pumice
Well-known member
In November, I visited McMullens Brewery with a non-member. Its a beautiful building with easy access and some high places for those that like that kind of thing. With a large ladder perched in the eves that offers roof access and a view of what appears to be the pleasant town of Hertford.
Unfortunately, our explore was cut short by the old bill and as a result the explore was ended. We decided to pop in to the local pub and thank McMullens and thank them by drinking a few pints in their local pub!
Due to the explore being cut short, I don't have a massive amount of shots, so have decided to make this a long report of around 4 locations in total. The smaller explores don't warrant a whole report on their own, so it seemed a sensible option. (I hope this is ok mods?)
The history of McMullens is long and the building itself has a lovely clock tower and sits in the old part of Hertford itself. McMullens was founded in 1827 in Railway Street, Hertford. As the business grew larger it moved first to Mill Bridge in 1832 and then to Old Cross in 1891. A modern brewhouse was built in 1984. In 2002, the business was valued at £176m. In the mid 2000s the company had a narrow escape from closure as the controlling family split between those shareholders who wanted to receive a reasonable dividend and those who wanted to reinvest annual profits into the company and keep dividends very low. David McMullen stepped down as Chairman following an unsuccessful attempted management buyout. A new independent Chairman, Charles Brims, produced a compromise whereby several non-brewing property investments were sold to release cash to appease the majority shareholders and a plan was launched to build a brand new, smaller brewhouse. The company decided to shed contract-brewing and take advantage of tax breaks by becoming a smaller brewer. As the new 'Whole Hop Brewery' (opened 2006) was much more compact than the 1984-built site the spare land was sold to Sainsbury's. They are presently in the process of converting and building on the back of the site so Hertford residents can shop in the familiar, ubiquitous surroundings frequented by nearly all of us these days!
On with the photos........................................
Disused Office Block/Bromley By Bow/Dec 2011
I cannot find any history on this and to be honest the structure itself is a run of the mill utilitarian construction. However, I wanted to visit after visiting the area and seeing it sitting tall next to the A12 and thought there may be some roof access and views of the city and the olympic park. I visited late in the afternoon and awaited sundown with very cold hands! The views from the roof were not spectacular but I did get some interesting shots from the interior and thought them pretty interesting.
And the way out............
Old Masters House/Warwick/Nov 2011
Visited this place whilst bored and at home visiting my parents. The site itself is that of the old Warwick Leper Hospital. This tarpaulin glad ramshackle, wooden beamed house and the chapel are all that remain on the site. They are both grade 2 listed.The Master’s House dates from the 15th century and is one of very few surviving Leper Hospitals in the country. The building is recognised by English Heritage as being a “Building at Risk” in their latest 2000 register. It is vacant and in poor condition . St Michael’s
Church was built as the chapel for the Leper Hospital, also in the 15th century. It is currently vacant however has received restoration work in recent years. A planning permission was submitted on this site in 1991(3). Following much discussion and changes to the proposals, permission for refurbishment and conversion of both existing buildings to offices and the erection of ten dwellings was refused in 1999. The reasons for this were that the access proposals were detrimental to highway safety, that the site was overdeveloped and that the development would be detrimental to the setting of the listed building.
Due to the building being shrouded in tarp and not exactly huge, I neglected to take any exterior shots. It was also a very wet day!
Fords Foundry/Leamington Spa/November 2011
Visited this site on the same day as the masters house and was extraordinarily excited to get in as I passed the working foundry on my way to school everyday for 5 years and always wanted to have a look inside. Unfortunately, after finding a route in and taking eh pictures you see here, I was immediately busted by an odd bunch of security guards who were hasty in ejecting me. The site is mid-demo and wont be around too much longer. A large Morrisons is to be built there.
A little history.AFTER more than a century dominating a section of the Leamington skyline, the former Ford foundry site is now being demolished.
A total of 126 years of manufacturing at the Old Warwick Road foundry came to a close in July 2007 after the site lost a major contract to Eastern European competitors.
Since then the dormant site has declined rapidly. On our last visit in early 2010 it was eerily silent for a place once bustling with hundreds of workers every day. Walls had crumbled, doors rotted, and pools of rain water were prominent. An abandoned workman's glove here, black soot everywhere, were among the reminders of a proud manufacturing past.
Demolition, along with decontamination, has now started and is expected to be completed by April.
New life will then be breathed into the 19 acre site with a scheme for a new Morrison supermarket, a hotel, a mix of offices and homes, car parking spaces, woodland and about 1.5km of new cycle routes and public footpaths, a masterplan which could ultimately provide up to 1,200 new jobs.
The shots I got...................
