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Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,@HotpixUK,HotpixUK,255A0004,Wanted A Living Wage,wanted,living,wage,miner,poster,helmet,hard hat,trade,union,workers,rights,pay,labour,protest,campaign,Britain,UK,mining,industrial,relations,politics,graphic,heritage,working,class,fair,illustration,employment,solidarity,socialism,unions,NUM,mineworkers,mine,protests,1970s,1980s,miners,lamp,pit,treated,fairly
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 3F4BG7B - . Wanted A Living Wage poster showing a miner's face and helmet, photographed in Britain. Photographed on 25 July 2026. The recorded location is Britain, UK. The design evokes labour movement graphics and campaigns for fair pay, decent wages and workers' rights. Suitable for editorial use on trade unions, mining heritage, wage campaigns, industrial relations, labour politics, protest posters and British working-class history. The high-contrast black, white and red design gives the image strong visual impact. Within the history of engineering history, industrial heritage links architecture and machinery with the people who worked in mines, potteries, foundries and factories
As production declined or modernised, many sites were demolished, adapted or preserved as museums and regeneration projects. In relation to workers rights, historical context shows that trade-union shirts, banners and slogans preserve the language of labour disputes and workplace organisation
Dock work in particular was transformed by containerisation, casualisation debates and changing employment structures. For the story of activism, it is useful to note that public campaigning forms part of democratic culture, documenting how people express support, opposition and identity outside formal institutions
Temporary signs and banners are especially useful historical evidence because they often disappear immediately after an election or referendum. Against the 2026 backdrop for engineering history, former industrial sites continue to be repurposed for housing, offices and cultural attractions
Historic machinery and surviving fabric therefore illustrate both deindustrialisation and current debates about adaptive reuse, local identity and heritage-led regeneration. As of 2026, the position for workers rights is that trade unions remain important actors in disputes over pay, restructuring and employment rights, while historic campaigns are revisited as part of local and labour history.
Britain, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,canals,boat,barge,narrowboat,waterway,transport,Vale of Llangollen,Trevor,Llangollen,Wales,UK,Vale of Llangollen Canal,canal,track,railway,art,work,artwork,from,stone,beside,the,and,cast,iron,metal,mine,working,waggon,rail,tracks,chain,chains,Cymru
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JRAHWW - . Recorded at Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP in 2022, the image fixes a recognisable subject and its environment at one point in time, giving later viewers a reliable basis for comparison. The photograph centres on Art work from stone and cast iron mine working waggon and rails, Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP. The wider scene also brings together rail corridor, inland transport history, canal heritage, industrial stock-photo/gotonysmith-Waterway.html?sortBy=relevant&pseudoid=237DAF28-A4ED-4448-8173-C0E81ABEEC6F Target=_Blank>waterway history, documentary photography, local history, trackside history, waterway conservation, rail transport history, working railway heritage, signal-box architecture, social history, changing land use, and before-and-after reference. The wider contemporary story combines waterway maintenance, biodiversity and how museum collections preserve working waterway history. Viewed from the mid-2020s, the subject also connects with signalling technology, decarbonisation and how Crewe's identity remains tied to railway engineering and operations. The image fixes commercial use and occupation within Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP at one identifiable point, providing a benchmark against changing commercial priorities. The location also brings in community identity, heritage boating, place identity, period detail, boat museum collection, public realm, historic rolling stock, and freight wagon. The combination of Trevor, stone, rails, Llangollen, and Wales anchors the frame to a recognisable activity, place or moment. The wider setting at Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP matters because ordinary visual details often provide the strongest evidence of how a place actually looked and functioned. The wider significance includes waterway maintenance and the value of canals as both historic infrastructure and blue-green corridors within the specific setting of Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP.
Vale of Llangollen, Trevor, Llangollen, Wales, UK, LL20 7TP
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,Hotpixuk,@Hotpixuk,welsh,Wales,NP4,Blaenafon,Torfaen,South Wales,Cymru,UK,NP4 9XP,orange,black,jackets,logo,coal,mine,surface,hanging,up,at,head,of,worker,job,jobs,working,production,Ponty,surveyors,seam,underground,PAIR,Precautions Against Inrushes,regulations,regulation,safety,hotpix.org.uk
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAGDAF - . Photographed at Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP in 2022, this detailed editorial image records the subject within its real surroundings and preserves a specific stage in the life of the location. The subject captured here is NCB national Coal Board Surveyor orange jacket, hanging up at head of a coil mine, colliery, South Wales, UK. A broader reading of the photograph includes period detail, industrial transport, engineering history, contemporary social history, visual archive, public realm, historical comparison, everyday life, regional identity, manufacturing heritage, industrial archaeology, labour history, former production site, and social history. From a 2025-onward perspective, embodied carbon and brownfield redevelopment are closely linked to this subject, alongside the reuse of former industrial land and buildings. For later comparison, the photograph preserves local activity and public use at Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP, details that may look very different after replacement signage. The photograph additionally reflects archival record, heavy-industry heritage, historic freight equipment, changing land use, changing streetscape, documentary photography, production infrastructure, and manufacturing landscape. Details involving hanging, Board, Wales, orange, and national make the image more specific than a generic view and strengthen its local or historical value. By fixing the subject within Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP, the image preserves more than the headline object or building: it records part of the locality's everyday history. The setting also helps illustrate embodied carbon and the reuse of former industrial land and buildings within the specific setting of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP. Image 2JAGDAF also remains a dated record of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP.
Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,Hotpixuk,@Hotpixuk,welsh,Wales,NP4,Blaenafon,Torfaen,Pontypool,South Wales,Cymru,UK,NP4 9XP,miners,mine,services,NCB,south,Yorkshire,mining,colliery,nationalised,coal,shirt,safety,team,safe,mines,ltd,limited,emergency,emergencies,rescues,proud,pride,saving,lives,life,of,flood
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAGDAH - Mine rescue or mines rescue is the specialised job of rescuing miners and others who have become trapped or injured in underground mines because of mining accidents, roof falls or floods and disasters such as explosions.
