COME TO SALTHOLME
Dear Neale,
I've recently discovered the Photography Daily podcast and have really appreciated it. It's a pleasure to find proper discussion on photography that doesn't focus exclusively on gear reviews. The high production quality really helps too. I'm looking forward to catching up on the back catalogue and hearing new episodes as they appear. Thank you for putting in the time and effort to produce the show.
In the last episode I listened to, you mentioned that listeners could submit projects. I thought I'd give it a go! I've put a description below but in brief this relates to a nature reserve near where my sister lives. She's been telling me to visit it for a while now and I finally got around to it last Christmas. It's a phenomenal place where heavy industry sits alongside a nature reserve in North Yorkshire. I don't think I've ever seen anywhere quite like it. The oil rig has gone now, though I think it has been replaced with another one since. I don't think I've ever seen something so surreal as an oil rig standing inland.
I've attached some pictures and hope they're of interest. There's a bit more of a description of the project below. I hope to continue it once things have calmed down with Covid19.
All the best and keep up the good work!
Simon Hailstone
SALTHOLME
In 2005, a thousand acres of land in Saltholme were handed over for use as a nature reserve.
Set in the Teesmouth estuary, the area is home to wild birds and seals as well as horses, cattle and sheep. This area consists of a sprawling flat landscape, historically used for salt production. However, it is also known for being surrounded by heavy industry, creating a jarring environment of pipelines and nature which seems to symbolise our interaction with the world.
Recently the area has seen the opening of a new ten mile section of the England Coastal Path as well as being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The presence of birds and seals makes the area popular with bird watchers and tourists. Dog walkers come in droves to wander along the beaches and golfers play a round on the Seaton Carew golf course nestled among the dunes. A bustling community drawn to this interplay of wetland and metallic structures. An area where, for now at least, nature is managing to push back a little against human expansion.
Our relationship with nature is changing and Salthome is perhaps a microcosm of this transition. The huge Brent Bravo oil rig looms on the horizon, decommissioned and transported from the North Sea oil fields, then dragged ashore for recycling. The hulking, rusted monolith is being slowly dismantled. A part of our petrochemical heritage has been reduced to scrap metal. Nearby stands the unremarkable looking Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, from which ominous sirens echo across the coastline. It will continue supplying electricity for many years to come. But off the coast stand the wind turbines, spinning effortlessly it seems. A brighter sign of a cleaner and renewable future.
Pictures: Simon Hailstorm