Unit 30 Location Photography - Interior

For my interior task I discovered a derelict railway siding in Millbrook, Stalybridge.

Heyrod/Hartshead Power Station was a coal-fired power station in Heyrod, 

a part of Greater Manchester.

Building began in 1916. The station was opened in 1926 by the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Transport and Electricity Board.  Coal was delivered to the plant at Millbrook railway sidings on the Micklehurst Line, situated on the opposite side of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal. The sidings were built in 1932 and had space to hold up to 130 12-ton wagons. 

Coal was fed into a hopper underneath the sidings before being transported on an enclosed conveyor belt which emerged high above the valley to cross the River Tame and the Huddersfield canal before entering the station at a high level. The station was closed in 1979.  Much of it was demolished during the 1980s.  Although part of the site is still used as an electrical substation; the majority of the original buildings and features are long gone.

I decided to concentrate on photographing the things inside the building rather than the building itself.

f/5 1/60 ISO 400 44mm

f/3.5 1/8 ISO 400 18mm

f/5.6 1/15 ISO 800 55mm

f/5.6 1/20 ISO 800 55mm

f/5.6 1/40 ISO 800 48mm

f/5.6 1/100 ISO 400 34mm

f/4 1/50 ISO 800 24mm

f/4.2 1/25 ISO 800 26mm

f/5.6 1/50 ISO 800 26mm

f/5 1/30 ISO 800 36mm

When packing my bag for the shoot I packed my camera, lenses, spare battery, memory cards and flash just in case.

As it was fairly dark inside the railway sidings I went during the day so as to make the most of the natural light.  This worked really well and I decided to use the shafts of light and the shadows they create in my images.  

I also put up my ISO and used the slowest shutter speeds I could get away with.

I am very happy with my final 10 images and I think they all work well together.