Altofts Colliery manager, W.E. Garforth suggested using a gallery to test rescue apparatus and train rescuers in 1899 and one was built at his pit in Altofts West Yorkshire. It cost £13,000. He also suggested the idea of a network of rescue stations. The first British mines rescue station opened at Tankersley in 1902. It was commissioned by the West Yorkshire Coal Mine Owners Association.[8] Its building is grade II listed.
In the United Kingdom a series of disasters in the 19th century brought about Royal Commissions which developed the idea of improving mine safety. The commissions influenced the Coal Mines Act of 1911 which made the provision of rescue stations compulsory. By 1919 there were 43 stations in the UK but as the coal industry declined from the last quarter of the 20th century many were closed, leaving six as of 2013, at Crossgates in Fife, Houghton-le-Spring in Tyne and Wear, Kellingley at Beal in North Yorkshire, Rawdon in Derbyshire, Dinas at Tonypandy in Glamorgan and at Mansfield Woodhouse in Nottinghamshire. The MRS Training centre at Houghton-le-Spring opened in 1913 is one of the six surviving British rescue stations which are operated by MRS Training and Rescue. It is a Grade II listed building.
Mines rescue featured in the 1952 film The Brave Don't Cry which was a testimony to the Knockshinnoch disaster. Mine rescuers have often been recognised in Britain by the award of gallantry medals.
In Britain, mines rescue teams may be called to investigate holes in the ground that have appeared because of land surface subsidence into old mineshafts and mine workings
Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,Hotpixuk,@Hotpixuk,welsh,Wales,NP4,Blaenafon,Torfaen,Pontypool,Cymru,UK,NP4 9XP,instruction,red,yellow,copper disks,disk,disc,south,western,division,for,men,miners,mine,going,underground,system,process,hang copper disc round your neck and retain it all,times,BW,monochrome,colliery,safety,safe,working,mining
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAGDAK - . This authentic period view of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP in 2022 preserves the main subject alongside smaller contextual details that can acquire greater historical value as places and uses change. At the centre of the view is Old authorisation Discs for Men going underground - instruction envelopes, emergency organisation. The subject also carries associations with changing streetscape, social landscape, community identity, street-level documentary, city-centre activity, visual archive, local story.htm Target=_Blank>history, urban social history, local character, social history, before-and-after reference, place identity, period detail, and community life. From a 2025-onward perspective, footfall and commercial change are closely linked to this subject, alongside the documentary importance of recording everyday urban environments. Future viewers can use this scene from Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP to compare equipment and working practice with whatever follows after altered transport patterns. Other useful contextual ideas include public realm, documentary photography, regional identity, contemporary city life, contemporary social history, archival record, everyday street life, and everyday life. The recorded references to organisation, going, authorisation, envelopes, and Discs preserve clues about how the subject was presented, used or understood at the time. A later view of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP may show a very different setting, increasing the value of this precise record of its earlier appearance and activity. The wider significance includes footfall and the documentary importance of recording everyday urban environments as part of the longer story of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP. The view records period character as part of Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP's history.
Blaenafon, Torfaen, Pontypool, South Wales, Cymru, UK, , NP4 9XP
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,Wales,UK,south,pit,coal,mine,the,Blaenavon,Co,Ltd,rail,No5,Pontypool,at,No,5,Monmouthshire,cargo,waggon,waggons,truck,trucks,freight,heritage,history,transport,coal board,loco,locomotive,locomotives,rusty,rusting,403,slagheap,slag heap,Cymru
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAXT4Y - . Made at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK in 2022, this photograph records a real place and moment, preserving details that may later be altered by redevelopment, rebranding, changing ownership or different public use. The defining feature is The Blaenavon Co Ltd green steam engine, Nora No5 Tirpentwys, Pontypool, at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK. The broader subject matter reaches into trackside history, public transport network, labour history, industrial archaeology, historic freight equipment, passenger railway, industrial railway heritage, industrial material culture, historical comparison, documentary photography, rail corridor, local character, changing land use, and manufacturing landscape. Current relevance extends to accessibility and rail reform, particularly through how historic rolling stock documents the industrial railway. In present-day coverage, the subject reaches into industrial tourism and industrial conservation, not least because of how surviving industrial objects become evidence of vanished working practices. The archival value lies partly in recording building condition and alterations around Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK before closure or conversion alters the character of the place. The location also brings in contemporary social history, engineering history, local history, archival record, station environment, regional rail, rail infrastructure, and industrial artefact. References to green, Pontypool, Blaenavon, engine, and Torfaen give the picture a strong period identity and tie it closely to its named subject. Around Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK, apparently routine details can become historically useful once businesses close, buildings change use or familiar features disappear. Its period value extends to accessibility and the continuing importance of rail to regional connectivity when considered against later change at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK.
Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,coal board,equipment,technical,Cymru,miners,mine,worker,safety,device,precaution,south,welsh,NCB,national,Coal Board,coal,mining,kit,NUM,first,carbon monoxide,mouthpiece,life-saving,Blaenavon,Torfaen,Wales,UK,rescue,respirator,bet,item,items,case,cases,protector,hotpix.org.uk
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAXT5W - . This location-specific image from Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK in 2022 provides a visual record of the subject in everyday context, useful for both contemporary editorial work and later historical comparison. The defining feature is MSA, Miners Self-rescue Respirator ,W265, at a south Wales pit. Other connected aspects include healthcare provision, changing streetscape, factory heritage, labour history, health infrastructure, historic freight equipment, community healthcare, community identity, industrial material culture, working-industry history, clinical environment, NHS estate, changing land use, and regional identity. Viewed from the mid-2020s, the subject also connects with care demand, patient access and the connection between building investment and service quality. The modern context includes continuing discussion of industrial conservation, manufacturing decline and the growing value of industrial heritage for tourism and local identity. As a dated visual record of Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK, the frame retains transport arrangements and footfall, making it especially useful if altered transport patterns subsequently changes the scene. Further associations within the scene are visual archive, period detail, place identity, manufacturing heritage, industrial archaeology, before-and-after reference, contemporary social history, and clinical services. The combination of Self-rescue, Wales, Miners, and Respirator anchors the frame to a recognisable activity, place or moment. Around Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK, apparently routine details can become historically useful once businesses close, buildings change use or familiar features disappear. The scene further reflects care demand and the connection between building investment and service quality within the real-world context of Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK. It also preserves a trace of local identity for future local research.
Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,coal board,equipment,technical,Cymru,miners,mine,worker,safety,device,precaution,south,welsh,NCB,national,Coal Board,coal,mining,kit,NUM,first,carbon monoxide,mouthpiece,life-saving,Blaenavon,Torfaen,Wales,UK,rescue,respirator,bet,item,items,case,cases,protector
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAXT82 - . Recorded at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK in 2022, the image fixes a recognisable subject and its environment at one point in time, giving later viewers a reliable basis for comparison. The image documents MSA, Miners Self-rescue Respirator ,W265, at a south Wales pit. The setting additionally reflects engineering history, manufacturing landscape, care provision, changing streetscape, social history, healthcare workforce, regional identity, hospital estate, historic freight equipment, local character, documentary photography, everyday life, health-service capacity, and production infrastructure. The modern context includes continuing discussion of social-care staffing, hospital capacity and the connection between building investment and service quality. For current editorial use, industrial tourism and industrial conservation provide additional context, especially through the growing value of industrial heritage for tourism and local identity. The image fixes equipment and working practice within Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK at one identifiable point, providing a benchmark against changed technology. The wider setting retains connections with heavy-industry heritage, industrial archaeology, before-and-after reference, clinical services, industrial artefact, place identity, contemporary social history, and NHS estate. The combination of Miners, Respirator, Self-rescue, and Wales anchors the frame to a recognisable activity, place or moment. The period setting at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK helps place the main subject within real social and physical surroundings rather than isolating it as an abstract object. A further contemporary connection is social-care staffing and how ageing populations increase demand for care facilities when considered against later change at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK. The photograph keeps a point of historical comparison for future local research.
Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,coal board,equipment,technical,Oldham,Miner,charger,mine,Blaenavon,Torfaen,Wales,UK,south,control,meter,meters,lead,acid,power,mining,lamp,lamps,battery,ammeter,pit,room,working,Cymru,lead acid,charging,batteries,cell,cells,traditional
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JAXT8W - . Recorded at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK in 2022, the image fixes a recognisable subject and its environment at one point in time, giving later viewers a reliable basis for comparison. The subject captured here is Oldham Manchester Miner charger, Lead-Acid, lamps on charge, at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK. The frame also records themes of social history, everyday life, local history, industrial archaeology, manufacturing heritage, industrial transport, place identity, industrial artefact, factory heritage, historic freight equipment, engineering history, contemporary social history, period detail, and changing land use. The modern context includes continuing discussion of brownfield redevelopment, embodied carbon and how surviving industrial objects become evidence of vanished working practices. The image fixes materials and architectural details within Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK at one identifiable point, providing a benchmark against new construction. Further associations within the scene are heavy-industry heritage, working-industry history, manufacturing landscape, community identity, before-and-after reference, documentary photography, production infrastructure, and industrial material culture. Details involving charge, Lead-Acid, Blaenavon, Wales, and Miner make the image more specific than a generic view and strengthen its local or historical value. The period setting at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK helps place the main subject within real social and physical surroundings rather than isolating it as an abstract object. Another useful connection is brownfield redevelopment and the growing value of industrial heritage for tourism and local identity when considered against later change at Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK. The scene further reflects manufacturing decline and how surviving industrial objects become evidence of vanished working practices without losing the local specificity of Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK.
Blaenavon, Torfaen, Wales, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,Hotpixuk,@HotpixUK,South wales,Wales,UK,coal,mine,works,working,workings,historic,old,Rail,Coal,Pontypool,history,train,BR,British Rail,carriage,pit,big,head,rail,rails,21,ton,steel,mining,Tirpentwys colliery,heritage,buildings,traditional,oldfashioned,old-fashioned,hotpix.org.uk
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2JC40XP - . An identifiable period record of Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK in 2022, retaining the practical detail and local context that distinguish a documentary photograph from a generic illustration. The defining feature is Historic old Rail Coal Waggon ,403 Tirpentwys , 21 ton steel , from Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK. The surrounding context encompasses rolling stock, local history, industrial archaeology, former production site, contemporary social history, industrial material culture, changing streetscape, labour history, archival record, train operations, station environment, period detail, industrial artefact, and heavy-industry heritage. The modern context includes continuing discussion of fares, accessibility and the balance between railway heritage and network modernisation. For current editorial use, industrial conservation and industrial tourism provide additional context, especially through the reuse of former industrial land and buildings. Future viewers can use this scene from Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK to compare building condition and alterations with whatever follows after different community use. The subject also sits alongside factory heritage, manufacturing heritage, transport interchange, historic freight equipment, trackside history, changing land use, place identity, and industrial railway heritage. The combination of Waggon, Pontypool, Wales, Historic, and Blaenavon anchors the frame to a recognisable activity, place or moment. A later view of Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK may show a very different setting, increasing the value of this precise record of its earlier appearance and activity. The wider significance includes fares and the balance between railway heritage and network modernisation in a form that can be compared with future views of Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK. The photograph keeps a local visual benchmark for later comparison.
Blaenavon, Pontypool, South Wales, UK
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@Hotpixuk,brick,day,poppy,poppies,1914,pit,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Manchester,Lancashire,UK M29 7JB,M29,Astley,Astley Pit,UK,M29 7JB,colliery,coal,mine,miners,remembrance,marble,tablet,outside,name,names,to,the,glory,of,god,in loving,memory
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2BBXPAR - . This period scene at Astley Pit, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK, M29 7JB in 2019 provides a visual reference to the named subject and the wider commercial, social, cultural or physical environment around it. At the centre of the frame is Great war memorial, Lest we Forget, remembrance , day, poppy,poppies,1914-1918, - Astley Pit, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK. Other connected aspects include place identity, historic context, local character, everyday life, industrial supply chain, contemporary social history, before-and-after reference, labour history, community remembrance, building-material production, industrial artefact, working-industry history, wartime sacrifice, and local roll of honour. Current discussion around this subject increasingly includes public commemoration alongside local history, with particular attention to how local communities preserve the names and memory of the dead. From a 2025-onward perspective, the scene also connects with regional industry, construction materials and the relationship between local geology, manufacturing and the built environment. For place-based research, the frame records the relationship between the subject and its surroundings at Astley Pit, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK, M29 7JB. A second layer of the scene includes factory history, visual archive, commemorative memorial, war dead, memorial culture, production technology, archival record, and traditional building materials. Elements such as memorial, poppies, Lancashire, Green, and 1914-1918 add documentary specificity and may become more useful when compared with later records. A later view of Astley Pit, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK, M29 7JB may show a very different setting, increasing the value of this precise record of its earlier appearance and activity. The view records period character before later change alters the scene.
