Mines

Mines

Hatfield Colliery, Kellingley Colliery are two mines in Yorkshire that are currently open and producing coal making them ideal places to photograph as places that are currently being transformed by our actions.

Hatfield Colliery is located in Statinforth in South Yorkshire. It was established in 1916 and ran up until 2006 when it was closed. It reopened in 2007 around the time when the price of coal doubled making it a worthwhile venture for investors. The colliery produces a million tons of high quality coal a year with minimum potential reserves of 50million tons underground. However those reserves ever being realised is highly unlikely as funding to mine these resources is very hard to secure; the current funding only last untill 2016.

From the images I’ve looked at on the internet and the image I have here it’s clear that there are plenty of varying aspects of the land to photograph linked to the scale of the operation, but also the effects it has on the wider landscape due to the railway lines. The surrounding area has decent elevation which is key as I’m attempting to shoot in a similar style to Edward Burtynsky, so finding viewpoints that will allow me to shoot from a God eye view is vital.

 

The second mine Kellingley Colliery is one of the newest mines in the country located at Beal, North Yorkshire. The mine has worked uninterrupted since its opening year in 1965 and is currently set to run until late 2015 which is the date of its closure despite the fact it could run until 2019

Again I’ve looked at various images and maps of the surrounding area to see if there are any vantage points to take elevated photos from. Unfortunately I haven’t seen many places that I believe have potential, however this mine and Hatfield are both less than one and a quarter hours away by car so it will be easy to drive down and see what my options are.

As for closed/ deserted mines, I will definitely travel to a few of them as they will provide a progression or a view into the future of Hatfield and Kellingley. They will also be easier to photograph as I will undoubtably receive far less attention photographing a unused site, in comparison to an active location.