Photo of the Week (archive) 15/9/21
Hi everyone, this week’s Photo of the Week is something a bit different, so we hope you enjoy! The building pictured is the school at Blists Hill Victorian Town near Ironbridge, Shropshire, and has a fascinating history which we will be covering in a bit more detail in this post.
The photo was taken on an Olympus E-P7 set to ISO 200 and a shutter speed of 1/125s, with an Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ lens set to aperture F13 and a focal length of 14.0mm. Phil also used one of the camera’s pre-programmed black and white filters when taking the photo to give it a vintage look more fitting of the school’s architecture and history.
Blists Hill, where the school is located, is an open air museum themed around a Victorian town, which opened to the public in 1973. There isn’t much known about the history of the site where Blists Hill is today until the late 18th century, by which time the coal mining industry was well-established at the site, as can be seen by the canals and blast furnaces that are still there today. The site was closed down and abandoned in the 1950s, until Blists Hill opened in 1973.
A lot of the buildings found at Blists Hill today are old Victorian buildings that were demolished at their original sites before being rebuilt brick-by-brick at the museum. One example of this is the school in the photo. Originally Stirchley Board School, it was opened in June 1881, then closed in the 1970s and taken down from its original location in Stirchley, Shropshire in 1989, before being rebuilt brick-by-brick at Blists Hill in 1993. It really is fascinating to be able to explore old Victorian buildings at the museum as it brings a Victorian town to life, and we would definitely recommend a visit if you’re in the area.
NB: this post is not sponsored or endorsed in any way, we just love Blists Hill and the amazing experience and photography opportunities it provides.