This grainy black and white image of OSR in winter tends to disguise something that might be more obvious if you could use another of your senses when experiencing the scene in this photo: the sense of smell.
The Reformatory was heated with coal; the winter winds were heavy with the acrid coal scent; and the nearby smokestacks of Mansfield’s steel mill belched out continual clouds of black soot as well.
Coal dust settled over everything. The snows of 1927 did not stay pristine white for very long.