Astley Pit, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK, M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,Hotpixuk,@Hotpixuk,England,UK,scale,from coal mine colliery,feet/sec,from,measure,mining,mine,rope,ropes,speed,ft,feet,per,second,descent,ascent,gauge,gauges,needle,10,5,0,guage,guages,pointer,indicator,measure measurement,speeds,of,large,dia,diameter,meters
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2DDW6DA - . This scene at Astley, Manchester, England, Uk in 2019 forms part of the visual history of the locality, documenting the named subject together with aspects of how the area looked and functioned at the time. The photograph centres on Record,Rope Speed,large diameter,ft/sec,meter,from coal mine colliery. The setting additionally reflects historic freight equipment, industrial artefact, production infrastructure, former production site, place identity, engineering history, everyday life, public realm, working-industry history, period detail, before-and-after reference, contemporary social history, community identity, and industrial archaeology. From a 2025-onward perspective, labour history and manufacturing decline are closely linked to this subject, alongside the reuse of former industrial land and buildings. The archival value lies partly in recording local activity and public use around Astley, Manchester, England, Uk before refurbishment alters the character of the place. The photograph additionally reflects heavy-industry heritage, documentary photography, industrial material culture, industrial transport, visual archive, archival record, regional identity, and manufacturing landscape. References to Record, meter, Speed, colliery, and large give the picture a strong period identity and tie it closely to its named subject. A later view of Astley, Manchester, England, Uk may show a very different setting, increasing the value of this precise record of its earlier appearance and activity. The setting also helps illustrate labour history and the reuse of former industrial land and buildings when considered against later change at Astley, Manchester, England, Uk. The image also provides a reference for skills heritage and how surviving industrial objects become evidence of vanished working practices without losing the local specificity of Astley, Manchester, England, Uk.
Astley, Manchester, England, Uk
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,hat,health,safety,coal,mine,museum,Geoff Short,Agecroft,mines,rescue,teams,professional,and,&,risk,management,safe,team,NUM,Coal Board,National,NCB,colliery,helmet,green,helmets,rescues,health and safety,health & safety,headgear,gear,equipment,pit,pits,coalface
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2K3XNE8 - . Made at Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK in 2019, this photograph records a real place and moment, preserving details that may later be altered by redevelopment, rebranding, changing ownership or different public use. The main point of reference is Geoff Short - Agecroft No1 team Mines Rescue helmet,coal mine, Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. Another layer of the photograph includes regional identity, social history, public realm, town-centre trading, street-level business, archival record, place identity, commercial frontage, local character, independent retail, shopfront economy, contemporary social history, documentary photography, and customer footfall. Current relevance extends to store closures and independent business, particularly through the contribution of independents to distinctive high streets. The image fixes lettering, decoration and surface detail within Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK at one identifiable point, providing a benchmark against refurbishment. A second descriptive layer includes local history, community identity, changing streetscape, specialist retailer, small business, high-street commerce, everyday life, and local enterprise. Elements such as Mines, Leigh, Short, Lancashire, and Agecroft add documentary specificity and may become increasingly useful when compared with later records. For Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK, the photograph contributes to a cumulative visual history in which changes in use, signs, access and appearance can be traced over time. The image also provides a reference for store closures and the contribution of independents to distinctive high streets as part of the longer story of Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK.
Astley Green colliery, Leigh, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Description
Keywords: 41,fortyone,forty1,number,integer,sequence,nos,mine,craft,minecraft,iphone,cell,phone,fone,cellfone,itouch,child,creation,hipsamatic,series,numbers,Number41
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 9860166196 - 'View this whole set here. If you do Twitter add me here.
Forty-one is the 13th smallest prime number. The next is forty-three, with which it comprises a twin prime. It is also the sum of the first six prime numbers (2 + 3 + 5 + 7 + 11 + 13), and the sum of three primes (11 + 13 + 17).
41 is the smallest integer whose reciprocal has a 5-digit repetend. That is a consequence of the fact that 41 is a factor of 99999.
41 is the atomic number of the element niobium. Its a number frequently referred to in Arthur C. Clarke's series of books known as the Rama Cycle. Also, 2012 Documentary on the life of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush.
In the film The Matrix, Morpheus is aggressively questioned in the 41st floor of the government building, in reference to the murder of Amadou Diallo.
This 41 was fashioned with the help of my 10 year old helper, Matthew in Mine Craft, a tablet based computer game.
Designed here from burning netherrack. (Whatever the AF that is!).
(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - tone@Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC',
Description
Keywords: 34,thirty,four,thirtyfour,number,no,lower,men on,men,gay,gay men,3,4,raise,steadily,dial,needle,red,tony,smith,tonysmith,hotpix,hotpixuk,numbers,numberwang,wang,integer,set,dirty,equipment,mine,mining,astley,colliarly
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 9118629599 - 'Thirty Four is the ninth Fibonacci number and a companion Pell number. Since it is an odd-indexed Fibonacci number, 34 is a Markov number, appearing in solutions with other Fibonacci numbers, such as (1, 13, 34), (1, 34, 89), etc..
View this whole set here. If you do Twitter add me here.
35 is the atomic number of selenium.+34 is the code for international direct-dial phone calls to Spain.
Thirty Four is a book by William Hastings Burke about Berlin, Hitler and his bunker.
Amidst the giddy chaos of Berlin, Hitler toys with death in his bunker. The golden boy of Nazism, Hermann G\u00f6ring, looks set to succeed as F\u00fchrer. But his bid for power ends with a cyanide capsule in a gaol cell in Nuremberg. And there story.htm Target=_Blank>history signs off on Hermann. Yet buried in the footnotes sits the extraordinary story of Hermann G\u00f6ring's little brother, Albert.
