Reclaimed industrial land above Blaydon Burn
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Reclaimed industrial land above Blaydon Burn by Andrew Curtis as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Reclaimed industrial land above Blaydon Burn
Image: © Andrew Curtis Taken: 24 Feb 2012
Surprisingly, the field was reclaimed from the site of a former chemical works, known as Ottovale, owned by Priestman Collieries Ltd. and built in 1904 http://isee.gateshead.gov.uk/detail.php?t=objects&type=all&f=&s=ottovale&record=0 The Priestman coke ovens were known locally as the ‘German Ovens’ or ‘Ottovale’ after their German manufacturer, Otto Hilgenstock. The ovens burnt coal to produce coke. The nearby Newcastle Tar Works refined crude tar, a by-product of coke production. The Newcastle Benzol Works was the first place in the world where petrol, known as Blaydon Benzole, was produced from coal. There was also a power station which generated electricity using waste heat but little remains to be seen today Image The factory was demolished and the site reclaimed in the 1970s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottovale_coke_works
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
54.961872
Longitude
-1.729632