P h o t o B l o g

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Industrial Zone


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"I" is for "Industrial Zone" and today's photo shows part of the industrial area that stretches along Ashton's southern fringe.

In case any followers of this blog have been getting the impression that Ashton is an idyllic location where the sun always shines and everything is green grass, heather moorlands, historic buildings and delightful flower beds, then I'm sorry to disillusion you, but Ashton has its less pretty industrial areas, like most places.

Although Ashton was originally a small market town for the surrounding rural areas, it grew into a large town with the development of coal mining and the cotton spinning industry in the area, with most of the mills being concentrated along the southern edge of the town, alongside the canal and river.

Most of Ashton's cotton mills have now gone but those that remain have been converted to other uses. The mill on the left is Oxford Street Mill, which was formerly called Duncan Mill and built in 1860. It is now home to Hawke International, manufacturers of such things as cable glands.

In the distance is the large Oxford Mills complex dating from 1845. The canal is the Ashton Canal that runs to Manchester, built in 1792.

See Birds Eye View of this location, which shows very well th eband of industry that follows the canal.

"Industrial Zone" is a contribution to ABC Wednesday. For more "I" posts from around the world please follow this link.

9 comments:

  1. It has a bit of color with all the stuff sitting around in the lot.

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  2. love it,
    it reminds me of my residence back in hometown.

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  3. I confess I wouldn't have thought of "industrial zone" for the letter "i" and yet most places have them. I drove through ours yesterday. Medicine Hat also has a "light industrial area" and everyone refers to it by that name, as easily as they say "Southridge" or "Riverview" and no one thinks of it as a negative name. Come to think of it, if it weren't for industry of one sort or another, the nice residential areas and subdivisions might not exist. Sure, if it weren't for the coal industry in Britain, would the "I"ndustrial Revolution have happened? Perhaps not.
    Kay
    Alberta, Canada

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  4. I guess every town and city have their less beautiful area but you have shown this in a lovely way and incorporated a great word for the letter I.

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  5. We all have our less idyllic zones. Thanks for sharing yours. Reminds me a lot of the areas in NE that were once mill towns and now have new identities. Nicely done I.

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  6. How interesting! I like the history

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  7. interestingly plesant, tho hardly beautiful

    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  8. I love old industrial buildings, especially red brick buildings - they have a beauty of their own.

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  9. Yup, plenty of industrialization in your region.

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