Well this was a rare first for me nowadays, exploring somewhere that I used to work! In fact I worked here for nearly 9 years, doing my apprenticeship with the company after I left school and going on to do a couple of other roles before I moved on in 2013. Because of that I actually already knew the site like the back of my hand. Part of our apprenticeship involved working placements in every area of the business so theres probably not a room in the whole building I've not been in before. Still there was no way I was going to let it end up a heap of rubble before going back for one last look around. I was surprised in fact. I didn't expect the be able to produce a particularly interesting set of photos or a lengthy report from my efforts at all. I was only really into it for a bit of nostalgia. In reality tho once I got back in there I realised there was still a fair bit to see, mainly down to it being a proper factory! Modern factories have become little more then tin sheds with machines inside here in contrast it was very traditional with all the engineering and welfare facilities that nowadays have vanished from a lot of firms. I also have a million and one storys to tell, things to explain plus a bit of a desire to do the place justice so in fact, i suspect this is going to be pretty lengthy and probably in several parts so bare with me!!
CAV stands for Charles Anthony Vandervell who started the company back in the Victorian era. Over the years the company has made numerous different products but are certainly today are most famous for their diesel injection systems. CAV was bought by Lucas in the 1920s and for a short period was also merged with Bosch in the mid 1930s (that didn't last to long for obvious reasons). The company initially had factories in London but came to Sudbury in 1944 setting up a workshop in 'the new hall' in new street. Randomly this very building is still there and also sitting derelict so I made sure I had a look at that too. It's quite a contrast to the massive 60s beast of a plant but i guess that's what 20 years of progress gets you! The New Hall works was probably only a temporary war time measure anyway as in 1952 the company built a proper purpose built factory on the site of a former chalk quarry in Cornard road. Sadly that one is no longer with us. From what people have told me i believe it probably closed in either the late 80s or early 90s and has become a housing development known as 'Lucas road'.
New Hall Works 1948
New Hall Exterior 2022
New Hall Works 1945
New Hall Interior 2022
Cornard Road Works 1966
The Alexander Road factory, sometimes referred to as the Chilton Works was built in 1964. Initially half the size it is today the rear half was added in two extensions during the late 60s and early 70s. Its said at its height over 3000 people worked there but by the time I joined it was more like 900 in boom times and 700 in the 2008 recession. Still this probably made it the largest engineering employer in Suffolk! It went through numerous name changes over the years as the Lucas group was rearranged and eventually sold off. Initially just CAV it was soon Lucas CAV and then Lucas Diesel Systems.. in 1996 it became Lucas Varity when the two companies merged and then that was swallowed up by TRW in 1999. Almost straight away TRW offloaded the diesel business onto Delphi who are essentially a spinoff of US giant General Motors.. Throughout my time there it was Delphi Diesel Systems but shortly before closure in the wake of diesels bad press and impending doom the diesel part of the name was dropped.
The site in 2020
There were quite a few other plants in the group. In the UK we had Gillingham in Kent (Lucas Medway) and Stonehouse in Gloucestershire. Plus a pair in France and many more further afield. Closure of the Sudbury plant was announced in 2017. Closure had been on the cards a few times in the past but the plant had always managed to wriggle free. This time the writing was on the wall however. Who knows exactly why Sudbury was the one to go but I'd guess it was most likely the dated infrastructure and value of the land that swung it. The factory finally closed in July 2020 around the same time that the remainder of the business was sold off to Borg Warner. There are plans to demolish the site for houses. Ofcourse.
When the closure was first announced I had high hope's of getting back early on in the process when all the machines and what not were still there but as more of the people I knew left and the place wound down it was clear it was probably going to be emptied before it had even really closed. Once of the problems of planned closures for explorers I guess.. covid was the final obstacle and probably the main reason this report is a year late!
After a couple of initially recces I was surprised to find the site pretty much deserted. I had expected security to still be in the gatehouse but the place seemed left for dead. Typically by my next visit it had sprouted a security guard but luckily he didn't appear to do anything other than sit out front in his car. With a bit of insider knowledge getting in proved fairly easy but I think without knowing the place so well it wouldn't have been so simple. Not only was the building well locked up it was also quite well locked inside with many internal doors pad locked and not a sign of any of your usual derelict building smashing or anything like that. Again, thankfully I knew how to bypass most of said locks! I spent a good few hours inside reminiscing and finding my way around all the padlocked doors. In the end there were a couple of bits I couldn't manage like the front foyer and medical rooms but I didn't try too hard as it was already in the back of my mind I would need a return visit and may have another chance.. Sure enough after a more recent visit 'other people' had clearly been paying the place some attention too and i found most of those parts had suddenly become accessible..
