File: 2012003-0070
Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom, on Wednesday 31st October 2012.
Those uploaded photos were bumped up for my 3rd anniversary on Flickr.
NOTE: I first registered for an account on Flickr in 2015. But I did not do much, just a few uploads (mostly for avatar), barely any written works, did not join any groups, did not do much comments. That was because I had been a very busy single parent and full-time carer at that time, so I kind of put it on hold, almost abandoned it.
By very early 2020, I became independent when my kids left home. By March 2020, the UK went into a lockdown! Like millions of us staying at home, trying to find something to do, I decided to try to get back on Flickr.
Starting from April 2020, I became properly active on Flickr, almost every day. The above photos were the second batch of serious photos I uploaded, they were originally uploaded on 18th April.
About this photograph.
The tall building on the left side of the photo, in the early c1800s, this was part of the Llantony Provender Mill, until c1900s.
Around 2015 (about 3 years after I took this photo), it was damaged in an arson attack, before it was finally redeveloped as luxury apartments.
The two similar old buildings in the background were built on an area known as Bakers Quay, and may have been warehouses or a factory in the old days.
Few years after I took those photographs, a new Costa café was built almost right where those cars are parked in the photo.
About the project.
As well as doing photography, I also do graphic design too. I like to try to make an effort to take my own photographs, and then import them into my own design works, rather than using stock images or footage.
Because if you use someone else’s works in your own works, you need permissions from the original artists/photographers, or pay royalties, especially if you plan to release your works, either to showcase or to sell.
I had a graphic design project, to create an album art, of an old town. For this, I needed old buildings, abandoned coal mines, old steam trains, and stuff like that. Thankfully I was aware of those old buildings in Gloucester, as you see them in the photographs, long before they were redeveloped.
So I went there, set my camera to black and white mode, and took as many photos as I could. Try different angles and viewpoints, so that I can see if any of my shots would do well in my graphic design plans.
This is why I gave those photos the title The Old Dying Town, because this is the title for a graphic design work.
About the overall subject.
High Orchard was a former industrial area in the city of Gloucester, near the canal and the docks, that had been redeveloped into modern apartments.
In the medieval times, the area was an orchard belonging to the nearby Llanthony Secunda Priory.
Historically, materials and goods were mostly transported by boats up the River Severn to Gloucester, and unloaded at Gloucester Docks.
In the early 1800s, a canal was built, and during the Victorian times, warehouses and industrial buildings were built on the site, which benefited from the newly opened Gloucester and Sharpness Canal.
There were various kinds of businesses on the site. Companies that imported timber and prepared them for the building industry, some iron works factories, and even a flour-milling buildings were also presented at the site.
Over time during the 20th century, some companies closed because of the difficulties in trying to compete against rival businesses, some buildings had caught fire, and many other factors. By the late 20th century, many of the buildings were left empty.
During the early 2000s, most of High Orchard buildings were redeveloped as Gloucester Quays outlet shopping centre, and many of the other buildings were redeveloped as luxury flats (apartments).
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