old english spangles

...who remembers those?

In contrast to yesterday, we awoke to thick cloud and a strong wind, which influenced our decision to seek shelter in the forest. I had it in mind to post an industrial blip today, so we headed in the direction of the oil wells but, somehow, we ended up exploring some new tracks and I arrived home empty handed.

It was still dull after lunch so I chose to capture another in my High Street, Langton Matravers series. As I was walking up and down the street, trying to decide on a suitable subject, the sky started to open and colour, which meant an industrial image was back on the agenda.

This is St Aldhelm's Quarry, which was opened in 1934 to tap into two highly prized beds - the Pond Freestone is an excellent stone for carving and monumental work, while the marine fossil Spangle is a beautifully decorative stone used in such products as fire surrounds.

Other than tourism and agriculture, mineral extraction is the cornerstone of Purbeck's economy. Oil and shale gas, I have mentioned recently. Stone, I have mentioned often. The other two, are sand & gravel and ball clay, both of which I will come back to in future blips...