Carl Mole and I had planned to walk from Kirkleatham to South Gare. On the morning of the walk the skies were grey and sleat was falling. We changed our plans and decided to take a walk around Coatham Marshes. When we arrived at the frozen marshes the sky was still overcast but we could see blue skies heading our way, by the time we walked out onto the marshes the skies were gin-clear and blue. From a high point we could the snow-capped Pennines on the western horizon and the tower blocks of Sunderland on the coast.
Carl Mole
Wandering from Eston to Redcar
With Carl Mole
23 -Wandering from Coulby Newham to Middlesbrough Town Centre
Good Friday 2021
I hadn’t seen my mate Carl Mole for ages so we decided to go for a wander, following our noses from Coulby Newham to Middlesbrough town centre.
The smell of t-shirts
I’m selling some lovely t-shirts. They were designed by Carl Mole and Oli Heffernan and feature the ‘Dorman Long Tower’ at South Bank, a landmark on the Teesside skyline. The tower was built during the 1950’s to store and supply coal to the South Bank coke ovens.
Designed by Carl Mole
Designed by Oli Heffernan
T-shirts available in 2 colours Grey/White
Sizes S, M, L & XL
Price £15 plus P&P
100% of profits will be donated to the Trussell Trust
email smellofblackpath@gmail.com stating design, colour & size
The Artists
Teesmouth – Carl Mole
Carl Mole has been photographing the Teesmouth area of Teesside since 2015. The photographs on display at Eston Arts Centre show the habitat, landscape and the relationship between people and the geographic area. They range from where the river meets the North Sea between the coastal towns of Hartlepool and Redcar, and upstream to Middlesbrough Dock. There is a Natural Nature Reserve at Teesmouth and the area is surrounded by some of the largest concentrations of heavy industry in the UK.
The series of photographs of around Teesmouth are an unsentimental visual exploration of the area around the mouth of the River Tees. The photographs take the viewer on a documentary and environmental journey of the landscape to enquire if beauty can be found in the least expected and industrial places; the places overlooked and neglected in favour of the idealised natural landscape.
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England
Exhibition Open
September 10 – October 3 2020
Thursday 10-4pm
Friday 10-4pm
Saturday 10-1pmEston Arts Centre
176-178 High Street
Eston
Middlesbrough
TS6 9JA
Wandering north with Carl
Seaton Carew Road – North Gare Sands – Seaton Snook – The Zinc Works Road – Greatham Creek – Mucky Fleet – West Channel – Seal Sands – Brinefields
White heat has cooled
Across a sea of samphire
Odd flotsam fertility
Catholic in their choice of habitats
Seals have been spotted
The Joy of seeing Avocets
Tacky Shades for Chris Whitehead.
Teesmouth – Carl Mole
Danby Rigg Standing Stone
A woodcut by Carl Mole
Happy New Year
I’d just like to wish all my readers a very Happy New Year and thank you for taking the time to visit my blog. 2016 has been a pretty fruitful year for me, I started the year curating The Black Path exhibition at the House of Blah Blah gallery and finished the year with the release of the music from the project.
I’d like to thank all the people who have helped and inspired me throughout the year and look forward to continuing in 2017 where we will see the start of a new project and hopefully an exhibition in 2018.
All the best for 2017
Gavin
I wish you a merry Christmas,
And a happy New year,
A pantry of roast beef,
And a barrel of beer
*
Trad – Cleveland
Source W. Henderson 1879
Tonight is the New Year’s night, tomorrow is the day,
And we are come for our right and for our ray,
As we used to do in old King Henry’s day.
Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!
*
If you go to the bacon fitch, cut me a good bit,
Cut, cut and low, beware of your man;
Cut and cut round, beware of your thumb,
That I and my merry men may have some.
Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!
*
If you go to the black ark, bring me ten mark,
Ten mark, ten pound, throw it down upon the ground,
That I and my merry men may have some.
Sing fellows, sing Hagman heigh!
*
Trad – North Yorkshire
Source W. Henderson 1879
The Black Path – The Album
Linear Obsessional is proud to release this compilation of pieces that almost accidently refer to the demise of the once great steel making tradition on Teesside, in the North East of England.
“The Black Path” was an exhibition held at the House of Blah Blah in Middlesbrough in January 2016. This CD is a recording of sounds, music and poetry from that exhibition.
The download includes a 24 page PDF booklet of notes, photographs from the exhibition, and an essay by Alistair Nixon.
released October 21, 2016
The Black Path is an ancient route. It has been many things: the northern boundary of an Anglian Kingdom, a medieval sailor’s trod, and a convenient path to work for the steelworkers of Middlesbrough.
The Black Path Project commenced in early 2015 as collaboration between Chris Whitehead and Gavin Parry, they soon realised that a number of other artists in the area had also created work based around the path. They then set about contacting artists and asking them if they would be willing to join the project with a goal of producing an exhibition. Once assembled, they approached the House of Blah Blah, who were very enthusiastic about the project and agreed to work with the group.
The goal of the project was to present a contemporary response to the Black Path, at the time no one could have predicted what events unfold over the following months in terms of the collapse of the steel industry. This project now has an added poignancy; it has accidentally captured the end of an era.
The exhibition and show features, field recordings, paintings, photographs, sculptures and music, all created as a response to the Black Path. The exhibition commences with a performance by two groups of musicians, Ammonites and Warped Freqs. both of who have written music especially for this occasion.
The Smell of Water 