The Waterhouses Aqueduct

[poliphilo]

The Waterhouses aqueduct is my favourite building within walking distance. It was put up in the 1790s to carry the Hollinwood branch of the Manchester and Ashton-unde-Lyne Canal across the river Medlock in a place the Victorians turned into a leisure resort and renamed Daisy Nook. It's massive, artless and has nothing about it that doesn't express what it's there for. 

I've tried to photograph it several times and never liked the results. You have the problem that the best vantage point is to the north and you're looking into the sun. Yesterday I tried again. It was a dark, misty day and it didn't matter where the sun was because you couldn't see it.
 


Those two women (nothing to do with me) came and stood briefly in exactly the right spot. They had two dogs with them- one of whom got trapped in a piece of railing that had been dumped in the river. The younger woman rescued it and carried it to the bank. There used to be a footbridge where the rocks in the foreground are but it has disappeared since my last visit. The women were wearing gumboots and waded across. I wasn't- and had to take the long way round- across the aqueduct itself.

Comments

[kishenehn.livejournal.com]

A wonderfully evocative photo!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

This is a wonderful photo for light. Sometimes a sunny day hinders a good photo. This one has atmosphere as well and the two women make it more interesting.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

Yes, sometimes you don't want sunshine.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

That turned out so well! I wasn't sure if it was a painting or a photo at first. Absolutely lovely and it changes the massiveness of the aqueduct from stolid to timeless.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thank you.