General Information
During the year 2000 D J Clark built a visual record of the Lancaster &
Morecambe district using photographs and information submitted by those that
feature in the pictures. The project was conducted in association with Lancaster
Museum and has been archived for future generations to look back at the district
at the turn of the new Millennium. For more information on the project visit
the information page. If you find a caption is
wrong or there is a fault with the page please e-mail D
J Clark.
Date:
November 10th, 2000
Location: South Lancaster
Photographer's Diary
Friday 10th November - The Bin men, Urban 1 Crew.
I was a bit anxious driving through the City at 6:45 AM towards the Morecambe
depot. I should not have been, as is often the case a few nerves often lead
to good pictures. It was still dark when I arrived at the depot and I was directed
to a prefab office. Yellow jacketed men crowded around the door, waiting to
find out where they where to be assigned that day. I shot a few pictures and
then pushed into the office. They were expecting me, and I was lucky enough
to get a few minutes to get some early pictures.
I went with a temporary driver to a vehicle and set off. We were to pick up
the crew along the way, they all turned up and made fun of the fact they were
to be famous for a day. On the second pick up one man had a go at me, "you're
not taking any pictures of me, last time I had a picture I got burgled".
The others went quiet. I worried they might too take a similar stance, but none
of it - they were pleased to be in the frame and quickly apologised to me about
their colleagues behaviour as soon as we left the truck.
I set off with two fun and young pullers. They went from house to house, pulling
the bin bags out and making neat piles along the way. As they went they would
drop new bags. It started to rain, I had no protection having seen the forecast
the night before, I was hoping for a dry run. I was offered a bin bag, but it
was too late. My camera and me were soaked, I carried on. As dawn broke so the
rain cleared and left a bright morning. I switched from one pair to another
and continued to follow. They worked quickly and hard, I was getting tired just
trying to keep up. "The sooner we finish, the sooner we go home" it
was Friday and they planned to be starting the weekend by 2 PM.
Stopping at a bakery for one short break, the energy continued, this time with
fast jokes. A supervisor turned up with some documents to sign. I was told later
it gave them the right to take bonus's off them if they left a mess. This was
the end of the line and few people had time for the bin men"Don't worry"
one of the crew called out to his supervisor. "I'll still talk to you after
I'm famous, in spite of what you are doing to us". Everyone laughed but
I sensed a little tension. I picked up on some conversation about going out
in the evening, "are you off around town" I asked. "No"
came a slightly embarrassed reply. "We meet once a month with some other
friends to play the Digeridoo, we are all really keen". Bazaar, maybe,
but these men were not as the public perceived. I wonder if the woman who came
out asking rudely for more bin bags, from a large detached house would have
spoken quite the same had she known of their musical endeavours.
I moved onto the wagon and followed the driver and mate (the one that disliked
me) for a short while. I sensed the earlier complaint had been withdrawn as
he slowly warmed to me. "You can photograph me from behind" he conceded.
Soon the back was full, nearly ten tons of compressed garbage and we set off
for the landfill site. This was managed by another company who weighed us in
and sent the truck on its way. Sea gulls were everywhere, waiting for the next
delivery. I am sure they must have known we had only just picked up an industrial
bin from Bailey's fish and chip shop.
We moved off and I jumped ship. I had shot a lot of film, but was confident
I had a strong set of pictures.