Report - Littlewoods Pools - Liverpool - May 2018 (Before the Fire)

ginsters · May 19, 2019

Explored last year back in May 2018 before the horrible fire that caused so much damage to this iconic building. Was a chilled out explore and amazing to see the vast scale of this place. Hard to imagine the hustle and bustle that must have gone on when it was full of staff. I think my mum worked here in her younger days as well!

Wiki History etc :-
The Littlewoods Pools building (also known as the Littlewoods Building) is a notable building on Edge Lane in Liverpool. Built in 1938, and probably designed by Scottish architect Gerald de Courcey Fraser, the building is next to the Wavertree Botanic Gardens.

The building has had various uses throughout its life. It was originally the headquarters of Littlewoods, then the country's largest family-owned business empire.

A year after it opened, during World War II, it was requisitioned and became home of the government's postal censorship department, while its printing presses were used to print National Registration cards. Its vast internal spaces were used for manufacturing the floors of Halifax Bombers, barrage balloons and woollen material. In the 1940s the building was also used by Unity Pools (formed from Littlewoods, Zetters and Vernons).

The building has stood empty since 2003.

On 2 September 2018 a fire broke out at night in part of the complex. The roof and upper floor of one wing were lost, although the main structure was saved.

The photos :-