Tannery Drifting

Portlaw Tannery makes a good setting for a ghost story, but there have not been reported any supernatural appearances. Yet. As you already know from my previous Halloween post, another building in the premises isn’t exactly ghost-free. I could go there again and perhaps get some material for another story, but… my instincts tell me to stay away from the Mayfield House and explore the factory buildings instead. As there are no known ghosts, I have to make up a ghost story myself.

Early in the morning I walked around the factory looking for inspiration.

Many things seemed suspicious there, including a tailless pheasant. Even the horse found him strange. Was he a pheasant at all? I started getting nervous.

I entered the ground floor and found a burned car. It made more sense than the tailless pheasant. Portlaw Tannery is a favorite place for drifting.

I kept walking. This derelict building reminded me of something long forgotten…

When I walked out of the building on the other side, I saw THIS, and everything clicked – a whole building, its empty windows, repetitive architectural elements, holes, shadows and reflections – everything reminded me of Atari Breakout in black & white: the ghosts of Space Invaders have stolen all the colors!

I decided to walk to the top floor. May be I can find more evidence there.

The top floor on my side of the factory has no roof anymore, and it looks like a forest. The other side still has a roof which makes it more dangerous as the roof can collapse at any moment.

The floors are covered with the THINGS that fell down from the ceilings and walls. The weeds are creeping in from outside.

Found some evidence of the stolen red and orange color…

… and some yellow too!

Found an evil face. This could be a ghost that escaped from Pac Man…

I could use an elevator, but the shaft is empty all the way down.

These used to be the elevator cabin doors.

I press the shutter and hurry away. This picture looks somewhat disturbing… like a Bosch painting rather than computer game…

The walls are tagged by artistically inclined Zombies.

THINGS keep falling from the ceiling and the above floors. Dripping water is making sad ghostly sounds.

Because of that, I am afraid to walk across the open space, and prefer to stay near the wall. I can see some photographs on the green board on the other side, but no way I would walk across.

All of a sudden, a piece of styrofoam insulation fell down from the ceiling, but remained in the air…

Another hanging piece of armature began rotating…

I hurried down the stairs only to face a black Pac Man ghost and many other strange faces staring at me from the walls.

Another floor. Is it a Star Raiders ship up there, collided with the wall?

Finally I am on the ground floor, but on the wrong side.

I am trying to get out, but all the exits are overgrown with weeds. I think I have found an abandoned Death Race car there…

I finally see the light.

Have to get out before the Space Invaders regroup and attack me in this real life game field.

Found a black angel feather… Well, may be not…

The drifting is on. Sometimes the tires blow up, and the ‘feather’ is probably just a part of the tire. Nothing to worry about.

In the cloud of smoke, a passenger is taking selfies on the go. No one has noticed the drama unfolding in the factory building.

Galaxian ship has been taken down…

A veteran PC didn’t have a chance…

And what about the cunning Space Invaders? They changed identity and went underground. Literally.

Thank you for visiting scary places and reading my 70’s video games inspired story 🙂

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

This is drifting and that is the Tannery. All in Portlaw, Co Waterford. Visit their Facebook page and save the date of their next drift day in your calendar.

I will write more about the Tannery some other day. This post is all about drifting.

A fan of Fast And Furious, I am happy that just a half an hour drive from Waterford there is a place where I feel so wonderful. I am truly grateful to those who run the local ‘drifting rink’ in the old parking lot of the derelict tannery. So many young lads stay out of trouble because they are busy doing something good. Something they enjoy doing. This short amateur YouTube video gives you an idea about the atmosphere on the site. The drivers come to the Tannery from as far as Donegal.

To take these pictures I pan my camera along with the moving cars. I use a low shutter speed – not faster than 1/30 sec- and usually focus either on the driver or on the surface of the car that is close to the driver. You can guess that using this technique only a tiny fraction of the shots can be called a keeper, 10% may be, but I love giving the shot a feeling of motion rather than freezing the action. If the environment doesn’t add to the shot, it is better to leave it blurred. It would be a different story if I took pictures of a swimmer or surfer: the waves look gorgeous around a surfer 🙂

You can tell that car is moving if the wheels are spinning. The cars are not necessarily moving straight in these pictures even if they look so.

Some drivers like to impress the spectators with a cloud of smoke.

Tannery Drifting

I make myself comfortable on the concrete barrier. From here I can see everything quite close, and if I turn around I can see the cars on their way to the ‘drifting rink’ and back.

The last advice before the start?

Age doesn’t matter, we all love drifting.

Tannery Drifting

I think I have picture of these people in the same place but in their winter clothes 🙂 The tires are gone though. Somebody put them on fire.

Tannery Drifting

Auto Chem, one of my favorite teams. I move my rug so that the weeds wouldn’t get into my next picture.

All kinds of minor accidents happen during the drifting. Tire blowouts are the most common. I have seen a deflated tire hula-hoop, roll away, make a circle and return back to the car.

This car was doing just great, and then there was a loud boom.

This car is loosing its rear bumper but the driver never bothers to stop. After a few seconds the bumper frees itself from the car and flies away.

This car hit the tires during the drift and got its bumper damaged.

Tannery Drifting

Old tires can be quite agile when pushed.

“Sorry, give us a second!”

Sometimes a car has to be pushed using manpower.

Tannery Drifting

After the drift.

Tannery Drifting

Some lads make alterations to their cars. I am not an expert to understand the purpose of this one. Improved aerodynamics or an emergency exit? Looks cute anyway.