It feels like an age since I last actually posted anything of substance on here, so there we go. Life things have been battering me around a bit this year and so exploring stuff has taken a back seat somewhat but I still try and get out when I can.
Ever since @clebby posted this place back in 2017, I have attempted to access it every time I was passing through the area. I must have checked it at least seven or eight times and it was always the same story, sealed tight as a drum and I would leave disappointed every time. I was fully prepared for it to be the same story this time, but the UE gods giveth at long last (they also tooketh away, but more on that later). At some point recently a load of heras fencing has sprung up around parts of the site and things have been cleared for presumably some sort of demolition to take place in the future at some point, and it was that undergrowth clearance that quite unexpectedly presented a 'window of opportunity' for access into this building at long last.
The factory buildings here are in some cases a lot older than Springfield Engineering itself. They formed the T H & J Daniels factory originally, a millwrighting, engineering and foundry business founded in 1840. In 1956 it became Daniels PLC, and was taken over by Unichrome in 1968. Springfield Engineering was founded in 1975, and in 1979 relocated to a site in Stonehouse. In 1986, after outgrowing their Stonehouse site they relocated to the former Unichrome site in Stroud. In 2001 they expanded again into a second building on the site allowing for much more room. It appears they went bust in mid-2013, as all the remaining equipment was auctioned off in July of that year. Parts of the site were later occupied by numerous small businesses, and it looks like they have all closed now as the site gears up for demolition/redevelopment proper.
Now to the explore...
After finally getting into the cool 1950s-era factory building everything was initially fine, we were happily taking photos for around half an hour. I then ventured up the stairs and immediately set an alarm off positioned on the window ledge on the staircase. No more than three minutes later a security van comes flying into the car park and after about 30 seconds the roller shutter door on the front of the building opens and in marches one of the angriest guards I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Immediately there was a loud tirade of shouting and swearing about us breaking in as he stood at the top of the stairs with us on the lower level not wanting to approach him whilst he was clearly extremely agitated. He commanded us to leave via the door he'd opened and, to be honest, once we actually got up to where he was he calmed down a bit and was alright to deal with in the end when we had gotten outside the building. He even said that the other buildings on site aren't under his security company's control so he doesn't really care about them at all, just that we weren't to ever go into 'his' building (I have no plans to go back anyway lol).
Afterwards we sat in the car and then when he'd gone we went for a little walk around the rest of the site to see what if anything was going on. We made our way down to the bottom of the site where the oldest, nicest building sits and I was shocked, when peering through a high window I saw a clearly road-going white van parked inside. This was shortly followed by several loud thumps, which turned out to be someone inside the building smashing at something with a lump hammer. After dealing with a very angry security man the last thing we wanted was an encounter with someone else wielding a hammer so we decided at that point it was probably a good idea to leave it for another day...
Thanks for looking
Ever since @clebby posted this place back in 2017, I have attempted to access it every time I was passing through the area. I must have checked it at least seven or eight times and it was always the same story, sealed tight as a drum and I would leave disappointed every time. I was fully prepared for it to be the same story this time, but the UE gods giveth at long last (they also tooketh away, but more on that later). At some point recently a load of heras fencing has sprung up around parts of the site and things have been cleared for presumably some sort of demolition to take place in the future at some point, and it was that undergrowth clearance that quite unexpectedly presented a 'window of opportunity' for access into this building at long last.
The factory buildings here are in some cases a lot older than Springfield Engineering itself. They formed the T H & J Daniels factory originally, a millwrighting, engineering and foundry business founded in 1840. In 1956 it became Daniels PLC, and was taken over by Unichrome in 1968. Springfield Engineering was founded in 1975, and in 1979 relocated to a site in Stonehouse. In 1986, after outgrowing their Stonehouse site they relocated to the former Unichrome site in Stroud. In 2001 they expanded again into a second building on the site allowing for much more room. It appears they went bust in mid-2013, as all the remaining equipment was auctioned off in July of that year. Parts of the site were later occupied by numerous small businesses, and it looks like they have all closed now as the site gears up for demolition/redevelopment proper.
Now to the explore...
After finally getting into the cool 1950s-era factory building everything was initially fine, we were happily taking photos for around half an hour. I then ventured up the stairs and immediately set an alarm off positioned on the window ledge on the staircase. No more than three minutes later a security van comes flying into the car park and after about 30 seconds the roller shutter door on the front of the building opens and in marches one of the angriest guards I've ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Immediately there was a loud tirade of shouting and swearing about us breaking in as he stood at the top of the stairs with us on the lower level not wanting to approach him whilst he was clearly extremely agitated. He commanded us to leave via the door he'd opened and, to be honest, once we actually got up to where he was he calmed down a bit and was alright to deal with in the end when we had gotten outside the building. He even said that the other buildings on site aren't under his security company's control so he doesn't really care about them at all, just that we weren't to ever go into 'his' building (I have no plans to go back anyway lol).
Afterwards we sat in the car and then when he'd gone we went for a little walk around the rest of the site to see what if anything was going on. We made our way down to the bottom of the site where the oldest, nicest building sits and I was shocked, when peering through a high window I saw a clearly road-going white van parked inside. This was shortly followed by several loud thumps, which turned out to be someone inside the building smashing at something with a lump hammer. After dealing with a very angry security man the last thing we wanted was an encounter with someone else wielding a hammer so we decided at that point it was probably a good idea to leave it for another day...
Thanks for looking
