Report - G Yorke and Sons Broom St Works - Stoke-On-Trent - August 21

[MK83]

Aww glad this place is still standing! We visited in February but was well locked up, didn't get in and a notice outside stated it was to be demolished end of Feb so we bit our lips and walked away, so glad it's still standing! Nice pics!

It seemed secure when we went and we missed the access at first.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

It seemed secure when we went and we missed the access at first.

Really! The place has multiple access points now, it's impossible not to get in tbh

 

[MK83]

Really! The place has multiple access points now, it's impossible not to get in tbh

It was very overgrown at the front and there were 2 people in and out of cars messing around in front of it. Our first pass was one of those suspicious urbex moments were your trying to look inconspicuous! lol. In the end we just thought screw it and fought our way through the bushes with 2 baffled onlookers. It is easy to get in.

 

[Bikin Glynn]

It was very overgrown at the front and there were 2 people in and out of cars messing around in front of it. Our first pass was one of those suspicious urbex moments were your trying to look inconspicuous! lol. In the end we just thought screw it and fought our way through the bushes with 2 baffled onlookers. It is easy to get in.

I went straight through the gap in the gates but my mate couldn't fit lol.

 

[MK83]

I went straight through the gap in the gates but my mate couldn't fit lol.

Bet you had to breath in for that! I'm pretty thin and i don't think i would have fit through that gap!

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Bet you had to breath in for that! I'm pretty thin and i don't think i would have fit through that gap!

its called the Urbex contortion ;-)

 

[Jane Doe]

Lovely bits of machinery..great set of photos

 

[MK83]

Lovely bits of machinery..great set of photos

Thanks Jane. We got a bit obsessed with the machinery in this place.

 

[sardo]

We spent a day mooching around Stoke and while this place has been covered loads we've had it on our list for a while so decided to have a look while we were there.

History - There's very little to be found on this place. G Yorke and sons manufactured brushes and brooms. It looks like it was first registered as a company in 1931 by Frank Tarrant Yorke and Betty Gwendoline Yorke. They retired as directors in 1993 and 1994 respectively and the business was taken over by James Christopher Yorke. In 2005 it's name was changed to All Swept Up and it is still listed as an active company today.

Explore - Access to this place is pretty easy although in full view of the road and other businesses. When we first got in to what looked like the office area it looked pretty disappointing but as you move through towards the back of the premises it gets much better. There is a lot of cool machinery, loads of decay and brushes of every possible kind all over the place. Really enjoyed looking round this place, who would have thought that brush making and the associated machinery would be so interesting!

Thanks for looking.

I use to work there in the early 70s as a brush maker on the machine in photo No18. Would you like more info.

 

[Speed]

I use to work there in the early 70s as a brush maker on the machine in photo No18. Would you like more info.

I'd like more info on how the machines worked. Couldnt quite work out from looking at them but did you have to drill one hole and insert one set of bristles at a time on each brush head before changing the machine to a different position and running the same batch of brushes through again for a different hole position or did the machines move to each hole and finish a whole brush head in one setup as it were??

 

[MK83]

I use to work there in the early 70s as a brush maker on the machine in photo No18. Would you like more info.

Yes absolutely. The place was fascinating. As speed says I'd imagined it was quite a manual process of positioning the head before inserting the bristles. There were no sensors or plc software with these machines!

 

[sardo]

I'd like more info on how the machines worked. Couldnt quite work out from looking at them but did you have to drill one hole and insert one set of bristles at a time on each brush head before changing the machine to a different position and running the same batch of brushes through again for a different hole position or did the machines move to each hole and finish a whole brush head in one setup as it were??

The machine has a guide pattern for the operator to follow. the brush head first had to be drilled on the right side of the machine (held in place by clamps) then it was transferred to the left side where the material was forced into the drilled hole it was folded and stapled in ,the wire you see makes the staples automatically when you operate the machine. there are two guide handles in front which the operator uses to guide the machine so in effect the machine is very hands on with little automation, dependent on the size of the brush you were making you would have to do the top half then rotate the brush to do the other half (both heads one to drill the other to fill ) you can see in one of the photos the various guide plates for the different size brushes . It was very easy to split the brush if you were a little to forceful as you had to pull the guide plate on to the guide pointer and it was piece work so waste cost you money. point of note when i worked there one man who worked upstairs still made the chimney sweep brushes by hand in the traditional method using pitch (bitumen). hope this helps

 

[sardo]

Yes absolutely. The place was fascinating. As speed says I'd imagined it was quite a manual process of positioning the head before inserting the bristles. There were no sensors or plc software with these machines!

I replied to speed with as much info as i could remember, it was 48yrs ago when i worked there and not for long

 

[MK83]

I replied to speed with as much info as i could remember, it was 48yrs ago when i worked there and not for long

Its really good to find out about how it worked from someone who worked there. We often see interesting machinery in these places and wonder how it worked and what it was like to work there. Thanks for the info.

 

[Webbs0710]

Went to revisit this on Sunday on the way to another explore, it's been completely demolished unfortunately.