Alright shaggers, finally getting round to compiling the second part of this explore, over a year later, with these pictures being taken over a handful of trips in June last year (I think…). This report covers various parts of the sprawling ICI Nobel Explosives sites in North Ayrshire, Scotland, with the exception of the power plant which I’ve covered previously (Report - - ICI Nobel Explosives (Power Station) - Ardeer, June 2023 | Industrial Sites).
Not totally happy with how I edited some of these photos back then but I’m yet to go through my folders and redo them, so I figured I’d just stick up what I had. I only had my phone with me, and a lot of the interiors were empty, pigeon shit aside, so this report is a bit more exterior-shot heavy than my previous one. I also found a couple more arty-farty-wanky pics from the power station and will include them at the bottom of this report.
History
The Nobel explosives works in North Ayrshire was once a major supplier of dynamite to the mining, quarrying and defence industries, with the company being founded by Alfred Nobel (of "Nobel Prize" fame) in 1871. The works would go on to specialise in explosives, propellants and nitrocellulose-based products, eventually merging into ICI in 1926. The site employed over 13,000 at it's peak, boasting it's own rail & bus networks, as well as various amenities (dentists, grocers etc) as part of the workers' village on-site. After the de-merging of ICI in the 90s, the site was taken on by the Japanese firm Inabata, and later the Chemring Group, before fully closing in the late 2000s
Due to the volatile nature of many of the processes that occurred in explosive production, the site sprawled across miles of the Ardeer Peninsula, with buildings and departments being separated by large sand dunes and blast walls, connected by small rail networks, the remains of which can be seen all across the site. Areas of the site include labs, test sites, pressing houses, docks and a power station.
The Explore
Several trips last year saw me traversing across blast walls, sand dunes and bunkers as I scoured the different sections of the 100+ acre site in search of any interesting remnants of what was once an immense manufacturing operation unrivalled by anything else in the area.
Sections covered in this report include some of the blast walls within the woods, labs adjacent to the power plant, a nearby fertiliser plant, various workshops and other miscellaneous buildings. I’m confident I’ve missed quite a bit in this place including the pier situated off towards the more modern museum that has also fallen into dereliction, and a small switchgear-filled substation building that sits in amongst the active industrial estate adjacent to the site – one that I really want a nosey in at some point.
On a slightly different note, there’s probably a lot to appreciate in this area if you enjoy bird watching or have an appreciation for wildlife in general, with plenty of seabirds, foxes and other animals roaming around whilst I was exploring, I’m sure somebody more knowledgeable on the topic than me could provide more insight.
As an aside, I thought I’d drop the link to this old report from DerelictPlaces.com covering the site in 2009, which shows it in a much better nick than it’s current state, not to mention looking a hell of a lot easier to get around.
ICI Nobel Ardeer, Ayrshire - The Good Stuff - June 2009
Any feedback and discussion welcome, I really want to get some more explores under my belt this year so if anybody fancies meeting up for some Scottish explores feel free to give me a shout and we can try sort something.
Pictures:
The main corridor within the laboratory, along the left side you can make out the small window slits, presumably used for watching something blow up outside without the risk of losing an eye to a chunk of shrapnel
Old desktop and filing cabinet in a side room within the lab
Looking up at a large tower next door to the main lab building, which I believe contained a large pendulum at one point
Exterior shot from a section of the lab. Pigeon central.
Little side nook in a small building next door
No explosives this way
"High Speed Firing Unit" , a bit like my arse after too much cheap lager...
Overview of the fertiliser plant that sits beside the power station
Now imagine I was standing at the bottom of that photo and took a shot looking upwards
Another pic of the fertiliser plant, moments before bumping into fantastic Mr Fox and his mistress. These pics look much blurrier and crapper than I remember!
Arty Farty black and white cracked-window-panes-with-vegetation shot. wahaayyyyy.
Nothing abandoned here I just thought this was a nice photo tbh
One of the dozens of miscellaneous sheds/storerooms/structures found within the woods
I believe this concrete behemoth was part of the black powder plant, again located in the depths of the forest. Most of my pictures of the plant were rubbish so I haven't included them, there wasn't a great deal to see beyond the concrete structure itself anyway.
One of the dozens of little tunnels and bends that went through the undergrowth in amongst all the buildings in the woods. Some still had rail lines in tact, used for transporting materials between each section of the site, but again my photos were craptastic so haven't included.
A bit further out from the forest and power plant sand dune area, were about half a dozen of these long, identical buildings, each spread equally apart in a row, totally stripped out but still quite impressive to look at. If someone wants to fly over this part with a drone they'd do the scale of these buildings much better justice than I have.
