Epitaph for an era. The last Shale Heap

The last surviving Shale Heap in the Cleveland ironstone mining area in North Yorkshire. Beyond the end of an era you could say. The Kilton mine started excavating in 1875 supplying the furnaces in Middlesbrough and on the rest of Teesside and finally the mine ceased working in 1963. Really it was a sign of what was happening or going to happen to all of the North East’s heavy industries. A friend, Gavin, who my iMac insists on calling Gareth, took the original photograph that inspired me to look a little more deeply and now I’ve started working out a print, hopefully to be followed by a few more although there is a little more research to do yet but it’s a beginning. The beginning of a new set of what I hope will be two or three prints, meanwhile back to the sketch book and starting the new era with the last Shale Heap.