The Spetchells consist of three hills about 1.5km in length, formed of waste products from a WW2 Government enterprise operated by ICI from 1941 until its closure in 1967. The factory produced synthetic ammonia, used in the manufacture of fertilisers and explosives, to replace nitrate imports. From unlikely beginnings these waste deposits have produced a rare chalk grassland habitat which is unique in Northumberland.
The black and white photograph is of the ICI site, taken from A. E. Smailes' geography text book, North England (1960). It shows Prudhoe Castle dwarfed by extensive factory buildings, and the Spetchells hills under construction in the back-ground.
