Minute man silos (by Craftsman 2001)
In England I had a pick of thousands of silos from farms across the country before settling on these with a brickwork base. They look older that those in made of concrete or steel.
Farm silos at Critchells Green (by David Martin - CC ASA 2.0 license)
In Germany I discovered a factory at Erfurt which makes feed for cattle, pigs and chickens. The picture dates from 1977 when they made 2000 tons more of the stuff than in 1976.
(From Bundes arkiv, Bild 183-50713 0024 CC-BY-SA)
My first project as a graduate trainee in the steel industry in the UK was to make up trial sinter mixes for the blast furnaces at Redbourne Works in Scunthorpe. We did it the hard way with a shovel!
When I found this picture of the charging hoppers (silos de chargement) for a blast furnace in France it just had to be included.
(CC-ASA-2.0 license)
How many of you remember the Gregorian Chant sung in by monks from the monastery of Santa Domingo de Silos. They made the UK charts in the 1990s. The monastery is located in Northern Spain.
I could have picked many images from there but settled for one from their laboratories, If you use your imagination you can scale up the vessels to 'silo' size and anyway it's the nearest I could get to a sepia colour.
Finally to Norway where I worked on the early stages of the project to build the Troll A gas platform.
(My photo)
This tilting concrete tower in Jåttåvågen is 60m tall at Hinna, in Stavanger. The tower which is tilting 16 degrees towards the ocean was originally built in 1984 for experimental tests before they started on the Troll-Platforms in the later 1980s and 1990s.
Troll A platform (by Swinston101 - GNO Free documentation license)
Troll-A Platform at 472m tall, was the tallest and heaviest construction ever moved by man). The legs of the platform go down over 300 metres; 100 meters at the bottom are tilted like the tower in the previous picture.
You will find more silos at Sepia Saturday
20 comments:
We have grain silos still today in almost every little town here on the prairie. Most of the business still buy grain from the farmers. The silage silos are not being used now but are all still out there. It is hard to get rid of a silo.
I remember many years ago driving across Kansas, heading west, and way off in the distance I thought I saw some sort of a huge ship. The sun was behind it and it had me completely confused. With the flatness of Kansas there was simply nothing else to see. Finally as I got closer I saw it was grain silos in Salina, Kansas. Then zoom...I was past them and watched then in the rear view mirror. It was completely bizarre.
Oh my goodness you really did an excellent job on silos....what a great amount of history you have in your life as well. I really enjoyed this, and one question...Germans don't really ever eat corn right? It's only grown for pigs or cattle to eat right? Or so I've heard, at least in the good old days anyway! Nice photos too Bob!
Karen, I understand grain silos are ten a penny in the USA so I looked for something different on the internet. It's amazing what you can find.
I don't know whether the Germans eat corn - they must do in bread and they will definitely use a lot to make their beer. Corn to me is barley, wheat and oats and not maize.
What a fascinating set of photos...
seems to me they could turn those silos into affordable housing. Kind of like Steinbeck's cannery row. Since Mr. Burgus says you can't get rid of them - why not live in them?
Nancy
Bob,
Amazing job. Who knew there was so much information on silos out there. Informative and amusing post.
If anyone can be guaranteed to find a theme, and then squeeze every last possible image - and even a Gregorian Chant - out of it, it is you Bob. Masterful.
this was a very interesting tour by silos...I remember Edwards AFB quite well but had not seen that air over shot before; and I still have a CD by the monks chanting--lovely sound, I'll have to play it soon. Great information and photos.
Just an amazing piece of interesting information about a very important part of life! Great theme well done Bob!
Excellent! There's a silo here for every taste and occasion. I will choose the silo that looks very much like a distiller, thank you!
i never thought there were so many varities of silos out there.
Bob, glasses might be more useful in a household.
very interesting to see all the different silos. To my mind came mainly the huge silos for wheat or other food. I like the sepia laboratory. The still could be in a farmhouse to make a bit of moonshine!
I'm most familiar with the silos in the first photo. We see them often around our state but only, of course, in the countryside. When we lived in Akron, Ohio, where Quaker Oats had been headquartered, the mill was still there with their silos intact. They turned the mill into a shopping market, Quaker Square, and eventually, some time after we left, they turn the silos into hotel rooms. I was never in them but I think it would be interesting to have a round room. (At least I hope they didn't eliminate that bit of interest.) Interesting post, Bob.
Love the first 2 silo pictures - both remind me in their own way of cult TV shows where mysterious forces were at large. The Avengers maybe?
We still use silos in Scotland to store (mainly) grain, but they're fairly dangerous if you fall in, as it's like quicksand. That's why they have ladders on the inside as well as the outside. Jo
Hi Bob,
Wow! What interesting photos you have posted today. Really cool. Thanks!
Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting yesterday. I appreciate you input on my first Sepia Saturday post. In answer to your question, I wonder if Americans took more photos and kept records just because it was all so new and exciting...something to show the grandkids later on; which is what ended up happening.
Take care,
Kathy
my!! what an odd and pleasant journey!! i certainly enjoyed the novelty of it, something more industrial. a job nicely done.
you may enjoy this:
http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/periph/pdmoulin/phoa.htm
this is SILO No5, at POINTE-du-MOULIN, in the old harbour of old montreal. if was finally designated as a landmark a few months ago, and to be preserved. a decade ago, this place was used for musical experimentations. not bad for a grain silo!!
:)~
HUGZ
Ticklebear, Thanks for the link to Montreal. The pictures show what you can do with industrial sites if you try. The silo is well worth preservation.
Wonderful diverse collection of photos - thanks for sharing! My favorite is the leaning tower of Jåttåvågen - looks a bit like my pottery efforts in school...
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