Torrington Creamery-Taddiport, Devon-Sept 08

Originally, I had planned a trip to a Cornish amusement park today, and in true Cornish holiday spirit was going to brave the rain as so not miss any of the fun. However, the only person I could find to go with me, was one of my non-urbex friends, she naturally canceled this morning, so I decided to go to the creamery in Torrington.
It opened in 1874, and closed in 1993 due to a fire in the part of the factory that is being demolished, bit by bit. The "man" said that two people had recently jumped off so they decided to start there. They started tearing it down 2 months ago and at the rate they are going, it will take them a couple of years.

It was my lucky day because the kind demolition man took me on a guided tour. I even gave him my phone number and he said he would ring me if he found anything interesting for me to see before it is torn down.









The corrugated metal tower in the background of this photo is the one that is being demolished.






























This was about 30 seconds after they had pulled that huge chute down. When it hit the ground, it was like an earthquake under my feet. Incredible experience.


This is the fire damage in the part they are tearing down at the moment.





The demolition man that showed me around, was really excited to show me the art in this place, he said he thought it was a shame that it was going to be destroyed and that he hoped the artist was making a living from art because he deserved to.

Many thanks for looking at my photos. I enjoyed every single moment of my day out.

what a cracking site.

loving the graffity.
some really nice bits done.
shame it is getting nocked down.

got any more pics of the art?

Cracking site Lily, good report n great pics too, glad you got it up at last...hehe,
Keep them coming!
Lycos,

Good stuff. I love that graffiti. I saw some great graffiti at Wolsey, but most of it has been torn down now.

Thank you very much. I will go back and see if I can finish the job unescorted now that I know my way around. The man got lost on the way out and kept walking around different places...I knew exactly where we were but I didn't like to say, so we could take a bit longer.

Nice to see everyone referring to it as 'Art' rather than vandalism...captured it well Lily!

How could anyone, no matter how grumpy they are, not think of it as art...even the demolition man thought so.

Love the graf.

Thanks for the pics Lily

Good work. Ive passed this place a few times but never had the time to stop to take a look, i wish i would of now! Great pics. Thanks.

This place looks HUGE -well done for talking your way in

Love the curved wall with the glass blocks -very Art Deco

Is that Keith Flint from the Progidy in pic 6?!!
Some fine grafitti there -a bit more than ya average scrawl

Look forwards to seeing some more snaps of this one -there must be loads more to see!

Lb:jimlad:

How do you go about approaching demolition guys to get them to give you a tour lol, some really good pictures there, loving the graff art some really complex pieces there as well.

Thats a very nice building. It reminds me of the old Wills tobacco factory at Newcastle upon Tyne - now turned into flats.

Fascinating artwork in there too. Thanks for posting.

Lily_Pollen said:

The man got lost on the way out and kept walking around different places...I knew exactly where we were but I didn't like to say, so we could take a bit longer.

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Heehee. That's the sort of thing that I do. Well done, Lily. An excellent find.

Lightbuoy said:

Is that Keith Flint from the Progidy in pic 6?!!

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That's what I thought too!

urbtography said:

How do you go about approaching demolition guys to get them to give you a tour lol...

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Just go along with your camera and start snapping away around the outside. If anyone approaches or looks at you, tell them what you're doing and why (I just say I'm documenting it because I'm interested in local history) and ask if it's possible to go on site to take more pics. I've done this a couple of times. One was a definite 'no, gerrof' and the other was 'help yourself'. It depends who the demo company is and who they're working for.

urbtography said:

How do you go about approaching demolition guys to get them to give you a tour lol, some really good pictures there, loving the graff art some really complex pieces there as well.

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I was so enthusiastic about the whole experience yesterday, giggly and excitable. He approached me and when I started chatting to the guy, he offered the tour...a low cut top probably didn't hurt, and by the end of the tour we were on a first name basis.
It was luck and good timing as well, he turned out to be a kind sensitive type, and before we chatted and the tour was offered he had taken down that huge chute thing, and the testosterone was pumping, guess he was excited to...just for different reasons.

Lily_Pollen said:

I was so enthusiastic about the whole experience yesterday, giggly and excitable. He approached me and when I started chatting to the guy, he offered the tour...a low cut top probably didn't hurt, and by the end of the tour we were on a first name basis.
It was luck and good timing as well, he turned out to be a kind sensitive type, and before we chatted and the tour was offered he had taken down that huge chute thing, and the testosterone was pumping, guess he was excited to...just for different reasons.

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Lol, not all of us have 'womanly charms' unfortunately, we just have to blag it

I can see that 'womanly charms' are going to go a long way in my explorations. Thank god for assets.

*books plastic surgery*


Seriously though, good work that girl

I'm not normally a fan of graffitti, but there's some nice work there, and the pics are good.

Thank you for the words of encouragement, I have plans to go out this evening to see what I can find. I think I have caught the bug. ;-)

I tried the low cut top idea once and got punched.