Tag Archives: derelict

Generator House at Blakely Harbor

We were making a trip to Bainbridge Island one weekend and Nancy had done some research that brought up something she thought I might be interested in.  Blakely Harbor used to be the location of a timber mill.  It has long gone away but there are still some remnants of the mill.  There are piles in the water from the old jetties but the most conspicuous part of the old generator house.

This concrete building is obviously more resilient than the other buildings and it stands out on the shoreline, not just because it is the only remaining building, but because it has become a focus for graffiti artists.  The interior and exterior of the building have been covered with work from artists of all types.  Some is really intricate work and other pieces and less polished.  However, the combination of colors is really striking when alongside the natural colors of the harbor.

I was interested in looking around inside but climbing in required some effort and, while I could have done it, I wasn’t that keen and I suspect Nancy would have thought I was nuts!  She may have been right.  There are some iron frames that are still part of the structure which have an aged look which contrasts with the recent artwork.  I imagine in low light you could get some very interesting shots of this place.

Derelict Jetty

As you walk along the banks of the Avon heading towards the gorge, you are outside the locks that keep the water level up in the docks and in the tidal area.  This used to be a popular location for boat to unload passengers and there are a number a jetties that have been built there.  However, the traffic for these locations dried up a long time ago and they have fallen into disrepair over the years.  The larger timber members are more resilient so you end up with these skeletal structures that are gradually collapsing.  I wonder how many more years they shall survive or whether they will be deemed too dangerous and taken down before they can collapse.

Argosy Still Hanging On

I bumped into a guy I had met before while at Fox Field outside Lancaster CA.  He had just arranged a ride out on to the ramp with one of the airport staff and invited me to come along.  One of the old airframes stored at Fox Field, near the air tanker ramp, is an old Armstrong Whitworth Argosy.  I have no idea of the history of this airframe and how it ended up here but here it is.  We were free to wander around and get some shots of it.

I understand it has been at Fox Field for a long time.  It isn’t going anywhere in a hurry but, courtesy of the dry climate, it is only decaying slowly.  I have no idea how long it will be before it becomes unsafe to have around any longer but I imagine it will be a while.  Definitely an unusual aircraft to get to shoot these days.

Dead Railcar

A short distance from our house is an old railcar that is sitting on spare land gradually decaying.  It has been here as long as we have and I suspect a lot longer than that.  I’m not sure what it is resting on but it does seem to be listing a bit more these days than it was the first time I saw it.  I have driven past it on many occasions and often thought that I should take a picture of it.  I recently happened to be walking along the road rather than driving so figured I should stop and get a shot.  Since it is summer, the plants are grown up around the side of the road so it is a bit harder to get a clear shot of it.  I used the longer lens on the phone and stitched together some shots.  It would be better to shoot this later in the day when the light is nicer but we shall see if I make the effort to go back – and maybe take a better camera?

Second Go At Old Ship Hulls

In this previous post, I had some shots of a ship hull in Anacortes that had become part of a harbor wall.  When I showed this to a colleague of mine, he looked at Google Maps and thought there might be one or two more hulls making up the harbor.  Once I saw what he was looking at, I could see what he was thinking.  I also couldn’t work out why I didn’t go down to take a closer look when I had been there.  A return journey seemed in order.

First I checked out the original hull and the one that is in the best condition.  It looked more impressive when down on its level.  I didn’t see any sign of a name which was a shame.  Then I went to see what the other areas were.  Sure enough, behind the first hull is a second one.  This one is much more broken down but the timbers are still there making up another part of the harbor wall.  I then realized that a third hull was part of the harbor which we hadn’t seen from Google.  That is because it is a barge hull and so square which meant it wasn’t conspicuous from the aerial photos.

The last hull was located within a shipyard and, since I didn’t have permission to enter their premises, I didn’t go closer to check it out.  A look from the access road above it did seem to confirm that it was indeed another hull.  I guess whoever created the harbor figured the easiest way to do so was to sink a few derelict hulls and then build up the land around them (or let nature do that for you).  I imagine that has been done elsewhere.  Not quite the D-Day Mulberries but something similar.