Eight short films from the first viewing with the estate agent - an unpolished record of walking into the site for the first time, before Ennal’s Pool became a working restoration project.
Taken together, the clips make a much better record than any single view of the lake. They follow the first exploration through old workings, woodland, water edges, clearings and tracks, preserving the character of the place before the present work began.
1. The old workings
One of the first encounters with the surviving buildings and worked landscape.
2. At the water
The lake edge on the first viewing.
3. Through the woodland
Moving through dense summer growth with water appearing between the trees.
4. A wider view of the lake
A broader view across Ennal’s Pool during that first walk around the site.
5. Around the far side
Another first-view perspective across the water and surrounding woodland.
6. Old structures in the undergrowth
Industrial remains emerging from the vegetation as the site was explored.
7. A woodland clearing
One of the lighter openings among the trees.
8. The track
A brief piece of the route through the site during the same viewing.
A useful starting point
Keeping this footage makes it possible to look back without trying to reconstruct the beginning from memory. Alongside the older maps and the 1948 aerial photograph, it records the moment just before the present chapter began.
The selection can also change over time. If two clips prove repetitive, one can simply be removed while the original remains safely in the private archive.