wonderful places,well done .
Dave.

Cliffy (590) 2005-10-02 10:18

I wish I had known about this place when I was up in the area working earlier this year,although there is not a lot of the ruins the angle of shot looks good and the distant sea adds a little extra to the overall shot.

Galmeida (12559) 2005-10-02 11:15

Hello Kath
You are posting in a daily fast TE picture. I like vey much your excelent work and this one is particular simple with a excelent enquadrement and quality capture. Great colors, perspective, levels of elements for composition and a simple historical ruins with a great effective result quality picture.

Very well seen, eye catch and production insight.
Congratulations.

Fernando

john_c (24662) 2005-10-02 12:15

Hi Kath,
A well composed shot rendered with good colour, clarity and contrast. I like your POV here and how you have allowed an enhancing sliver of sea and then an equal portion of sky. The detail of the stone work is impressive. What for many might be a rather dull scene, you have created a most interesting shot, with the rich green hue of the grass, the light coloured stonework, and the shadows on the hillock. Well captured.
John

Graal (88886) 2005-10-02 13:52

Hi Kath,
interesting ruins, good note. I like the sharpness and colours. Good job.
Rgs, Aleksander

Stepan (27210) 2005-10-02 14:39

The colors are really pure : the green and the blue !
The sharpness is perfect and the frame effective.
Well composed.
Stéphane

Tue (25798) 2005-10-02 18:58

Hej Kath,
Very nice picture of these ruins. I like the composition and the sea in the background. You also had a fine lighting, well done.
Hilsner,
Lars

singuanti (15250) 2005-10-02 19:54

Hi Kath. Nice job with the framing of the ruins and working it into the rest of the landscape. For me it's the water in the background that makes the shot so nice. The low-shooting angle also helps. Good work Kath!

sarju (5324) 2005-10-02 20:49

Hi Kath
Put in simple words ... I just love the portrayal of the landscape so rich in culture and what a pretty day to go for hike .... my memories from England are all clouded ... lols ..... I used to think that Canada has a crappy unpredictable weather ... but my trip to England changed the conception (In canada we do know how the next 24 hours are going to be, but in England you can experience four seasons in one day) ....
thanks for sharing this photo ... cheers ... sarju

huynt (5079) 2005-10-03 1:23

Hi Kathy
I love this ruins stones. Very nice shot. Well composition. Good note too. Thanks

Paolo (41216) 2005-10-03 6:08

Hi Kath, good image on that ruins.
the thing that more i like is the color!
that wonderful green that have a nice contrast with the blue sea.
good POV and quality.
thanks for the note.
ciao

bazal (7900) 2005-10-13 4:00

Hi Kath.
Very nice composition with a good choice in the POV. The perpective on the ruins is nice and offers interesting diagonals. Very nice light and optimal colors and contrast. Interesting note. Thanks for sharing !