The Barn Owls of Chatterley Whitfield
I am working on a project to document the condition of Chatterley Whitfield, the now disused former coal mine in the heart of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Now abandoned, nature is slowly starting to reclaim Chatterley Whitfield and the colliery buildings that still stand on this site. As part of this ongoing work, I have been documenting this natural rewilding process. One of the animals that can now be found at Chatterley Whitfield are barn owls.
The panoramic image above shows a single barn owl flying past the Institute, Platt and Hesketh headgear at Chatterley Whitfield. There is a strange beauty in the juxtaposition of this ghostly white owl of the night flying amongst these former industrial buildings that still stand at Chatterley Whitfield. The panoramic image was made by compositing nine separate images that were made of the barn owl as it flew past these buildings. Each of the images was made using a Nikon D5 and a Nikon 600mm FL f4 lens mounted on a tripod with a gimbal head, 1/8oo second at f4 using auto iso which varied up to 14,400 iso. I have posted a few more images of these barn owls below. By clicking on the images, they will open full screen.
Like many people from Staffordshire, I have a very personal connection with the coal mining industry that once provided employment to many people in this county. My family is from Silverdale, a small former coal mining village in North Staffordshire. My father, John Mason, is a retired coal miner who worked at several coal mines in Staffordshire, including Chatterley Whitfield. Coal mining has long since ceased in Staffordshire but Chatterley Whitfield stands as a reminder of this former industry that powered the Industrial Revolution. Whilst fossil fuels have, and are still, contributing to climate change, Chatterley Whitfield is a very important historical site that should be preserved as part of our heritage for future generations.
More posts will follow on this ongoing project on Chatterley Whitfield.