Old crane, Gloucester Docks

When planning the transformation of an old docks into new recreational areas of water and former warehouses that feature flats and offices it must have been difficult to get the balance between old and new. Gloucester Docks made quite good choices in this regard, and retained enough, but not too much of the old. This crane has no practical function today other than to stir the visitor's imagination. My conversion of a colour photograph of the crane and its surroundings into black and white helps further in this regard.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Dockside crane and tracks

Gloucester Docks and the adjacent shopping attraction, Gloucester Quays, are an interesting mixture of the old and the new. The warehouses and the water of the docks attract people who want to know more about the area's past. To help kindle the atmosphere a few old cranes are parked where once they would have busily shifted goods from dockside to ship and vice versa. The tracks set in the tough granite setts make a good foreground for one of the most interesting cranes.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5

Red Crane, Portland Bill, Dorset

Red Crane is a hoist on a disused stone loading quay on Portland Bill, Dorset. The quay was used to serve the nearby Bill Quarries. This was active in the nineteenth century and the last loads of stone were hoisted onto ships by Red Crane in 1893. Fishermen took over the crane as a convenient means of launching and recovering their boats on the rocky shore. Steel cranes replaced the wooden structures in the late 1970s. On the day of our visit the only visible fisherman was using a rod and didn't seem to be having much luck.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon Z 5