Initially I found the majority if the plant well stripped and fairly empty. It was a bit of a disappointment to find nearly every piece of machinery and equipment in the whole place had been moved out. I was hoping at least for some of the older more redundant stuff to still be there or maybe for some of the offices and workshops to be untouched but it wasn't really to be.. The one bit that bucked the trend was the boiler house. The boilers and basement were always an interesting part of the factory so I suspected it might make one of the more interesting parts to explore but it was far better to look around again than I remembered it. It's got a really dated feel about it and and luckily it was totally untouched too! At least on the first few visits.
The other 'best part' I had to leave for another day.. the social club sits at the back of the site, an amazing 60s club with sports field, bowls green and tennis courts. We actually had our 6 form leaving 'prom' in there in 2004. I remember thinking how it was a bit shit to have a 'posh doo' in the shadow of a shitty old factory.. then a couple of months later I was working in said shitty factory.. lol.. Anyway back then the club was run by the company itself in the traditional way. Up until 2003 it was actually still part of the factory grounds and I remember when I first started getting warned of the strict rules about getting caught in the club during works hours.. it was all a bit redundant by then tho as they had built a new access road down to it and fenced it off from the factory to stop people doing too much of that kind of thing a year earlier. Back then we paid 50p a week out of our wages to be members but I dont think I ever actually set foot in there for leisure purposes. Well not outside of work anyway, we were always dreaming up excuses to go over there and skive off as apprentices! I remember doing such dumb jobs as having to catalogue all the ladders on site and being told not to forget the ones over the club.. cue half a week of sitting over the club fucking about while telling anyone who asked 'we are just looking for ladders'..
Like most good things eventually the company decided they wanted to ditch it and stopped taking the 50p off us. Luckily the council stepped in and became lease holders to keep it open but mostly just for golden oldies types to go to ballroom dancing club in I think. Like most old clubs there was no real imagination or embracing of quite what a gem of a building it actually is and I'm sure there wont be before the bulldozers move in either!
Maybe we should start with some externals first.
Frontage with canopies over the two 'workers' entrances
'Goods in' Side, Central Services Workshop on the corner followed by Canteen loading bay behind the roller shutter, then Substation, Boiler and Compressor House, Oil Stores, Goods in Warehouse etc..
Substation and start of the Boiler House
Up on the roof, There rear half has two penthouses containing ventilation fans and chiller equipment for the chilled water supply, a good hiding place!
The Fire Station and Security Lodge at the front of site (complete with sleepy security guard!)
Waste water treatment plant near the gatehouse, all the drains on site drained here to prevent contamination of the local drains.
View down the 'dispatch side', The road on the left was added to access the social club in 2004
The social club
Cracking planters!
Bowls Green
Tennis Courts, long disused
CAV stands for Charles Anthony Vandervell who started the company back in the Victorian era. Over the years the company has made numerous different products but are certainly today are most famous for their diesel injection systems. CAV was bought by Lucas in the 1920s and for a short period was also merged with Bosch in the mid 1930s (that didn't last to long for obvious reasons). The company initially had factories in London but came to Sudbury in 1944 setting up a workshop in 'the new hall' in new street. Randomly this very building is still there and also sitting derelict so I made sure I had a look at that too. It's quite a contrast to the massive 60s beast of a plant but i guess that's what 20 years of progress gets you! The New Hall works was probably only a temporary war time measure anyway as in 1952 the company built a proper purpose built factory on the site of a former chalk quarry in Cornard road. Sadly that one is no longer with us. From what people have told me i believe it probably closed in either the late 80s or early 90s and has become a housing development known as 'Lucas road'.
New Hall Works 1948
New Hall Exterior 2022
New Hall Works 1945
New Hall Interior 2022
Cornard Road Works 1966
The Alexander Road factory, sometimes referred to as the Chilton Works was built in 1964. Initially half the size it is today the rear half was added in two extensions during the late 60s and early 70s. Its said at its height over 3000 people worked there but by the time I joined it was more like 900 in boom times and 700 in the 2008 recession. Still this probably made it the largest engineering employer in Suffolk! It went through numerous name changes over the years as the Lucas group was rearranged and eventually sold off. Initially just CAV it was soon Lucas CAV and then Lucas Diesel Systems.. in 1996 it became Lucas Varity when the two companies merged and then that was swallowed up by TRW in 1999. Almost straight away TRW offloaded the diesel business onto Delphi who are essentially a spinoff of US giant General Motors.. Throughout my time there it was Delphi Diesel Systems but shortly before closure in the wake of diesels bad press and impending doom the diesel part of the name was dropped.
