Oldbury Power Station - June 2023

I walked the perimeter fence of Oldbury Power Station on Tuesday 13th June to hear the weekly warning sirens. 

Decommissioned nuclear power station.

Reactor 2 ceased operating on 30th June 2011

Reactor 1 ceased operating on 21st February 2012.

De-fuelling and removal of most buildings is expected to take until 2027.

The Care and Maintenance phase is between 2027-2095

Demolition of reactors and site clearance is planned between 2096-2101

Nuclear power stations are eerie, mysterious, bleak and foreboding but with the contrast of wildflowers, shelducks, the Severn estuary tide and the June light, Oldbury Power Station and its surroundings looked monumental and stunning. It is going to be around for many more years...

'Dangle' - June 2023 in Harris

Dangle

To hang loosely or cause something to hang

10 hand woven Harris wool weavings, peat, plaster, Harris wool and 10 pieces of gneiss gathered from the river bed were placed in situ on a slab of gneiss on the Old Road in Finsbay. Left to dangle for 7 days in all Harris weathers - sun, wind and rain. 

Left to change shape, colour and texture, to sway and rotate, to get entangled with each other, to change position. Left to dangle, drip, droop, fall, drape, sag, suspend. Once in place, the installation did it's own thing for 7 days without any interference from me.

                                                                       

                                     

                                                    

13 months

13 months

4th June 2022 

I placed a piece of hand woven cloth (Harris wool and wool/acrylic) on the croft in Quidinish, Harris. There is a derelict building right by the shore where I decided to place it. There is no roof so the cloth was vulnerable to the Outer Hebrides elements - rain, wind, sun.

Before placing it on the wall, I washed it in the nearby peaty stream.

To keep it secure I placed it under a block of gneiss - the local rock. This rock was already there and was part of the derelict building.

Beyond the wall you can see the saltmarsh - the tide was out.

The colours were bright and bold and the cloth felt soft.

28th September 2022

Four months later I found the cloth slightly faded and the tassels had twisted. No longer flat against the wall, it had developed a curl along one side. Probably from the wind.

 

On the 30th September the weather had been wet and windy, so the cloth appeared darker and was distorted.

2nd February 2023

Another 4 months later I returned again. The colours had been leached out by the winter rain and snow and it felt harsher and tougher.

You can just see the landscape behind with it's winter colours - russet, brown, grey.

24th June 2023

Another 4/5 months later and the cloth had taken on the colours of the rock - the different lichens matched the faded colours of the altered cloth. The Outer Hebrides had an unusually dry, sunny spell in May and June that scorched and dried out the cloth.

The exposed side was rough to the touch whilst the underside was softer and the colours brighter.

                                                         28th June 2023 - Removal Day

The landscape had it's summer colours again - luscious green. The cloth had been outside for over a year and had changed.

Colours faded and cloth battered and weathered after 13 months outside in the extreme island conditions.

The tide was out and the cloth was removed.

Before/After