A defiant anti-Nazi, Albert G\u00f6ring spent the war years busting the persecuted out of concentration camps, smuggling them across borders and funnelling aid to refugees throughout Europe. He did everything to undermine his brother's regime. But by 1944 the Gestapo were hunting him down like a dog. Did Hermann step in and save his brother?
Enter William, a twentysomething from Sydney, Australia, who stumbles upon the tattered pieces of Albert's history. Shelving plans for a Ph.D., William sets off on a three year odyssey across eight countries and three continents to piece together the puzzling life of Albert G\u00f6ring.
Forget staid biography. Think seat of your pants travelogue mixed with a Spielberg eye for storytelling and you start to get a taste for the energy William brings to the page. Delivering the kind of must-read story that turns history on its head, Thirty Four gives us a new hero. Standing alongside Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg is the G\u00f6ring history forgot.
(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - tone@Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC',
Description
Keywords: 3535,35,number,numbers,thirty,five,thirtyfive,thirty5,oldham,steam,winding,engine,square,hipstamatic,series,tonysmith,falcon,Astley,Colliary,Coal,Mine,mining,machine,Tydesley,Greater,Manchester,Falcon oldham,Falcon 3535 Oldham,F16TOE
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 9317169504 - 'They may find In the year 3535, Ain't gonna need to tell the truth, tell no lie Everything you think, do and say Is in the pill you took today - www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWxGGyV_YRA
XXXV was the year Tiridates III becomes king of Parthia, during Roman times.
35 is the sum of the first five triangular numbers, making it a tetrahedral number.
35 is the number of ways that three things can be selected from a set of seven unique things also known as the 'combination of seven things taken three at a time'.
35 is a centered cube number, a pentagonal number and a pentatope number. Messier object M35, is a magnitude 5.5 open cluster in the constellation Gemini. The atomic number of Bromine.
35 is the highest number one can count to on one's fingers using base 6.
35 mm film is the basic film gauge most commonly used for both analog photography and motion pictures. Its the minimum age of candidates for election to the United States Presidency.
View this whole set here. If you do Twitter add me here.
(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - tone@Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC',
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,red machines
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9ACA - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,machine,machines,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,Red Machine
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9ADW - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,machine,machines,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9AE7 - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,machine,machines,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9AJK - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,machine,machines,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9AK3 - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: coal,mine,mining,Manchester,lancs,Lancashire,working,works,vertical,shaft,Green,Museum,Chat,Moss,chatmoss,collieries,village,county,council,saved,by,village,A580,east,3,300,hp,twin,tandem,compound,steam,3300,surviving,headgear,house,gates,wide,shot,HDR,seams,Higher,Green,Lane,Tyldesley,Gotonysmith 3300hp Pilkington Colliery Company,trading as the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company,working,collieries,in,the,Irwell,valley,at,Clifton,Higher,Green,Lane,Astley Green,Tyldesley,Lancashire England,UK M29 7JB M297jb,machine,machines,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9AM6 - On the edge of Chat Moss, in an area once full of collieries, lies the picturesque village of Astley Green. In the heart of the village stands Astley Green Colliery Museum which, but for the foresight of Lancashire County Council and several leading figures within the community, would have suffered the same fate as the other collieries in the area, total demolition. It was the uniqueness of the 3,300 hp twin tandem compound steam winding engine that brought the demolition to a halt. As the result of the intervention, the museum houses Lancashire's only surviving headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The museum occupies some fifteen acres of the Astley Green Colliery site. To the south lies the Bridgewater Canal and Astley Moss, an important mossland site. The low-lying landscape ensures that the museum's 98ft high lattice steel headgear can be seen for many miles, a fitting memorial to days now past.
Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Lancashire England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: frame,dark,cloud,lancashire,GB,great,Britain,British,Coal,face,coalface,old,disused,abandoned,mine,shaft,mineshaft,mining,UK,United,Kingdom,board,BCB,NCB,national,NUM,union,of,nationalised,industry,mines,Corporation,Astley,Green,Chat,Moss,museum,headgear,head,gear,Tyldesley,M29,7JB,M297JB,Gotonysmith,nationalisation,ChatMoss,historic,history,decline,declining,archeology,coalfield,field,Red,Rose,Steam,Society,Limited,redrose,registered,charity,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9B3C - The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on vesting day, 1 January 1947. In 1987 it was renamed the British Coal Corporation, whose assets were subsequently privatised.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: frame,dark,cloud,lancashire,GB,great,Britain,British,Coal,face,coalface,old,disused,abandoned,mine,shaft,mineshaft,mining,UK,United,Kingdom,board,BCB,NCB,national,NUM,union,of,nationalised,industry,mines,Corporation,Astley,Green,Chat,Moss,museum,headgear,head,gear,Tyldesley,M29,7JB,M297JB,Gotonysmith,nationalisation,ChatMoss,historic,history,decline,declining,archeology,coalfield,field,Red,Rose,Steam,Society,Limited,redrose,registered,charity,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9B3N - The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on vesting day, 1 January 1947. In 1987 it was renamed the British Coal Corporation, whose assets were subsequently privatised.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: frame,dark,cloud,lancashire,GB,great,Britain,British,Coal,face,coalface,old,disused,abandoned,mine,shaft,mineshaft,mining,UK,United,Kingdom,board,BCB,NCB,national,NUM,union,of,nationalised,industry,mines,Corporation,Astley,Green,Chat,Moss,museum,headgear,head,gear,Tyldesley,M29,7JB,M297JB,Gotonysmith,nationalisation,ChatMoss,historic,history,decline,declining,archeology,coalfield,field,Red,Rose,Steam,Society,Limited,redrose,registered,charity,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy DE9B4F - The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on vesting day, 1 January 1947. In 1987 it was renamed the British Coal Corporation, whose assets were subsequently privatised.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, England, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: Mine,mineworkers,colliery,NUM,face,hands,hand,card,cards,card,silver,fascia,lock,lockable,Astley,greater,Manchester,gotonysmith,National,timeclocks,start,of,manual,shift,labour,labor,mining,mines,clocking in card,Astley Green Colliery Museum Manchester UK M29 7JB,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,Clock in,HR,control,worker,workers,contract,employment
