Abandoned

On The Great North Road

The Willowbridge Service Station has recently been sold and is probably due for demolition, the land has planning permission to build two large houses. The garage was built in the 1930’s to service travellers on the Great North Road. It was built in the Art Deco style and was originally flat-roofed.

One inch map 1947

The route of the Great North Road/A1 used to run through Darlington town centre via Barton and Stapleton. In the mid 60’s the A1 was rerouted to bypass Darlington resulting in the section of road from Scotch Corner to Darlington being downgraded to a rural road.

Some lovely old images of Willowbridge can be found in this Northern Echo article

Irrelevant

The tragedy of this has little to do with new technology as such, or so-called post-industrialism. It stems, it bleeds, not from the fact that science has discovered electronics, but from the fact that everything which constituted the loves of those living here is now being treated as irrelevant.

John Berger. Understanding a Photograph. Penguin Classics 2013.

Wilderness Road

Mandale Triangle-Wilderness Road-Newport

I bring you ten ton gain to this hometown range

Bona fide what you hear is the sound of pain

Marooned

A woman, food falling from her mouth, is not happy with me photographing a poster. I try talking with her, she suspects my motives.

Someone shouts ‘Paedo’ at me from a passing car.

I brace myself, the car does not return.

Separating sharks from the blessed is vital

Overstanding

Overpassed

Undercut

How the hell you gon stop this tide from steady coming

Parks were once created as green spaces. The new parks are for shopping, cars & business

Too big to slide though they try to disguise

soundtrack – Roots Manuva