With another prolonged period of house arrest and a complete lack of anything to do, might as well go through my back catalogue. But be warned, there's a reason why they were not posted onto the forum at the time, these are all derpy trashed sites of limited interest. Will start with this place which has not been on the forum before:
HISTORY:
Radstock Reproductions in Primrose Lane, Midsomer Norton, was a subsidiary of Butler Tanner & Dennis, a large publishing and printing company that was based at Frome in Somerset; Radstock Reproductions being acquired by Butler Tanner and Denis in 2004. Difficult to find much info about Radstock Reproductions, but can talk a little about the larger company: Founded in 1845, the firm pioneered various printing methods in its day, such as the monstrous Dreadnought press of 1910 that could produce seven 32pp sections in a single revolution. Then there are the authors and luminaries who’ve visited its printing works over the years: Field Marshall Montgomery travelling to B&T to see his A Concise History of Warfare being bound in 1969; Prime Minister Harold Wilson signing copies of his book for a book club; Delia Smith – for whom B&T printed millions of cookbooks over the years – visiting the factory to officially inaugurate a new large-format colour press 20 years ago. And, following in her floured footsteps, the then-cookery wunderkind Jamie Oliver.
But it’s also been a turbulent history. Such as the time during the Second World War when the factory was requisitioned to make aircraft engines. And while the company survived this and many other ups and downs, it has been the modern-day crises that have ultimately spelled the end for the business. The advent of cheap colour printing from the Far East resulted in an abrupt loss of work for then-major customer Dorling Kindersley in the 1990s. And overseas competition only became fiercer. Continental competitors, too, seemed to have an advantage – even those not in low-wage regions. “We pay more for paper in this country than they do in Europe,” states book production expert Francis Atterbury “I can have a book quoted in Munich and if it was £5,000, then it would cost £8,000 in the UK. Same materials, same press. So why is that?”
Finally, however, facing financial difficulties the company went into administration in 2007 with the loss of many jobs and was subsequently bought by Media and Print Investments but again went into administration in 2008. A benefactor, Felix Dennis of Dennis Publishing, bought the firm at the eleventh hour saving as many jobs as possible. His investment allowed the firm to continue until 2014 when, unfortunately, it closed for the final time. However Dennis Maps continues to print Ordnance Survey Maps employing about 20 former Butler and Tanner employees.
REPORT:
1. The site lies next to the main shoppers' car park in the centre of Midsomer Norton
2.
3. Seriously now, how does a building end up looking like this? This isn't natural decay!
4.
5.
6.
7.
And that's that. On a final point, Midsomer Norton seems to be a dying town. with a feel of industrial gloom in the air. The last pit of the Somerset Coalfield closed in 1973 and within walking distance of this place, is the huge derelict factory of Walton Bibby and Baron (paper bag manufacturer) which is still standing empty and patrolled by on-site security some ten years after closure. Report on that place is in here somewhere. On a positive, the newly opened Wetherspoons is the nicest Wetherspoons I have ever seen, it occupies the site of the former Palladium Cinema (report on that is also somewhere in here)
HISTORY:
Radstock Reproductions in Primrose Lane, Midsomer Norton, was a subsidiary of Butler Tanner & Dennis, a large publishing and printing company that was based at Frome in Somerset; Radstock Reproductions being acquired by Butler Tanner and Denis in 2004. Difficult to find much info about Radstock Reproductions, but can talk a little about the larger company: Founded in 1845, the firm pioneered various printing methods in its day, such as the monstrous Dreadnought press of 1910 that could produce seven 32pp sections in a single revolution. Then there are the authors and luminaries who’ve visited its printing works over the years: Field Marshall Montgomery travelling to B&T to see his A Concise History of Warfare being bound in 1969; Prime Minister Harold Wilson signing copies of his book for a book club; Delia Smith – for whom B&T printed millions of cookbooks over the years – visiting the factory to officially inaugurate a new large-format colour press 20 years ago. And, following in her floured footsteps, the then-cookery wunderkind Jamie Oliver.
But it’s also been a turbulent history. Such as the time during the Second World War when the factory was requisitioned to make aircraft engines. And while the company survived this and many other ups and downs, it has been the modern-day crises that have ultimately spelled the end for the business. The advent of cheap colour printing from the Far East resulted in an abrupt loss of work for then-major customer Dorling Kindersley in the 1990s. And overseas competition only became fiercer. Continental competitors, too, seemed to have an advantage – even those not in low-wage regions. “We pay more for paper in this country than they do in Europe,” states book production expert Francis Atterbury “I can have a book quoted in Munich and if it was £5,000, then it would cost £8,000 in the UK. Same materials, same press. So why is that?”
Finally, however, facing financial difficulties the company went into administration in 2007 with the loss of many jobs and was subsequently bought by Media and Print Investments but again went into administration in 2008. A benefactor, Felix Dennis of Dennis Publishing, bought the firm at the eleventh hour saving as many jobs as possible. His investment allowed the firm to continue until 2014 when, unfortunately, it closed for the final time. However Dennis Maps continues to print Ordnance Survey Maps employing about 20 former Butler and Tanner employees.
REPORT:
1. The site lies next to the main shoppers' car park in the centre of Midsomer Norton
2.
3. Seriously now, how does a building end up looking like this? This isn't natural decay!
4.
5.
6.
7.
And that's that. On a final point, Midsomer Norton seems to be a dying town. with a feel of industrial gloom in the air. The last pit of the Somerset Coalfield closed in 1973 and within walking distance of this place, is the huge derelict factory of Walton Bibby and Baron (paper bag manufacturer) which is still standing empty and patrolled by on-site security some ten years after closure. Report on that place is in here somewhere. On a positive, the newly opened Wetherspoons is the nicest Wetherspoons I have ever seen, it occupies the site of the former Palladium Cinema (report on that is also somewhere in here)
