THE END OF INDUSTRY
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JOHN MYERS THE END OF INDUSTRY
RRB PHOTOBOOKS BRISTOL
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Sidney Smith foundry, 1983
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Mould maker, Higgins & Son, Lye, 1985 Overleaf: Foundry worker, (No 1), 1983 Foundry worker, (No 2), 1983
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Lathe operator, Higgins & Son, Lye, 1985
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Foundry worker, Sidney Smith Foundry, 1983
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Casting day, Bridge Foundry, Rutter Brothers, Wordsley, 1983
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Worker. Cradley Castings, 1983
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Casting, Higgins and Son , Lye, 1985
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Burton Delingpole & Co. Ltd, Cradley Heath, 1981
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Air hammer, HUTA ZYGMUNT, Cartwright Forge, Brierley Hill, 1983 Overleaf: Hayseech Foundry, Brierley Hill, (No 1), 1982 Foundry, Vine Street, Brierley Hill, 1982
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Yard with stacked grates, Sidney Smith & Sons, Stourbridge, 1983
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William Mobberley Brickworks, Kingswinford, 1982
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Beehive kiln Dyson’s Brickworks, Brierley Hill, 1982
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Kiln entrance, Dyson’s Brickworks, Brierley Hill, 1982 Overleaf: Mould and bricks drying, William Mobberley Brickworks, Kingswinford, 1983 Bricks drying, William Mobberley Brickworks, Kingswinford, 1983
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Female Brick worker, William Mobberley Brickworks, Kingswinford, 1983
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Cradley Castings, Cradley Heath, 1983
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Cupolas, Cradley Castings, Cradley Heath, 1983
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Furnace area, Cradley Castings, 1983
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Hayseech Foundry, Brierley Hill, Silver End (No 3), 1983
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Hayseech Foundry, Brierley Hill, (No 2), 1983
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Hermit Industries, Gornal (No 1), 1983
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Exterior view, Higgins & Son, Lye, 1985
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Work bench, Bridge Foundry, Rutter Brothers, Wordsley, 1983
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Fire-backs, supplementary line during three day week, Bridge Foundry, 1983 Overleaf: Cupola, Sidney Smith & Sons, Stourbridge, 1983 Twin replacement cupolas, Sidney Smith & Sons, Stourbridge, 1983
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Sidney Smith & Sons, Stourbridge, 1983 Overleaf: Casting day, Bridge Foundry, Rutter Brothers, Wordsley,(No 2), 1983 Bridge Foundry, Rutter Brothers, Wordsley, 1983
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Dysons Brickworks, 1983 Overleaf: Hayseech Foundry, (No 4) 1983 Dysons Brickworks, 1983
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Dyson’s Brickworks with Hayseech Foundry, Brierley Hill, 1984
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Dyson’s Brickworks, Brierley Hill, 1983
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Disused kiln, Dyson’s Brickworks, Brierley Hill, 1983
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Kiln interior, Dyson’s Brickworks, Brierley Hill, 1983 Overleaf: Factory by road, 1983 Wellman Alloys, 1983
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Previous spread: Controlled Heat Treatments Ltd, 1981 Controlled Heat Treatments Ltd, 1983 Round Oak Steelworks and canal, 1984
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Open cast mining and Dudley Canal from Netherton, 1986
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Round Oak Steelworks from Level Street, 1982
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Round Oak Steelworks, 1983
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Round Oak Steelworks, 1981 Overleaf: Marshalling yards,Round Oak Steelworks, 1984 Abandoned railway, round Oak steelworks, 1983
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Railway sleepers being removed, Round Oak Steelworks, 1983
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Round Oak Steelworks, 1988
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Round Oak Steelworks (No 2), 1988
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Round Oak site, 1988
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Richardson’s Enterprise Zone, 1988
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Dudley Enterprise Zone, 1983
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Oak Auto Services, 1983
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D G Auto Repairs, 1983 Overleaf: Entrance to Industrial Estate, (No 1) 1983 Entrance to Industrial Estate, (No 2) 1983
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Haulage yard, Lye, 1979
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Pallet maker, 1982
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Trading Estate, 1983
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Ready mixed concrete plant, Cradley, 1983
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Hayseech Foundry and canal, 1983 Overleaf: Orchard Street, Brierley Hill (No 1), 1983 Orchard Street, Brierley Hill (No 2), 1983
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Housing adjacent to Burton Delingpole & Co. Ltd, Cradley Heath, 1981
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Cradley Foundry, Quarry Bank, 1983 Overleaf: Houses and factories, Stourbridge, 1982 Back garden, 1981
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Pear tree and urn, Cradley Foundry, Quarry Bank, 1983 Overleaf: House and factory (No 1), 1974 House and factory (No 2), 1974
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Factory, Stourbridge, 1983
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Factory to Let, J. S. Webb & Co. Bagley Street, Stourbridge, 1982
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Peartree Lane, Dudley, 1983
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Hayseech Foundry, 1984
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Boarded-up public house, 1985
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Stockholders For Sale, 1983
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New Industrial Estate, Lye, 1981
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New housing, 1983
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Enterprise Zone, the Merry Hill site and Round Oak Steelworks, 1986 Overleaf: Merry Hill Shopping Centre (No 1 ) 1990 Merry Hill Shopping Centre (No 2 ) 1990
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Trading Estate, Lye 1983 Overleaf: Warehousing to Let (No 1) 1982 Warehousing to Let (No 2) 1982
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Draylon Centre, Enterprise Zone, 1988 Overleaf: Enterprise Zone, Dudley (No 1) 1982 Enterprise Zone, Dudley (No 2) 1982
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Industrial Estate, Stourbridge, 1983
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Old Forge Trading Estate, 1988
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These photographs were taken between 1981 and 1988 in ‘The Black Country’ a part of England that was famous for making things from metal. Changes occurred in the early 1980s that hit metal manufacturing particularly hard. A record number of bankruptcies resulted in high levels of unemployment. Factories either closed completely or realigned their business model to warehousing and retailing components that had been manufactured overseas. Foundries, forges and steelworks – not easily transformed into industrial units or office space – quickly morphed into housing estates, enterprise zones or retail parks. The change was rapid and irreversible. A landscape that had been formed by the Industrial Revolution disappeared. I can’t remember why I took the photographs initially. Clearly the distress, upheaval and economic chaos of the early 1980s was sufficient in itself – but it has only been recently that I have begun to realise that in their modest and incomplete way these photographs capture one of the major changes to British landscape and society in the last half of the twentieth century: the end of manufacturing and the emergence of the world of warehousing, logistics, retailing and tarmac. The photographs were all cropped ‘in camera’ and were taken on the 5 x 4 inch Gandolfi camera. John Myers was born in 1944.
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Thanks to: Josie Atkinson, Mike Crawford, Tom Groves, Louis Little, Eleanor Macnair, James Smith, Rudi Thoemmes John Myers – The End of Industry Limited to 450 copies Numbers 1-50 include a signed and limited 10x8” silver-gelatin print Each book is also accompanied by a 5x4 silver-gelatin print /450 In addition to the Limited Edition, there is also a Portfolio set available in an edition of 8 Each Portfolio contains 10 signed and limited 9.5x12” silver-gelatin prints and is accompanied by a copy of the book, as well as a signed and limited 10x8” silver-gelatin print and a 5x4” silver-gelatin print Text and images © John Myers and RRB Photobooks 2019 Design by Dan Mogford The photographs are reproduced and printed at Narayana Printed in Denmark 2019 ISBN 9781999727567 rrbphotobooks.com
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