I recently travelled to a part of the country I've spent very little time in, that being northern Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire - it was, how shall I put it, a very wet experience. I'd go as far as saying it was by far the wettest weekend of exploring I've ever put myself through, but there were a few decent successes.
What this is, is pulling a small success from a failure - the initial plan had been to attempt the Ice Factory, but the weather being what it was - driving rain and gale force winds - meant both of us weren't feeling particularly enthusiastic about trying to climb up slippery metal. It seems most people who do the Ice Factory only ever do the Ice Factory and then leave, without ever having more of a nose around the dock estate, much of which is very run down and derelict looking. I know a few years ago people did Cosalt, but that is now gone/redeveloped, and you'd think the only thing to explore there now is the Ice Factory.
I had noticed this building on Google Maps prior to the trip as I was curious about what other stuff might be hiding in the docks, so after the tactical retreat from the outside of the Ice Factory we took a little drive and I quickly spotted the door open into part of it. When I pushed it open a little bit and shone my light around, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the sight that greeted my eyes.
The building was constructed in two parts, the first in 1894 and it was extended in 1898 according to the date stones. It was at one time an electrical substation, and maybe even a former power station for part of the docks as it reminded me a little of the similarly-aged Victoria Power Station in Scotland although on a much smaller scale. Only the part used as a Substation was accessible, there was a small part of the building to the right which was sealed up, and the 1898 wing had a Heras fence across the front half which was empty, and the rear part was sealed as it appeared to have been divided up internally at some point. The frustrating thing for me is that this is one building which had an obvious use, but that I can find absolutely no mentions of online. It doesn't appear to be listed, so that isn't any help, and searching all the key words associated with it doesn't bring up anything either. The only photo I have found dates from 1981 and shows what I believe to be the building in the middle bottom of the docks as seen below:
The chimney or tower behind it to the left has been demolished along with whatever else it connected to.
On entering, the main draw is the impressive bank of Reyrolle equipment which appears to be complete, it's unlike anything else I've seen in other places.
Opposite the Reyrolle there was a large bank of switchgear made by Brush which had been somewhat stripped of copper and other things.
There was one very large blue transformer and a couple of smaller ones tucked in the corner...
To finish up, a couple of phone photos looking into the 1898 extension, nothing inside except some nice tiles.
If anyone does know anything more about this building I would love to hear it, as it's a great little gem.
Cheers for looking
What this is, is pulling a small success from a failure - the initial plan had been to attempt the Ice Factory, but the weather being what it was - driving rain and gale force winds - meant both of us weren't feeling particularly enthusiastic about trying to climb up slippery metal. It seems most people who do the Ice Factory only ever do the Ice Factory and then leave, without ever having more of a nose around the dock estate, much of which is very run down and derelict looking. I know a few years ago people did Cosalt, but that is now gone/redeveloped, and you'd think the only thing to explore there now is the Ice Factory.
I had noticed this building on Google Maps prior to the trip as I was curious about what other stuff might be hiding in the docks, so after the tactical retreat from the outside of the Ice Factory we took a little drive and I quickly spotted the door open into part of it. When I pushed it open a little bit and shone my light around, I was more than pleasantly surprised by the sight that greeted my eyes.
The building was constructed in two parts, the first in 1894 and it was extended in 1898 according to the date stones. It was at one time an electrical substation, and maybe even a former power station for part of the docks as it reminded me a little of the similarly-aged Victoria Power Station in Scotland although on a much smaller scale. Only the part used as a Substation was accessible, there was a small part of the building to the right which was sealed up, and the 1898 wing had a Heras fence across the front half which was empty, and the rear part was sealed as it appeared to have been divided up internally at some point. The frustrating thing for me is that this is one building which had an obvious use, but that I can find absolutely no mentions of online. It doesn't appear to be listed, so that isn't any help, and searching all the key words associated with it doesn't bring up anything either. The only photo I have found dates from 1981 and shows what I believe to be the building in the middle bottom of the docks as seen below:
The chimney or tower behind it to the left has been demolished along with whatever else it connected to.
On entering, the main draw is the impressive bank of Reyrolle equipment which appears to be complete, it's unlike anything else I've seen in other places.
Opposite the Reyrolle there was a large bank of switchgear made by Brush which had been somewhat stripped of copper and other things.
There was one very large blue transformer and a couple of smaller ones tucked in the corner...
To finish up, a couple of phone photos looking into the 1898 extension, nothing inside except some nice tiles.
If anyone does know anything more about this building I would love to hear it, as it's a great little gem.
Cheers for looking
