Final closure of the Reddings Lane MEM (or latterly 'Eaton Electric') factory has been on the cards for as long as i have frequented Birmingham. Indeed all indications from conversations with old workers from the area suggest that the factory has been pretty much empty for years with just a skeleton crew remaining manufacturing a few niche products. Myself and @dweeb have been eyeing it up with increasing interest over the last year or two as our sources suggested it was ready to wind down and close for good. It has been a bit of a frustrating one really, rumours circulated of epic tool rooms and lost parts of the factory that had simply been left and locked up untouched for years on end. In the end these didn't seem to materialise which was a bit of a disappointment but non the less we found some bloody good stuff in there worthy of our efforts.
Various MEM Brochures
MEM was founded and started manufacturing switch gear not long after electricity started to be used in meaningful quantities. They originally had a factory 'The Stafford Works' on Barford Street in Digbeth. In 1936 however they took over this site which was formally the Rudge Whitworth Cycle factory. They built a large extension to the front of the building with its distinct tower sometime before 1953. At the rear of the site there was once a foundry that cast the electrical switch boxes but this was demolished and made into a car park before Eaton took over 15 or so year ago.
The site in 1935 before MEM took it over
Various MEM Brochures
MEM was founded and started manufacturing switch gear not long after electricity started to be used in meaningful quantities. They originally had a factory 'The Stafford Works' on Barford Street in Digbeth. In 1936 however they took over this site which was formally the Rudge Whitworth Cycle factory. They built a large extension to the front of the building with its distinct tower sometime before 1953. At the rear of the site there was once a foundry that cast the electrical switch boxes but this was demolished and made into a car park before Eaton took over 15 or so year ago.
gracesguide said:
The site in 1935 before MEM took it over
The site in 1952 After MEM had added their extensions
The time window has been exceedingly tight here. They started demolishing the more modern half of the site before the older bit at the front had even closed. The demo team moved in to that half literally the day the workers moved out. It was a Tuesday if i remember rightly! We had to wait until the Sunday to get in ourselves. Unfortunately In the 4 or so days we missed the asbestos guys had been in and ripped apart a lot of the main event, the epic deco tower with its wood panelled entrance lobby, globe lights and 'top of the tower' conference room was pretty trashed but still had some gems hidden.
The main shop floor
The explore was actually a bit of a comedy one. We rocked up early before sunrise and attempted to enter at the front of site. It didn't really work out so we had to try around back where security could be seen milling about. Now daylight we didn't stand much chance of getting across the no mans land of rubble unseen but luckily the resident Nigerian gentleman didn't seem too arsed that we were there uninvited. We simply waved our cameras in the his face while he spoke African on the phone to someone and we headed in through an open door. It didn't seem like the explore was going to last too long at this point so it was game on to rush around the place snapping as we went before his boss would inevitably turn up.. The minutes passed, 15, 30, and hour and nothing. He just didn't seem to care. By that point we had found the good stuff tho. The building was a tad disappointing in parts but when we discovered the entire company archive was sitting abandoned on pallets in the middle of the shop floor we just sat down and started looking through all the stuff. Paperwork, old photos, trade brochures, you name it it was in there. We totally ignored the building itself after this and just rummaged in this one spot.. An hour or two later we emerged from the same door once more waving at our African friend across the rubble as we left.
Old Panelwork, Globe Lights and Parquet
A similar scene in the 1930s
Demolition has moved on fast over the last two weeks, we returned a couple of times but the site is now totally stripped and the buildings half down with little left to see unfortunately. This can go out in public straight away as i think theres little chance of goons making much you tube money here. I have to apologise that theres no more pictures. The initial rush around and subsequent rummaging put pay to that. Hopefully its worth a report tho. Tis kind of the point of this game!
The management conference room today
And in the 1930s (looking the opposite way!)
The Factory
