Wednesday, March 26, 2014

The Patch :: the search for Dilapidated

Autostitch panorama of South Walkerville
I had been searching for something different for this week’s The Patch theme, Architecture - Dilapidated Structures. Something industrial maybe but all the factory lots I checked out where looking well used, in spite of the current gloomy news for manufacturing in the state! Then I though of mining structures and there are a lot of abandon mine working dating back to the goldrush, but most are now tourist resorts and thus cared for and maintained. I remembered the old Limestone Kilns at Walkerville, so I made a special effort to get there are dawn on Tuesday (Last day for posting this theme). the sunrise was very brief but worth a photo, however I had forgotten to check the tides and there was no beach access and it was overcast to boot, not very favourable for capturing the images I’d planned so I walk around the bay a bit looking for a good vantage point. I figuring I’d need to wait a few hours (which I couldn’t) for the tide to recede enough, either that or enter the surf with my camera!
IMGP6741 IMGP6857 IMGP6884
2014-03-25I was up on the edge of the kilns trying out a HDR with my android phone when the sun came out for a briefest instant and lit just the areas of the kiln below me. It was one of those fleeting moments, I only just managed the lift my Pentax get a bit closer to the edge of the cliff, compose the picture and click, then the sun disappeared.

IMGP6913
The Limestone Kilns where in service from the late 1870s to early 1920. Most of the lime for mortar to build the new Victorian Colony come from here. A small township of miners and workers from Cornwall lived here and much loved the place by all accounts. The style of the kilns is very functional and made good use of the cliff face and gravity (typical of Cornish Mining Buildings back in the UK.)

No comments:

Post a Comment