Dead Isle
The Ardeer Peninsula, located in Ayrshire in the South of Scotland, was once home to what was once the largest explosives factories in the world. Operated by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), the factory established by Alfred Nobel produced Dynamite which was exported and used across the world. During the First and Second World Wars the site employed up to 13,000 people.
Today the site with its laboratories, bunkers, press houses, railway station and power plant is largely abandoned, however is an important site for biodiversity.
This sanctuary for wildlife, with its rare plant and insect species is currently at threat from developers who are currently destroying it at an alarming rate.
Alex has been documenting the site for almost 20 years, and is currently working with The University of London and The Carena Institute as an Honorary Fellow to record the history of the site before it is lost forever.
“Picture to yourself everlasting bleak sand dunes with no buildings…It is a sand desert where the wind blows, often howls, filling the ears with sand. Between us and America there is nothing but water, a sea whose mighty waves are always raging and foaming. Now you will have some idea of the place where I am living. Without work, the place would be intolerable” - Alfred Nobel
