Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland, UK, 19 August 2020 : The first & only thorn tower to be built in the UK & the only thorn tower in the world producing salt
A restored Great Western Railway carriage acts as venue for display and cooking . Blackthorn a shrub used in the prduction of salt. There are so many things to admire about it, not least its longevity. Growing for anything up to 100 years, in nature they provide a safe haven for birds and nectar for durable spiney branch that is essential to the working of the Thorn Tower and its ingenious eco-efficiency. The increasingly salty seawater, or brine, also helps to preserve the blackthorn bundles on the Tower, as salt seals wood - think how long shipwrecks It is likely that we will need to replace the blackthorn in the end, but not because of degeneration of the blackthorn itself, more due to a build-up of calcium sulphate around the thorns (the first crystal to form from seawater) which may prevent the wind/ air from passing through them
Size: 5760px × 3840px
Location: Ayr Harbour, Ayr, Scotland, UK
Photo credit: © Alister Firth / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1886, antique, ayr, blackthorn, carriage, coast, craftsmanship, craftsmen, eastern, events, forces, ger, great, heritage, historical, hq, nature, preserved, production, railway, refractometer, refurbishment, restoration, restored, safed, saline, salinity, salt, scotland, sea, seawater, spiky, static, sun, thorn, tower, transport, unique, unusual, venue, victorian, vintage, west, wind
