After a long gap in exploring due to work and other stuff it was good to get out and see some industry. Chosen site was the ex-British Xylonite site at Brantham, Essex. Has changed hands many times since its origin and was most recently owned by Wardle Storeys whose documents are still littered around in various storerooms. Many parts including pretty much all of the site to the north of the railway have now disappeared.
History has been done by others so onto the photos:
The site is made up with many distinct buildings which appear to have grown up over a long period
Found this plan of the site which shows (albeit not very clearly) how big it was in its heyday
Found what appeared to be an old air raid shelter hidden behind some shelving in a storeroom. Looks like a floor has been put in where the doorway once was.
And even found some remains of the old (narrow-gauge?) railway that served some of the site.
In one of the buildings at the back of the site is a parts warehouse still stocked with many parts including filters, gears, electrical bits and bobs and paint
All in all a much bigger site than I'd have guessed and plenty to wander round and look at for a good few hours
History has been done by others so onto the photos:
The site is made up with many distinct buildings which appear to have grown up over a long period
Found this plan of the site which shows (albeit not very clearly) how big it was in its heyday
Found what appeared to be an old air raid shelter hidden behind some shelving in a storeroom. Looks like a floor has been put in where the doorway once was.
And even found some remains of the old (narrow-gauge?) railway that served some of the site.
In one of the buildings at the back of the site is a parts warehouse still stocked with many parts including filters, gears, electrical bits and bobs and paint
All in all a much bigger site than I'd have guessed and plenty to wander round and look at for a good few hours
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