Seeing as this place has been discussed recently and hasn't had a report put up in a while I thought I'd give it a visit.
History is a bit thin on this place and as it's been done before I'll keep it short:
The Bath Press had been producing books throughout the 20th century under various names; the Phonetic Institute from 1913, Pitman Press from 1934, Pitman Ltd from 1974 and later The Bath Press. In its most recent years it was owned by French company CPI. By the beginning of the 21st century, however, competition from foreign companies, especially in Asia, meant that the company was making considerable losses and in 2007 the decision was made to close the Bath Press, and a branch of the company in Glasgow, with the loss of around 250 jobs. The site was put on the market in early 2008 and was bought by St James’s Investments in May.
More recently Tescos acquired the property around 2015 and submitted plans for more than 200 homes on the site that year after it finally dropped long-held ambitions to build a store. The planning application submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council earlier this year was for 244 homes including affordable housing, space for offices and a basement car park.
The Explore:
After walking around the whole property scouting for a way in, me and a non-member knew the only way in wasn't going to be as simple as hoped, especially with the Old Bill station right opposite. So after a slight climb, some running, some more climbing and squeezing we were finally in. Once in the state of the place hits you immediately (as well as the stench of bird crap piled around). Apart from the odd thing here and there the place is stripped bear. However, none the less it was still a fun explore all round and had at least a good hour mooching around, finding various rooms, the basement (never knew so much death could reside in just 1 room) and even a bit of roof access.
Anyway, now for the pics:
OMG!!
Looking up to the hole we squeezed through to get to basement (Turns out easier access was just up ahead)
Even found the Bar. No Drinks though.![Frown :( :(](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Behind this door, the room was full of dead Owls, Seagulls and other unidentifiable bird carcasses.
Like this fella who was missing his head
Finally, the roof.
Time to leave the place, knowing what entry was like we cautiously made our departure, not as gracious as planned. However, after a quick camp out due to an Old Bill car patrolling just as we were leaving we managed to get out without notice.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!
History is a bit thin on this place and as it's been done before I'll keep it short:
The Bath Press had been producing books throughout the 20th century under various names; the Phonetic Institute from 1913, Pitman Press from 1934, Pitman Ltd from 1974 and later The Bath Press. In its most recent years it was owned by French company CPI. By the beginning of the 21st century, however, competition from foreign companies, especially in Asia, meant that the company was making considerable losses and in 2007 the decision was made to close the Bath Press, and a branch of the company in Glasgow, with the loss of around 250 jobs. The site was put on the market in early 2008 and was bought by St James’s Investments in May.
More recently Tescos acquired the property around 2015 and submitted plans for more than 200 homes on the site that year after it finally dropped long-held ambitions to build a store. The planning application submitted to Bath and North East Somerset Council earlier this year was for 244 homes including affordable housing, space for offices and a basement car park.
The Explore:
After walking around the whole property scouting for a way in, me and a non-member knew the only way in wasn't going to be as simple as hoped, especially with the Old Bill station right opposite. So after a slight climb, some running, some more climbing and squeezing we were finally in. Once in the state of the place hits you immediately (as well as the stench of bird crap piled around). Apart from the odd thing here and there the place is stripped bear. However, none the less it was still a fun explore all round and had at least a good hour mooching around, finding various rooms, the basement (never knew so much death could reside in just 1 room) and even a bit of roof access.
Anyway, now for the pics:
OMG!!
Looking up to the hole we squeezed through to get to basement (Turns out easier access was just up ahead)
Even found the Bar. No Drinks though.
Behind this door, the room was full of dead Owls, Seagulls and other unidentifiable bird carcasses.
Like this fella who was missing his head
Finally, the roof.
Time to leave the place, knowing what entry was like we cautiously made our departure, not as gracious as planned. However, after a quick camp out due to an Old Bill car patrolling just as we were leaving we managed to get out without notice.
Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed!