JPG

I have explored the location of what was once dubbed 'the largest shipbuilding town in the world', capturing the changing environment of one of the last surviving shipyards in Sunderland; Pallion Engineering. Sunderland has a proud 600 year history of shipbuilding, which in the early 1900’s employed 12,000 men; over a third of the town’s adult population. Now the workforce is a mere dozen and their future is uncertain. The city, like the shipyard, is changing. Wearside, once an industrial hub is undergoing a transformation, old industries dieing and new businesses sprouting.

The region developed as a coal port but it was Sunderland's superior shipbuilding which brought Wearside world recognition. Sunderland has been producing ships since 1346 and has been the birthplace of many famous vessels including 'The Torrens' on which Joseph Conrad sailed and began his first novel whilst aboard. Between 1939 and 1945 the Wear yards launched 245 merchant ships totaling 1.5 million tons, a quarter of the merchant tonnage produced in the UK at this period. Competition from overseas caused a downturn in demand for Sunderland built ships toward the end of the twentieth century.Large ships are no longer built in Sunderland, but part of the industry does still remain; predominantly the refurbishment and demolition of vessels. The yard has been sectioned into smaller units where a variety of work takes place, the core of the work reflects the previous uses of the space; steel being the material which links many of the businesses.

However the offices of Pallion Engineering have been long since abandoned leaving behind a Mary Celeste style shrine. The once opulent board room with adjoining dining room and kitchen constructed at the height of Pallion ambition now lay abandoned as moss and ferns cover every surface. This reclamation of nature reflects the nature of the Wearsiders as they reclaim their identities in a shifting world.

In the Where Ships were Born photo essay.