Caldwells Paper Mill, Inverkeithing May '09

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mr_bones

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Caldwells paper mill is an impressive site. It is not only huge, but ever so varied, I would be very happy to go back again and explore some of the higher levels.

The current buildings only date back to 1914 which struck me as quite new in comparison to some of the other industrial sites we visited. It's a a sprawling site that just seemed to get better and better.

The laboratories, store-rooms and offices really rounded off the explore well. See Wolfism's report from February ( http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=8947).

Visited with Lost, Kate, Havoc and Jaff Fox.

pictures:

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Excellant shots fella...its crammed with goodies isnt it.How long would it take to get there from mine?:lol:
 
Ooh, very nice - and you found the big-ass computer :)

I haven't seen those last two pictures before - this place is such a maze it needs several visits...
 
I really enjoyed it here. At first it seems decimated, but there's still a fair bit to see. I had a look a year or two ago but the removal/demolition contractors put me off - wish I'd made a better attempt at seeing it.

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Gaping holes are left behind

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Giving graffiti a good name:)

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The place is plastered with posters like this, heavy on the clip art

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Technology

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Maestro

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The office/laboratory block is a wee bit messy but very intact. A stark contrast to the rest of the place

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Beware the dodgily altered stock image security guard
 
Good photos from both of you … Caldwells is enjoyable partly because there are so many different lighting conditions, from the wall of windows in the labs to the dark machine hall with its whirling fans that slice up the sunlight. :)
 
An excellent report. Love the old brick arches and the shot of the circular hole with light beaming in :cool:

Thanks for posting these chaps :)
 
Great set of pics, this place is a weekend explore :) are those concrete vats in the 2nd pic :question:
 
Nope, they're the concrete scarcements that supported a paper making machine. One of the broke vats (for the pulp) is shown in Mr Bones' 8th pic. :)

Urban Shadow – it isn't just the gas mask that's gone, other lab equipment has disappeared, too. Just like the clocking-in machine from Broadford Works, and the mercury-arc rectifier from Patons, we suspect we know which parasites took them, because things disappeared at the exact time they visited.
 
I know who you're talking about, and I know that they took a few things from Paton's, but they didn't take the rectifier - that was still in place after their visit.

And, to be honest, I know what they took from Paton's and I'm glad they did - they took some things from the office area that burned down a week later. Some time in the future, we'll be able to get those things back for the museum - if they hadn't taken them then they'd no longer exist.
 
Perhaps it's a bit selfish, but I'd rather these objects exist in a place I can see them, rather than in someone's house.
The 'what if' point is a good one though.
 
I do struggle with issues like this a lot. Full disclosure - my girlfriend and I are the ones who found all the plans and paperwork in Paton's, and we alerted the Clyde Heritage Trust who (with permission) removed it.

In some ways I feel guilty that, because of that, other explorers couldn't have the fun of finding that pokey wee office with stacks and stacks of ancient plans and blueprints. However, now with no on-site security, the place is very rapidly becoming trashed - those artifacts would have been torched or simply trampled into the mud.

I do make a judgement all the time - is the site reasonably safe? If so, I leave things alone - if not, and if there are historically-important things in imminent danger of destruction, I try to get them saved.
 
I think that's the best way to look at things, especially at a site like Paton's where there seems to be a fire every week.
 
Agreed that it's better to save something than to see it go up in smoke – although that can only be claimed with the benefit of hindsight at Patons – but I suspect once it goes into someone's personal "museum", you'll never see it again. I can think of a couple of explorers whose bedrooms resemble shrines to the places they've visited …
 
Hah, I'd be in serious trouble with the other half if I did anything like that :lol:
 

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