Partial Decay

Rust and flaking paint - or is it?

Wednesday 25th November 2015

Today, I was out in the Harwood Dale area of the North York Moors doing footpath surveys for the National Park. It was a beautiful day, sunny but a little chilly first thing. I covered about twelve miles in total and took photographs of some great views, but this was what really caught my eye. It was an old oil (or chemical) tank barrel at the side of a bridleway on Lownorth Moor. The farmer had used it in the past, but now it was just decaying, the paint had blistered in the sun, then it had fallen off in random pieces to reveal the metal. Once the rain got to the metal, it would begin to rust. There were slight traces of white paint on the left and a type of malachite green substance bottom right. Was this a chemical from a previous life? The words on the tank were unreadable. There was strong sidelight from the right, which caused the shadows, but the rust colour just jumped out and was stunning. I isolated this small part as I could see shapes appearing; can you see the head and shoulders of a lady or the figure top right with the pointed hat or the map of the Welsh coast? It is what you make it, or is it those mushrooms again?