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy D8DYCC - . Nation Time Clock Clocking In Machine TimeClock. Photographed on 12 May 2013. The recorded location is Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB. Astley Green preserves the last surviving headgear and engine house from the once extensive Lancashire coalfield in this part of Greater Manchester. The former colliery opened in the early twentieth century and later became a mining museum, retaining winding machinery, lamps, telephones, notices and other equipment that explains the highly organised underground working environment. Such artefacts record both engineering and the safety culture of an industry that shaped communities across Lancashire. In the longer view, interiors preserve details that exterior photographs cannot show: furniture, fittings, decorative finishes and room layouts reveal how buildings were actually used
Such features are often altered during refurbishment even when the outside remains unchanged. The wider historical story is that mechanical calculators, time clocks and electronic valves belong to successive generations of office and industrial technology before solid-state electronics and networked computers became dominant
Their keys, dials, circuits and mechanisms make visible tasks that modern digital systems perform almost invisibly. In historical terms, technical artefacts show how innovation changes daily life: office machines reduced clerical labour, telephones reshaped communication, cameras altered image-making and electronic components enabled broadcasting and computing
Close-up photographs preserve interfaces and designs that quickly vanish from use. Current 2026 relevance comes from the fact that adaptive reuse often changes internal layouts dramatically, so photographs of earlier rooms and fittings have particular conservation and design value. Further subject-specific language includes historic interior, interior design, decorative detail, furnishings, period interior, and architectural interior.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: Manchester,Lancashire,UK,M29,7JB,M297JB,Entrance,red,white,blue,mine,miners,gotonysmith,disused closed dusty urbex,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,pit,colliery,stop,no entry,closed,danger,rule,rules,barrier,hand,written,handwritten,industrial,area,disused,dusty,urbex
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy D8DYEA - . Notice - No Unauthorised Persons To Use This Entrance sign at Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB. Photographed on 12 May 2013. Astley Green preserves the last surviving headgear and engine house from the once extensive Lancashire coalfield in this part of Greater Manchester. The former colliery opened in the early twentieth century and later became a mining museum, retaining winding machinery, lamps, telephones, notices and other equipment that explains the highly organised underground working environment. Such artefacts record both engineering and the safety culture of an industry that shaped communities across Lancashire. Historically, physical access control traditionally relied on guards, passes, keys and written instructions
Surviving notices show the routines of secure workplaces and can reveal the culture of secrecy or safety surrounding military, transport and industrial operations. Historically, public wording is part of the visual landscape
Direction signs, warning notices, painted advertisements and engraved plaques show how authorities and businesses communicated before digital screens and app-based information became widespread. In 2026, security increasingly combines physical controls with digital identity, cybersecurity and electronic access management
Earlier pass notices provide a useful contrast with smart cards, mobile credentials and biometric systems while retaining their original institutional context. In 2026, digital wayfinding is widespread, but physical signage remains essential for safety, accessibility and identity
Historic notices and ghost signs are also increasingly appreciated as part of the character of streets and buildings. The subject remains topical in 2026 because much public information has moved onto smartphones and digital displays, making older fixed signs and printed notices increasingly useful as evidence of how people once navigated places, bought services and followed rules.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: Astley Pit Lamp Room,Tyldesley,Manchester,Lancashire,UK,M29,7JB,M297jb,gotonysmith,mine,miners,historic,NUM,national,union,of,Mineworkers,workers,electrics,electrical,facility,recharge,recharging,lamps,lights,Deployment,Deployment Lamp room,disused closed dusty urbex,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,Astley,Green,pit,national coal board,coal board
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy D8EHH6 - . Astley Pit Deployment Lamp Room, Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB. Photographed on 12 May 2013. Astley Green preserves the last surviving headgear and engine house from the once extensive Lancashire coalfield in this part of Greater Manchester. The former colliery opened in the early twentieth century and later became a mining museum, retaining winding machinery, lamps, telephones, notices and other equipment that explains the highly organised underground working environment. Such artefacts record both engineering and the safety culture of an industry that shaped communities across Lancashire. The historical context is that industrial buildings and machinery preserve the material history of manufacturing Britain: steam power, engineering, mining, textiles, ceramics and mass production transformed both the economy and the physical character of towns
Surviving equipment is now studied as industrial archaeology and often conserved within museums or regenerated sites. Looking at the subject's development, heritage photography is particularly useful where buildings or objects have changed function
A former workplace, shop, transport structure or piece of equipment can become a museum object or landmark, linking everyday history with conservation and interpretation. The subject remains topical in 2026 because industrial heritage is increasingly tied to regeneration, tourism, conservation and skills education, particularly in former manufacturing towns seeking new uses for historic sites
Preserved machinery and redundant industrial buildings also provide evidence for debates about adaptive reuse and local identity. For the 2026 context, heritage remains economically and culturally significant through tourism, education and place-making, while the cost of maintaining historical fabric creates continuing debate about conservation and reuse. Useful indexing vocabulary includes engineering history, historic machinery, and factory.
Astley Green, Tyldesley, Manchester, Lancashire, UK M29 7JB
Description
Keywords: room,machine,pit,coal,colliary,mine,wind,winding,gear,tonysmith room,tonysmith,tony,smith,hotpix,hot,pix,pics,picks,hotpicks,hotpics,selective,colour,ipod,music,#tonysmithhotpix,#tonysmithotpix
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 4874827867 - 'Blue Room - 'The Orb' - Play this track here.
\u00bfWhats this iPod Shuffle set all about? Read about it here
'Blue Room' is a single by The Orb. It was released in 1992 on Big Life Records. Gallup, who compiled the UK singles chart, had recently decided that any release with more than 40 minutes of play would be classified as an album rather than single. The Orb thus decided to record a 39:57 version of 'Blue Room' for a special release.
Founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and KLF member Jimmy Cauty, The Orb began as ambient and dub DJs in London. Their early performances were inspired by ambient and electronic artists of the 1970s and 1980s, most notably Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. Alex Paterson apparently began his music career in the early 1980s as a roadie for the post-punk rock band Killing Joke.
'Blue Room' is said to be the longest single to ever reach the UK charts, peaking at number eight. An edited version appears on the album U.F.Orb. The Orb's critical and commercial success in the UK peaked in the early 1990s with their albums The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld and U.F.Orb, which reached #1 on the UK Albums Chart in 1992.
