In the 1880s Wyllie began to paint and exhibit industrial subjects such as 'Becton Gasworks' (1881) and 'King Coal' (1887). The cement works shown in the background may be one at Northfleet on the Thames, or at Rochester. In 'London to the Nore' (1905), Mrs Wyllie refers to the production of cement along the Thames and its effects on the landscape:

'There is a change in the colour of the sky. The air is filled with a thin grey vapour from tall shafts on either side of the river. About forty years ago some-one found out that the stiff mud of the Medway salt marshes, when mixed in proportion with chalk and burnt, would make Portland cement. This discovery is slowly changing the face of the country round the lower Thames and the Medway. Many acres of salt marsh have been dug away...'

M.A. and W.L. Wyllie, ‘London to the Nore’ (London: A & C Black, 1905)