I know I'm not the only photographer out there thinking about documenting the demise of petrol stations - particularly those in country areas, which seem to be disappearing rather quickly. This one is in the village of Moss-side, on the way from Coleraine to Ballycastle and I'm surprised it's still standing, albeit it in the rather dilapidated state it is in. It's been a few years since anything was pumped here, I reckon - 4 Star petrol, which contained lead, disappeared from the UK over 20 years ago:
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| Moss-side petrol station, 2021. On FP4+ in HC-110, printed on MG Classic and thiourea toned. |
A quick search informed me that in 2001 there were 270 people living in Moss-side. It's a rather sad little village right now and there is little reason to stop, except maybe at the newer, larger petrol station which has a small food supermarket inside, and there's nothing particularly unique about that as far as I can tell. I think that is now the only shop in the village. I'm not even sure there's a local school any more. It's hard to see much of a future for villages like Moss-side - there must be few employment opportunities for any young people born in the area, other than agriculture on the various farms round and about...and even there I doubt there are many openings. The fact that the petrol station above is still there is probably due to the fact that it costs money to tear it down and no-one is queuing up to develop the site, so unless some government money comes in to tidy the place up it will probably be there for another while yet.
The government in Korea spends a lot of money trying to stop everyone from moving to Seoul, but Seoul is where the jobs are. And the cinemas, and the concerts, and the international restaurants, and everything. At the same time, the government builds huge expressways so that all the country towns can be bypassed on the way to the big tourist areas. I suppose urbanisation is nothing new. People have probably been moving to the Big City ever since the very first city popped up in Mesopotamia.
ReplyDeleteGreat photo, by the way. The house in the background tells us something about where the pumps are located.
I was reading the other day about how some young people have used the Covid restrictions to re-evaluate their careers and lives. Some have given up the 9-5 office work in favour of working outdoors - taking a big hit in salary but feeling happier and more fulfilled. I wonder what Generation Z will change about the world.
DeleteAnd thanks. I would have liked a shot taken the other way, showing the disused office block of the garage but that way was into the sun. Perhaps this shot was the better one anyway.
It's tempting to take an outdoor job myself. If only I had some skills.
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