This success led to their infamous appearance on BBC 'Top of the Pops', where they showcased their quirky style by playing chess (an interest of Paterson's since his early youth) while the group's single 'Blue Room' ran in the background.
If you like bands and music, m=tags&
w=33062170@N08&
s=int\'>checkout my band pix.
--------------------------
The area where I live was once full of collieries and Astley Green (about 10 miles away) was fortunate enough to have been saved from total demolition by a number of mainly steam enthusiasts, leading community members and supporters within Lancashire County Council.
Mainly due to the uniqueness of a 3,300 hp twin tandem compound reversible steam winding engine the demolition was to a halt. As the result of the stay of execution, the museum grounds house Lancashire's only surviving pit headgear and engine house, both of which now have listed building status.
The Astley Green Colliery shaft was sunk in 1908 to exploit the extensive coal reserves in the south Lancashire Coalfield. The coal seams at Astley Green are very deep and are overlaid by about 100 feet of Chat Moss, wet and unstable ground. The colliery only had a lifespan of 62 years, closing its gates for the last time in 1970.
Apart from the steam winding engine and headgear the museum houses many exhibits, not least of which is the collection of 28 colliery locomotives, the largest collection of its type in the United Kingdom.
Amongst the exhibits housed in the Engine House is the largest steam winding engine ever used in the Lancashire Coalfield. Built by Messers' Yates &
Thom in 1912, the twin tandem compound engine delivers 3,300 HP.
NB: Like all the images on this stream, full size prints up to 30x20inches are available, Check my profile for how to contact me.
Checkout more w=33062170@N08\' target=\'_blank\'>cool stuff from my photostream.
Keep in touch, add me as a contact www.flickr.com/relationship.gne?id=33062170@N08 so I can follow all your new uploads.
(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC
()',
Description
Keywords: Cornish,cornwall,Kernow,england,UK,GB,britain,tin,mine,mining,industry,industrial,archiology,mono,selective,colour,b/w,sepia,toned,holiday,accomodation,ruins,old,hotpix!,#tonysmith,#tonysmithhotpix
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 4726413997 - 'Mining in Cornwall has a long history and began in the early Bronze Age approximately 2,150 BC. It ended with the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall closing in 1998. Tin and later also copper were the most productive of the metals extracted. Some tin mining continued long after mining of other metals had become unprofitable.
Tin is one of the earliest metals to have been exploited in Britain. Chalcolithic metal workers discovered that by putting a small amount of tin (5 - 20%) in molten copper an alloy called bronze was produced that was easier to work and harder than copper. The oldest production of tin-bronze is in Turkey about 3500 BC but exploitation of the tin resources in Britain is believed to have started before 2000 BC, with a thriving tin trade developing with the civilisations of the Mediterranean. The strategic importance of tin in forging bronze weapons brought the southwest of Britain into the Mediterranean economy at an early date. Later tin was also used in the production of pewter.
Cornwall was traditionally thought to have been visited by metal traders from the eastern Mediterranean. However, it is likely that the tin trade with the Mediterranean was controlled by the Veneti. Britain was one of the places proposed for the Cassiterides, that is Tin Islands.
As South-West Britain was one of the few parts of England to escape glaciation, tin ore was readily available on the surface. Originally it is likely that alluvial deposits in the gravels of streams were exploited but later underground working took place. Shallow cuttings were then used to extract ore.
Diodorus Siculus around 1 BC had this to say about ancient tin mining in Britain. 'They that inhabit the British promontory of Balerion by reason of their converse with strangers are more civilised and courteous to strangers than the rest are. These are the people that prepare the tin, which with a great deal of care and labour, they dig out of the ground, and that being done the metal is mixed with some veins of earth out of which they melt the metal and refine it. Then they cast it into regular blocks and carry it to a certain island near at hand called Ictis for at low tide, all being dry between there and the island, tin in large quantities is brought over in carts.'
By the 19th century, the areas of Cornwall around Gwennap and St Day and on the coast around Porthtowan were among the richest mining areas in the world and at its height the Cornish tin mining industry had around 600 steam engines working to pump out the mines (many mines stretched out under the sea and some went down to great depths). Adventurers put up the capital, and the mines would hopefully return them a profit.
During the 20th century various ores became briefly profitable, and mines were reopened, but today none remain. Dolcoath mine, (Cornish for Old Ground), the 'Queen of Cornish Mines' was, at a depth of 3500 feet (1067 m), for many years the deepest mine in the world, not to mention one of the oldest before its closure in 1921. Indeed, the last working tin mine in Europe, South Crofty, was to be found near Camborne until its closure in March 1998. An attempt was made to reopen it but the mine was then abandoned. There have been local media reports in September 2006 that South Crofty is being considered for re-opening as the price of tin has soared however the site is now part of a Compulsory Purchase Order (October 2006). On the wall outside the gate is some graffiti dating from 1999:
'Cornish lads are fishermen and Cornish lads are miners too. / But when the fish and tin are gone, what are the Cornish boys to do?'
Many old mine buildings with a chimney for the steam engine exhaust dot the Cornish landscape today. This one has been sensitively restored and put to residential use.
NB: Like all the images on this stream, full size prints up to 30x20inches are available, Check my profile for how to contact me.
Checkout more images away from home from my photostream.
Keep in touch, add me as a contact www.flickr.com/relationship.gne?id=33062170@N08 so I can follow all your new uploads.
(c) Hotpix / HotpixUK Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC',
Description
Keywords: NCB,Coal,coalface,face,cutting,machine,mine,mining,CoalSeam,deep,deepmine,scots,scargill,arthur,365days,Dalkeith,museum,shaft,pit,midlothian,welfare,struggle,thatcher,government,dad,would,turn,his,grave,industry,energy,unlimited photos,Edinburghe,HDR,high dynamic range,tonysmith,tony,smith,interesting,place,places,hotpix!,Edinburg,tony smith photography,tdktony,tdk,tdktonysmith,#tonysmithhotpix,edimburgh
Description: Tony Smith image Flickr 3834522449 - 'Pit face coal cutting machine.
