Plein air painting 57

Within the area of Northam, a suburb of Southampton UK are two old gas holders. One was built in 1935 and the other, shown here in this painting, was built in 1909. It has a pretty decorative lattice structure and holds the actual collapsible tank, build in three sections which varies in size depending on how much gas is stored in it. A full tank would mean the top of the tank would fill the volume of the structure. The gas holders are seen in many old photographs of the area mainly as they were amongst the largest buildings in the area.
They have not been in used for ten years and were listed as an important part of the area's industrial heritage. However, at the time this painting was done, demolition had begun so it seems that the gas holders had been removed from the registry and will be replaced by flats.

The main road running left to right is Northam road. Britannia road starts at the traffic light junction and runs in to the distance where the Itchen bridge can be seen right in the distance.

Painted in oils on mounting board, sized at 12" x 9.5" during one early Sunday morning during August 2022.

Plein air painting 26 

Northam road, within central Southampton is captured in this plein air painting, created one early Saturday morning in June 2021. The viewer is looking west toward the city centre and two notable landmarks are visible, with the flats known as Albion Towers in the centre of the horizon and one of two large Victorian gas holders, now empty on the left hand side of the composition. A set of traffic lights are on either side of a pedestrian crossing.