Report - Pine End Works, Lydney - April 2014

[WhoDerpsWins]

Visited with Hector Rex

Seeing as we both had a free day, the sun was shining and this place wasn't too far away, we decided to give the place a mooch around. The last report I could find was 2010 so we felt the place deserved looking at again. The place was built as a shadow factory early in WW2 to manufacture wood for various aircraft and ships. The place is mostly stripped but we did find some nice things here and there. The factory floors here are huge which couple with the odd panel missing creates some beautiful sun ray effects.

History:

Pine End Works has been in operation for more than 40 years. Occupying a 14-acre site it was built by the government in 1940 to manufacture technical aircraft and marine plywood for wartime requirements. Parts for the De Havilland Mosquito and the Horsa glider (used in large numbers for Operation Overlord, Market Garden etc) were built here. The plant became part of the national network of "shadow factories" designed to carry on the war effort when installations in more vulnerable locations were destroyed by enemy action. To preserve secrecy the new factory was misleadingly designated "Factories Direction Ltd.", a name which persisted long after the end of the war by which time the plant had been taken on by two of the countries largest timber groups, William Mallison and Sons Ltd. and Gliksten Plywood Limited. A later reorganisation resulted in the name being changed to "Mallison-Denny (Lydney) Limited

The exterior:

Inside:

Found a room with loads of documents. Some of them dated as far back as 1961:

This storage area looked as though it hadn't been accessed in decades. Full of interesting things:

Thanks for looking.
​

 

[Seffy]

Nicely done chaps, wish I'd made more of an effort when you mentioned this before mate!

 

[clebby]

Jesus that's taken a beating since 2009. Spot on with the pictures though, looks like you've seen some new bits

 

[WhoDerpsWins]

Jesus that's taken a beating since 2009. Spot on with the pictures though, looks like you've seen some new bits

Yeah not much of the large machinery like I seen in your, superb, report left. I didn't see the stretcher in the surgery either.

 

[clebby]

I've just looked back at my report, I don't know what I was thinking with those borders. Shame about the surgery, it was one of the best I've seen!

 

[Hector Rex]

Great report! Mine will be up as soon as i upload my photos on my awfully slow internet!

No worries man, my scouting pictures were crap to be fair and I didn't find any of the cool bits the first time round!

HR

 

[wellingtonian]

Nice set as ever buddy. Looks a decent enough mooch