The Midlothian area of Scotland was once the heart of a large coal mining area. After the decline and defeat of Arthur Scargill, the man who was described as mad for suggesting that 20,000 miners jobs in the UK may go. The true figure was in excess of 40,000. He may have been militant, but he was not mad.
Shame the victors get to write the history eh?
Midlothian is left with some towns and villages with remnents of those heady days. One is Dalkeith:
www.flickr.com/photos/hotpixuk/4241055295/ worth a visit if you are in Edinburgh.
(c) Hotpix Tony Smith - Hotpix.freeserve.co.uk WDCC',
-Midlothian-Mining-Museum--UK-CEMWN5.jpg)
Description
Keywords: Coal Mine Grant,Company,Winding,engine,(largest,in,Scotland),Midlothian,Mining,Museum,UK gotonysmith,gotonysmith,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,mine,Scotland,lift,machinery,colliery,coal,Grant,Ritchie,and Company,preserved,restored,industry,engineering,British,Scottish,Newtongrange,inside,interior,NCB,National Coal Board,NUM,National Union of Miners
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy CEMWN5 - . Coal Mine Grant, Ritchie and Company Winding engine (largest in Scotland) Midlothian Mining Museum, UK. Photographed on 11 August 2009. The recorded location is Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland. The wider historical story is that industrial buildings and machinery preserve the material history of manufacturing Britain: steam power, engineering, mining, textiles, ceramics and mass production transformed both the economy and the physical character of towns
Surviving equipment is now studied as industrial archaeology and often conserved within museums or regenerated sites. The historical context is that heritage collections preserve material that might otherwise be dispersed or destroyed
Museums use objects, labels, reconstructed settings and historic buildings to explain both exceptional events and ordinary life, making photographs of exhibits useful records of interpretation as well as the object itself. In the present 2026 context, former industrial sites continue to be repurposed as housing, offices, cultural attractions and heritage venues
That makes historical machinery and surviving industrial fabric relevant both to the story of deindustrialisation and to current regeneration of northern English and Midlands towns. The subject remains topical in 2026 because museums and heritage sites still balance conservation with accessibility, education, digital interpretation and the cost of maintaining buildings and collections
Older exhibition photographs can therefore record displays that have since been changed or reinterpreted. Looking at the subject's development, factories, mills, engines and workshops record the technologies and labour that powered Britain's industrial expansion
Their machinery, inscriptions and specialist buildings are valuable evidence of engineering practice, working conditions, regional industries and the later shift from heavy industry to heritage, housing or new commercial uses.
Lady Victoria Colliery at Newtongrange, Midlothian, Scotland
Description
Keywords: NCB,British,Rail,BR,coal,truck,National,Coal,Board,internal,use,only,No,L22,tare,560,mine,pit,head,pithead,mining,museum,red,railroad,british,UK,united,kingdom,transport,gotonysmith,National,Mining,Museum,Scotland,Lady,Victoria,Colliery,National,Union,Of,Mineworkers,England,Scottish,Newtongrange,The,Scottish,Mining,Museum,Trust,railyard,rail,yard,1950s,1960s,truck,rail,road,railroad,historic,history,old,antique,gotonysmith,Buy Pictures of,Buy Images Of,Scotlands History,Scotlands History,Coal History,Coal Mining History,Coal Industry
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy CEY9C3 - . NCB British Rail BR coal truck National Coal Board railyard rail yard. Photographed on 11 August 2009. The recorded location is National Mining Museum Scotland, Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, Midlothian, EH22 4QN. NCB Coal wagon for internal use only at the . The Scottish Mining Museum Trust is registered in Scotland. Looking at the subject's development, older buildings and artefacts provide tangible evidence that written records cannot fully replace
Their wear, construction, signage and setting help researchers understand local story.htm Target=_Blank>history, design, industry and social life across different periods. In the longer view, workplace portraits and occupational scenes record skills, uniforms, tools and customer service that can disappear as industries modernise
They are useful social-history evidence because they place individual workers within the everyday economy rather than presenting a building or product in isolation. For the 2026 context, heritage remains economically and culturally significant through tourism, education and place-making, while the cost of maintaining historical fabric creates continuing debate about conservation and reuse. Current 2026 relevance comes from the fact that service work remains central to the British economy while recruitment, pay, automation and evolving customer expectations continue to reshape many occupations
Historic and contemporary workplace photographs therefore have relevance to labour, skills and employment as well as the immediate subject. The wider historical story is that historic objects and places gain meaning through survival
Materials, craftsmanship, inscriptions and later alterations can reveal how a building, machine or everyday item was made, used and valued, while preservation decisions show which parts of the past communities choose to retain. Other strongly related concepts include historic environment, period detail, historic fabric, heritage asset, and social history.
National Mining Museum Scotland, Lady Victoria Colliery, Newtongrange, Midlothian, EH22 4QN
Description
Keywords: GoTonySmith,HotpixUK,@HotpixUK,Greater Manchester,Lancashire,England,UK,WN1 1BH,town,centre,Lancs,WN1 3RT,WN1,to,poppy,poppys,WWI,remembrance,coal,mine,mines,colliery,collieries,Pte,Woodcock Walk,Irish Guards,VC tablet,VC,1917,1918,hero,heroes,remembered,Tom Woodcock,Thomas,Woodcock,mosaic,mosaics
Description: Tony Smith image Alamy 2MKF7PG - Thomas Woodcock VC (19 March 1888 “ 27 March 1918) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
Details
Woodcock was 29 years old, and a private in the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, British Army during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
On 12/13 September 1917 north of Broenbeek, Belgium, when an advanced post had held out for 96 hours and was finally forced to retire, the lance-sergeant (John Moyney) in charge of the party and Private Woodcock covered the retirement. After crossing the stream themselves, Private Woodcock heard cries for help behind him - he returned and waded into the stream amid a shower of bombs and rescued another member of the party whom he carried across open ground in daylight towards our front line, regardless of machine-gun fire.
He was killed in action at Bullecourt, France, on 27 March 1918.
Further information
He later achieved the rank of corporal. He is buried at Douchy-les-Ayette British Cemetery, France. 8m SW of Arras. Plot IV. row F. Grave 3.
Wigan, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK, WN1 1BH
