Abandoned Industrial Sites

“By means of industry and perseverance you will rise higher and higher.” ― Robert Schumann

Urbex: Ford Transit Van Factory, Southampton – January 2015

The now abandoned Ford Transit Van Factory near Southampton has some real history to it. The Factory was initially built as a shadow factory in 1939 near to Southampton Airport and was originally used to produce aircraft parts. In particular the factory, during World War II made components for the Supermarine Spitfire and later was used to assemble the aircraft. As a result it was bombed on several occasions by the Nazi Luftwaffe…

Urbex: Spillers Millennium Mills, London, United Kingdom – September 2014

Designed and built by Mills William Vernon & Sons of West Float, Birkenhead in 1905 the now abandoned Millennium Mills was a flour mill equipped by Henry Simon Ltd that was capable of producing 100 sacks of flour per hour. The Royal Docks and Millennium Mills closed in 1981…

Urbex: Terry’s Chocolate, York, North Yorkshire – May 2014 (Revisit 2)

Welcome to the derelict Terry’s Chocolate Factory aka The Chocolate works… My 3rd trip to see the titanic staircase at this abandoned Chocolate Factory, thankfully not a lot of change at this place. The staircase is still untouched by the contractors, although I don’t expect it will be long before significant works begin here.

Urbex: IM Power Station Cooling Towers, Belgium – May 2014

The abandoned IM Power station Cooling Tower. This place has been on the to do list for ages but its always one location that gets bumped for other spots on our trip… finally we got round to seeing it. Sat over the water from the main buildings of the power station the cooling tower is gigantic…

Urbex: Gigawatt Power Station aka Power Plant XL aka The Cloud Factory, Belgium – May 2014

Not a great deal of information on this gigantic abandoned Power Station which is currently undergoing decommissioning. After seeing a couple of reports from some close friends we decided to throw this onto our list for the trip, the first location in fact as an early start seemed appropriate…

Urbex: The Snow Factory, Somewhere, United Kingdom – April 2014 (revisit)

The Abandoned Snow Factory! Ever wonder where that cold white stuff comes from in winter? well check out the photos below to find out…

Urbex: Globe Mill, Huddersfield – February 2014

Globe Mill is an old abandoned textile mill located in a small village near Huddersfield. The old stone building is very well built and surprisingly suffering little decay. There are plans which are undergoing review for a complete refurbishment of the site introducing accommodation, doctors, shops and a planned supermarket.

Urbex: Terry’s Chocolate, York, North Yorkshire – February 2014 (Revisit)

Briefly The abandoned Chocolate Works was the confectionery factory of Terry’s of York, England. Opened in 1926, it closed in 2005 with the loss of 300 jobs, with production moved to other Kraft Foods sites in mainland Europe.

Urbex: Sleaford Bass Maltings, Sleaford, Lincolnshire – January 2014

Sleaford Bass maltings is a huge abandoned Industrial complex in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. The site was utilised as part of the beer making industry and currently sites on the national heritage sites ‘at risk’ register awaiting redevelopment.

Urbex: National Gas Turbine Establishment aka NGTE Pyestock, Fleet – March 2013 (revisit)

Revisit time at Pyestock all the history I could muster up can be found in my first post from January 2013 along with the photos from that trip. Briefly NGTE Pyestock was a Gas Turbine testing centre for all sorts of large engines. The air house housed 8 x 36,000 bhp engines which helped pump air around the site for testing the engines themselves. The site was mainly used for commercial testing however it was utilised by the military for the testing of jet fighter engines and Navy ship engines…

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Urbex: Dyson Industries Limited, Sheffield, South Yorkshire – January 2013

Our visit Visited with alot of friends from http://www.ukurbex.com/ far too many to mention individually (sorry guys). We had a little mooch around this place before heading back to Leeds for some prearrange drinks 🙂 Bit of a derp but a good day out in the snow 🙂 History Founded by John Dyson who began mining clay…

Urbex: National Gas Turbine Establishment aka NGTE Pyestock, Fleet – January 2013

The National Gas Turbine Establishment at Pyestock Fleet was built in 1949 beginning with some small test cubicals inside buildings like the plant house and has since been added to over the years resulting in the huge site that stands there today. For over 50 years Pyestock was at the forefront of gas turbine development but now the site lays empty and derelict…

Urbex: T.G. Greens Pottery, Swadlincote – January 2013

History Cornish Kitchen Ware was first produced in 1926 by T.G.Green & Co in Church Gresley, Derbyshire, a county famed for its pottery. The range’s special characteristic came from the lathe-turning process, which cut clean bands through its beautiful blue slip to show the white clay beneath. It was apparently this that inspired the name,…

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Urbex: Woollens for Signs, Sheffield, South Yorkshire – November 2012

History Woollen & Co Sheffield was formed in 1883 by Edwin Woollen, a sign writer and Frederick Ibbotson a lithographic printer. Woollens dealt with bespoke signage including hand painted signage. The site closed in 2008 after a takeover with several former employees going on to form a new Woollens while maintaining some of the old…

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Urbex: George Barnsley and Sons aka Cornish Works, Sheffield, South Yorkshire – October 2012

History Borrowed from someone else’s urbex site report as I couldn’t find a great deal of info from other sources: George Barnsley was apprenticed into the filemakers trade in 1823 by his mother, Anne, who had been widowed. He was signed in to the apprenticeship – to a Thomas Wing of Sheffield – for seven years and two hundred…

Urbex: Pilkington Glass, Doncaster, South Yorkshire – October 2012

History Construction of the factory began in 1919 but it apparently opened in 1922 at great cost to the Pilkington company which was established in 1826 over in St Helens. The site was chosen due to its canal side location and access to local coal and sand. In 1923 Pilkington’s, in collaboration with Ford in…

Urbex: The Pier Hartlepool and a quick visit to the Steetley Magnesite – May 2012

The Pier Hartlepool, I’d seen photographs when looking at the Steetley site visits by others so I already knew this thing was big but still it was great to see it with my own eyes and snap a few images. Surprisingly you can walk onto the start of it with no obstructions so I’ll be…

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Urbex: Thorpe Marsh Power Station, Doncaster, South Yorkshire – March 2012 (Revisit)

A few shots from what was to be my last visit to Thorpe Marsh Power Station. I quite liked this site, there wasn’t a lot to see other than the cooling towers but they were more than enough of a draw to keep me coming back for more photos. This trip was my first ride out with…

Urbex: Thorpe Marsh Power Station, Doncaster, South Yorkshire – June 2009

Above: View of the towers on approach the first visit to this place! weather was fantastic reflection in the pool of water really stood out even to the naked eye. Still in awe of the sheer size of these things at this point. Thorpe Marsh Power Station was abandoned in 1994 The site is now…

Urbex: Holdsworth Mill, Mirfield, Kirklees, Yorkshire – April 2009 (Revisit)

2nd Visit to this place, the first can be found here: http://www.proj3ctm4yh3m.com/urbex/2013/01/21/urbex-holdsworth-mill-mirfield-kirklees-yorkshire-october-2008/ Not a great deal of history on this place, this visit was a return to get a few more detail shots with a bit of natural light however the explore wasn’t without a hitch and we had an unexpected early end to the evening. On with…

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