Sorry for the length of the report and I hope you stayed with it, but like I said seemed a good way of making something worthwhile for posting. I hope you enjoyed it........
Unfortunately, our explore was cut short by the old bill and as a result the explore was ended. We decided to pop in to the local pub and thank McMullens and thank them by drinking a few pints in their local pub!
Due to the explore being cut short, I don't have a massive amount of shots, so have decided to make this a long report of around 4 locations in total. The smaller explores don't warrant a whole report on their own, so it seemed a sensible option. (I hope this is ok mods?)The history of McMullens is long and the building itself has a lovely clock tower and sits in the old part of Hertford itself. McMullens was founded in 1827 in Railway Street, Hertford. As the business grew larger it moved first to Mill Bridge in 1832 and then to Old Cross in 1891. A modern brewhouse was built in 1984. In 2002, the business was valued at £176m. In the mid 2000s the company had a narrow escape from closure as the controlling family split between those shareholders who wanted to receive a reasonable dividend and those who wanted to reinvest annual profits into the company and keep dividends very low. David McMullen stepped down as Chairman following an unsuccessful attempted management buyout. A new independent Chairman, Charles Brims, produced a compromise whereby several non-brewing property investments were sold to release cash to appease the majority shareholders and a plan was launched to build a brand new, smaller brewhouse. The company decided to shed contract-brewing and take advantage of tax breaks by becoming a smaller brewer. As the new 'Whole Hop Brewery' (opened 2006) was much more compact than the 1984-built site the spare land was sold to Sainsbury's. They are presently in the process of converting and building on the back of the site so Hertford residents can shop in the familiar, ubiquitous surroundings frequented by nearly all of us these days!
On with the photos........................................
Disused Office Block/Bromley By Bow/Dec 2011
I cannot find any history on this and to be honest the structure itself is a run of the mill utilitarian construction. However, I wanted to visit after visiting the area and seeing it sitting tall next to the A12 and thought there may be some roof access and views of the city and the olympic park. I visited late in the afternoon and awaited sundown with very cold hands! The views from the roof were not spectacular but I did get some interesting shots from the interior and thought them pretty interesting.
And the way out............
Old Masters House/Warwick/Nov 2011
Visited this place whilst bored and at home visiting my parents. The site itself is that of the old Warwick Leper Hospital. This tarpaulin glad ramshackle, wooden beamed house and the chapel are all that remain on the site. They are both grade 2 listed.The Master’s House dates from the 15th century and is one of very few surviving Leper Hospitals in the country. The building is recognised by English Heritage as being a “Building at Risk” in their latest 2000 register. It is vacant and in poor condition . St Michael’s
Church was built as the chapel for the Leper Hospital, also in the 15th century. It is currently vacant however has received restoration work in recent years. A planning permission was submitted on this site in 1991(3). Following much discussion and changes to the proposals, permission for refurbishment and conversion of both existing buildings to offices and the erection of ten dwellings was refused in 1999. The reasons for this were that the access proposals were detrimental to highway safety, that the site was overdeveloped and that the development would be detrimental to the setting of the listed building.
Due to the building being shrouded in tarp and not exactly huge, I neglected to take any exterior shots. It was also a very wet day!
Fords Foundry/Leamington Spa/November 2011
Visited this site on the same day as the masters house and was extraordinarily excited to get in as I passed the working foundry on my way to school everyday for 5 years and always wanted to have a look inside. Unfortunately, after finding a route in and taking eh pictures you see here, I was immediately busted by an odd bunch of security guards who were hasty in ejecting me. The site is mid-demo and wont be around too much longer. A large Morrisons is to be built there.
A little history.AFTER more than a century dominating a section of the Leamington skyline, the former Ford foundry site is now being demolished.
A total of 126 years of manufacturing at the Old Warwick Road foundry came to a close in July 2007 after the site lost a major contract to Eastern European competitors.
Since then the dormant site has declined rapidly. On our last visit in early 2010 it was eerily silent for a place once bustling with hundreds of workers every day. Walls had crumbled, doors rotted, and pools of rain water were prominent. An abandoned workman's glove here, black soot everywhere, were among the reminders of a proud manufacturing past.
Demolition, along with decontamination, has now started and is expected to be completed by April.
New life will then be breathed into the 19 acre site with a scheme for a new Morrison supermarket, a hotel, a mix of offices and homes, car parking spaces, woodland and about 1.5km of new cycle routes and public footpaths, a masterplan which could ultimately provide up to 1,200 new jobs.
The shots I got...................
Sorry for the length of the report and I hope you stayed with it, but like I said seemed a good way of making something worthwhile for posting. I hope you enjoyed it........