Chilton Works Construction 1963
Chilton Works 1971 (after its first extension)
Chilton Works 1971 (after its first extension)
The site in 2020
There were quite a few other plants in the group. In the UK we had Gillingham in Kent (Lucas Medway) and Stonehouse in Gloucestershire. Plus a pair in France and many more further afield. Closure of the Sudbury plant was announced in 2017. Closure had been on the cards a few times in the past but the plant had always managed to wriggle free. This time the writing was on the wall however. Who knows exactly why Sudbury was the one to go but I'd guess it was most likely the dated infrastructure and value of the land that swung it. The factory finally closed in July 2020 around the same time that the remainder of the business was sold off to Borg Warner. There are plans to demolish the site for houses. Ofcourse.
When the closure was first announced I had high hope's of getting back early on in the process when all the machines and what not were still there but as more of the people I knew left and the place wound down it was clear it was probably going to be emptied before it had even really closed. Once of the problems of planned closures for explorers I guess.. covid was the final obstacle and probably the main reason this report is a year late!
After a couple of initially recces I was surprised to find the site pretty much deserted. I had expected security to still be in the gatehouse but the place seemed left for dead. Typically by my next visit it had sprouted a security guard but luckily he didn't appear to do anything other than sit out front in his car. With a bit of insider knowledge getting in proved fairly easy but I think without knowing the place so well it wouldn't have been so simple. Not only was the building well locked up it was also quite well locked inside with many internal doors pad locked and not a sign of any of your usual derelict building smashing or anything like that. Again, thankfully I knew how to bypass most of said locks! I spent a good few hours inside reminiscing and finding my way around all the padlocked doors. In the end there were a couple of bits I couldn't manage like the front foyer and medical rooms but I didn't try too hard as it was already in the back of my mind I would need a return visit and may have another chance.. Sure enough after a more recent visit 'other people' had clearly been paying the place some attention too and i found most of those parts had suddenly become accessible..
Initially I found the majority if the plant well stripped and fairly empty. It was a bit of a disappointment to find nearly every piece of machinery and equipment in the whole place had been moved out. I was hoping at least for some of the older more redundant stuff to still be there or maybe for some of the offices and workshops to be untouched but it wasn't really to be.. The one bit that bucked the trend was the boiler house. The boilers and basement were always an interesting part of the factory so I suspected it might make one of the more interesting parts to explore but it was far better to look around again than I remembered it. It's got a really dated feel about it and and luckily it was totally untouched too! At least on the first few visits.
The other 'best part' I had to leave for another day.. the social club sits at the back of the site, an amazing 60s club with sports field, bowls green and tennis courts. We actually had our 6 form leaving 'prom' in there in 2004. I remember thinking how it was a bit shit to have a 'posh doo' in the shadow of a shitty old factory.. then a couple of months later I was working in said shitty factory.. lol.. Anyway back then the club was run by the company itself in the traditional way. Up until 2003 it was actually still part of the factory grounds and I remember when I first started getting warned of the strict rules about getting caught in the club during works hours.. it was all a bit redundant by then tho as they had built a new access road down to it and fenced it off from the factory to stop people doing too much of that kind of thing a year earlier. Back then we paid 50p a week out of our wages to be members but I dont think I ever actually set foot in there for leisure purposes. Well not outside of work anyway, we were always dreaming up excuses to go over there and skive off as apprentices! I remember doing such dumb jobs as having to catalogue all the ladders on site and being told not to forget the ones over the club.. cue half a week of sitting over the club fucking about while telling anyone who asked 'we are just looking for ladders'..
Like most good things eventually the company decided they wanted to ditch it and stopped taking the 50p off us. Luckily the council stepped in and became lease holders to keep it open but mostly just for golden oldies types to go to ballroom dancing club in I think. Like most old clubs there was no real imagination or embracing of quite what a gem of a building it actually is and I'm sure there wont be before the bulldozers move in either!
Maybe we should start with some externals first.
Frontage with canopies over the two 'workers' entrances
'Goods in' Side, Central Services Workshop on the corner followed by Canteen loading bay behind the roller shutter, then Substation, Boiler and Compressor House, Oil Stores, Goods in Warehouse etc..
Substation and start of the Boiler House
Up on the roof, There rear half has two penthouses containing ventilation fans and chiller equipment for the chilled water supply, a good hiding place!
The Fire Station and Security Lodge at the front of site (complete with sleepy security guard!)
Waste water treatment plant near the gatehouse, all the drains on site drained here to prevent contamination of the local drains.
View down the 'dispatch side', The road on the left was added to access the social club in 2004
The social club
Cracking planters!
Bowls Green
Tennis Courts, long disused
Attachments
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