Oil on canvas
12x14 inches
£125
As the textile age unravelled because of cheaper imports, so great Victorian mills like this were demolished. But that was not before time or because they were ugly. far from it. The picture shows an engine shed, built in the late fifties, to accommodate the machinery inside, whilst adding speed to the production line. The orange facier bricks, in stark contrast to the old Victorian monolith, add a more modern dimension. It was all to little to late. As unemployment rose sharply, workers were laid off, the mills fell silent. I entered a few times as a teen, looking round, alone in this giant, eerie shell. All the machines, cotton bales and artefacts just lay there as if everyone was on lunch break. Newspapers, half empty cups of tea sit in canteens. I never had a camera then, I'm gutted!. But I hope my picture stirs a bit of a loss inside you, as you look back on a world that has changed so dramatically...By R.A.Hall.
saw many mills being pulled down. In Bolton, Halliwell, eleven mills were pulled down in the space of 3 years. Together with hundreds of 
houses, it seemed like the whole area had been bombed. Or an image to that affect. It did open the 
though, allowing you to see a lot further. But during this time, 
had risen to three and a half million so lots of people couldn't see beyond the horizon anyway!. I captured it in black & white first time round. Today, as I improve as an artist, my choice is colour.
, goes a long, long way.....
, conservationists, are all hard at work now, stripping back the dead hand of time. Or to put it more poetically, the hands of nature that man could not control after his self indulgence, 100 years ago, exploded and strangled the unkempt countryside, especially waterways, railway embankments and hedgerows.
thrives like scenes from 'Day of the Triffids'. And worst of all, the 
weed that penetrates through solid concrete. But lets not forget the 
, so rampant, it covers even the above mentioned, strangling, tangling and suffocating all native species. 
Tong and Bradshaw brook meet, in more turbulent times. The black bank, on the opposite side of the river, shows the usually height of the water. 
hasn't been particular hot, though it has been dry. Dry enough to leave these would be skimmers plenty of ammunition for their daily sport. The dog loved it too as he waded in after every stone. This sandbank is often flooded with the swirling waters so everyone that passed, had an opportunity to break records.
. 
however, screamed with delight at every throw, often glancing back to see if I had captured their new record.