And a couple of interior shots from these buildings, which were totally identical, with nothing much to see
And that's all I've got as far as passable photos go, crap ones available on request
. Below are a couple of arty farty ones from the power station that I forgot to include in that post. Thanks for snooping if you've made it this far!
Not totally happy with how I edited some of these photos back then but I’m yet to go through my folders and redo them, so I figured I’d just stick up what I had. I only had my phone with me, and a lot of the interiors were empty, pigeon shit aside, so this report is a bit more exterior-shot heavy than my previous one. I also found a couple more arty-farty-wanky pics from the power station and will include them at the bottom of this report.
History
The Nobel explosives works in North Ayrshire was once a major supplier of dynamite to the mining, quarrying and defence industries, with the company being founded by Alfred Nobel (of "Nobel Prize" fame) in 1871. The works would go on to specialise in explosives, propellants and nitrocellulose-based products, eventually merging into ICI in 1926. The site employed over 13,000 at it's peak, boasting it's own rail & bus networks, as well as various amenities (dentists, grocers etc) as part of the workers' village on-site. After the de-merging of ICI in the 90s, the site was taken on by the Japanese firm Inabata, and later the Chemring Group, before fully closing in the late 2000s
Due to the volatile nature of many of the processes that occurred in explosive production, the site sprawled across miles of the Ardeer Peninsula, with buildings and departments being separated by large sand dunes and blast walls, connected by small rail networks, the remains of which can be seen all across the site. Areas of the site include labs, test sites, pressing houses, docks and a power station.
The Explore
Several trips last year saw me traversing across blast walls, sand dunes and bunkers as I scoured the different sections of the 100+ acre site in search of any interesting remnants of what was once an immense manufacturing operation unrivalled by anything else in the area.
Sections covered in this report include some of the blast walls within the woods, labs adjacent to the power plant, a nearby fertiliser plant, various workshops and other miscellaneous buildings. I’m confident I’ve missed quite a bit in this place including the pier situated off towards the more modern museum that has also fallen into dereliction, and a small switchgear-filled substation building that sits in amongst the active industrial estate adjacent to the site – one that I really want a nosey in at some point.
On a slightly different note, there’s probably a lot to appreciate in this area if you enjoy bird watching or have an appreciation for wildlife in general, with plenty of seabirds, foxes and other animals roaming around whilst I was exploring, I’m sure somebody more knowledgeable on the topic than me could provide more insight.
As an aside, I thought I’d drop the link to this old report from DerelictPlaces.com covering the site in 2009, which shows it in a much better nick than it’s current state, not to mention looking a hell of a lot easier to get around.
ICI Nobel Ardeer, Ayrshire - The Good Stuff - June 2009
Any feedback and discussion welcome, I really want to get some more explores under my belt this year so if anybody fancies meeting up for some Scottish explores feel free to give me a shout and we can try sort something.
Pictures:
The main corridor within the laboratory, along the left side you can make out the small window slits, presumably used for watching something blow up outside without the risk of losing an eye to a chunk of shrapnel
Old desktop and filing cabinet in a side room within the lab
Looking up at a large tower next door to the main lab building, which I believe contained a large pendulum at one point
Exterior shot from a section of the lab. Pigeon central.
Little side nook in a small building next door
No explosives this way
"High Speed Firing Unit" , a bit like my arse after too much cheap lager...
Overview of the fertiliser plant that sits beside the power station
Now imagine I was standing at the bottom of that photo and took a shot looking upwards
Another pic of the fertiliser plant, moments before bumping into fantastic Mr Fox and his mistress. These pics look much blurrier and crapper than I remember!
Arty Farty black and white cracked-window-panes-with-vegetation shot. wahaayyyyy.
Nothing abandoned here I just thought this was a nice photo tbh
One of the dozens of miscellaneous sheds/storerooms/structures found within the woods
I believe this concrete behemoth was part of the black powder plant, again located in the depths of the forest. Most of my pictures of the plant were rubbish so I haven't included them, there wasn't a great deal to see beyond the concrete structure itself anyway.
One of the dozens of little tunnels and bends that went through the undergrowth in amongst all the buildings in the woods. Some still had rail lines in tact, used for transporting materials between each section of the site, but again my photos were craptastic so haven't included.
A bit further out from the forest and power plant sand dune area, were about half a dozen of these long, identical buildings, each spread equally apart in a row, totally stripped out but still quite impressive to look at. If someone wants to fly over this part with a drone they'd do the scale of these buildings much better justice than I have.
And a couple of interior shots from these buildings, which were totally identical, with nothing much to see
And that's all I've got as far as passable photos go, crap ones available on request
. Below are a couple of arty farty ones from the power station that I forgot to include in that post. Thanks for snooping if you've made it this far!
