Oblique aerial view of Blindwells Opencast Site, Tranent, 1996.

BGS image ID: P001315

Oblique aerial view of Blindwells Opencast Site, Tranent, East Lothian, looking from the east-north-east. Working opencast coal site, in coals of the Limestone Coal Formation, showing various stages in the process. The working face is in the foreground; backfilled spoil in the centre - colours of each load derive from different materials, white and pale brown = sandstone, pale and dark grey = siltstone and shale, dark brown = glacial till overburden; black area = coal storage, pale brown areas = restored overburden. Top left is worked area fully restored to agricultural use. Bottom right is undisturbed ground.


Bob McIntosh

Joseph Beete Jukes M.A., F.R.S.

BGS image ID:  P505852

Joseph Beete Jukes 1811-1869. Born at Summerhill, near Birmingham. Studied under Sedgwick. Worked in Newfoundland and on H.M. Ship 'Fly' surveying the coast of Australia and New Guinea. Joined the Geological Survey of Great Britain and Ireland in 1846 and by 1850 was appointed to the post of Director of Geological Survey Ireland.

More details can be found in Joseph Beete Jukes page in the new biographical resource: Pioneers of the British Geological Survey. Browse the 'Pioneers'

BGS image ID:  P575755

Bob McIntosh

Scottish oil shale distillates, 1905 vintage.

BGS image ID: P528115

Samples of the different distillates and products that are produced during the processing of Scottish oil-shale. Samples on the left contain distillates that are intermediary stages in the process such as the crude oil, crude distillate (green oil), blue oil. Samples on the right are the final products that are marketed for a range of uses e.g. motor spirit, lighthouse oil, cleaning spirit.

Top row, left to right: Crude Shale Oil, Crude Distillate, Blue Oil, Heavy Oil and Paraffin, Crude Naptha, Crude Burning Oil. 
Bottom row, left to right: Crude Scrubber Naptha, Sulphate of Ammonia, Ammoniacal Liquor, Motor Spirit, Lighthouse Oil, Power Oil, Cleaning Spirit.

BGS image ID: P528117

Diagram illustrating processes of manufacture in the Scottish oil-shale industry.

The diagram shows the complete process from the original shale through the various treatments and distillations and showing the end products. The process can be conveniently considered in two stages. The raw oil-shale is distilled/heated in retorts in the absence of air and in the presence of steam. This allows the shale to undergo decomposition and distillation into crude oil and ammonia. The second stage is refining the crude oil. The object is to obtain from the crude oil various types of refined oil and wax as required by the prevailing markets at the lowest possible working cost and with the smallest amount of capital spent on refining plant.

Other samples from the Scottish Shale oil industry

Bob McIntosh

Westfield Opencast Coal Mine, 1977.

BGS image ID: P001513

Oblique aerial view of the Westfield Opencast Coal Mine from the north-east Fife Region. Cut to extract the abnormally thick development of coals (Boglochty Beds) in the Passage Group of the Namurian of the Scottish Carboniferous succession. The excavation is about 200 metres deep and has cut through strata from just above the top of the Middle Coal Measures (Westphalian B) down to the Calmy Limestone of Namurian (E2) age. At the top are the processing plants. The Westfield Open Pit was worked by Costain Mining Limited on behalf of the National Coal Board Opencast Executive.

Excavation commenced in 1955 on the site of the former Kirkness Colliery, production started the following year, 1956. It was regarded at the time as the largest opencast in the UK and possibly Europe.


Old photograph number: D02514

Photograph taken 1977.

Bob McIntosh

Ball clay manufactures, Heathfield Potteries, Newton Abbot.

BGS image ID: P208108

Heathfield Potteries, Newton Abbot. Bovey Tracey ball clays. Great Western Potteries, Heathfield. Pipe making. Clay is fed on the floor above, into the pipe press (on left) and moulded under pressure. The picture shows a pipe partly removed from the press. On removal it is put vertically on a wooden slab and placed on a revolving table (in front of central figure) where, while turning, it is trimmed and has grooves made at both ends with a comb. The pipe is then stocked for drying before firing.

BGS old photograph number: A08186.  Date of photograph 1945.

BGS image ID: P208109

Heathfield Potteries, Newton Abbot. Bovey Tracey ball clays. Great Western Potteries, Heathrfield. Various irregularly shaped articles such as drain traps, ? section pipes and special bends which cannot be made mechanically are moulded by hand. The photograph shows a mould partly made on the bench. On the floor are several drain trap moulds, two completed drain traps and a curved ? section pipe.

BGS old photograph number: A08187. Date of photograph 1945.

Bob McIntosh

Cartoon by H T De la Beche

BGS image ID: P832328

This cartoon was drawn by Henry De la Beche and features himself. The writing at the bottom says "Opportunity of studying the effects of rain on glass. Devon 1831". This would have been during the time that De la Beche was carrying out a geological examination of South Devonshire for a hobby. His income came from a sugar plantation in Jamaica but money was running short and he would have found delays caused by the weather very frustrating.

Andrew L Morrison

Making grindstones, Messrs. Armitage's Quarry, Normanton

BGS image ID: P206950

Messrs. Armitage's Quarry, Normanton, Yorkshire. Looking NE. Middle Coal Measures. Grindstone constructed from Woolley Edge Rock, a massive Coal Measure sandstone.

BGS old photograph number A07025. Date taken: 1936

Bob McIntosh

Cheddar Gorge in 1894.

BGS image ID: P233315

Lying on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills the gorge in Carboniferous Limestone was formed by meltwater floods in periglacial periods.

BGS image ID: P233316

Photographer: F.J. Allen.  Taken in 1894. Photographs are from the British Association for the Advancement of Science collections held in the British Geological Survey.

Here lived William Smith, Tucking Mill, Somerset in 1890.

BGS image ID: P259913

Here lived William Smith " Father of English Geology" Born 23rd March 1769, Died 28th August 1839. Plaque on wall at Tucking Mill, Somerset.

BGS image ID: P259997

Tucking Mill, 1890. The mill which was demolished in 1927.

Images are from the British Association for the Advancement of Science Photograph Collection held on deposit at the British Geological Survey.

Bob McIntosh

Stonehenge

BGS image ID: P203213

Stonehenge, Amesbury. Looking E. 35 degrees N. Stonehenge. Outer Circle from within and Inner Circle of foreign stones represented by the stump and two erect masses of dolerite. To the left is one of the intact trilithons, and one of the dolerites of the Inner Horseshoe.

BGS image ID: P203217

Looking N. 15 degrees E. Stonehenge. Stones (fallen and erect) of the Outer Circle from without showing the two remaining trilithons.

Photographs taken 1926 by J. Rhodes.

Bob McIntosh