Derelict peat processing works near Goole

I had been looking at the Google Earth images of this place for quite some time as a possible first explore but had never managed to get around to going there. However, the other day, while in pursuit of my main hobby, which is ship photography I finally managed to summon up the motivation to make a small detour for a quick look see. This is a former peat processing works near Goole. It was owned successively by Fisons, Levingtons and Scotts, the latter finally closing the plant in 2001 - the history of the plant, at least as far as it is recorded on the internet, is somewhat vague and if anyone out there can give me any more information on the plant and how the peat was processed I'd be very grateful. As well as processing the peat, this was also the terminus for an extensive, narrow guage, light railway system that was used to transport the raw material from the peat workings on Thorne Waste. A local farmer appears to be using the area to the rear of the buildings for storing what was either sugar beat or swedes (my agricultural knowledge isn't as extensive as my knowledge of ships!). The interior, however, was a bit of a disappointment as the buildings are largely empty, the only exception being the "tower" affair in the left centre of the first photo where there remains some machinery that appears to have been something to do with screening and/or bagging the processed peat. Anyway, here are a few photos of what can be seen.

This is the exterior of the plant:



Entering through the large open doorway in the centre of the shot the bottom of the "screening and bagging" machine is visible. Most of the steps on the yellow stair have been removed - don't know whether this was just pikeys in pursuit of scrap or deliberately to prevent access to the tower. If it was the latter it wasn't particularly successful.



This the only significant piece of machinery left in the building. My guess is that the dried processed peat was screened by this machine, dropping through the mesh into hoppers beneath the screen, while bits of wood and so on came off the end of the conveyor as waste. At the top of the shot you can see that it's possible to gain access to another, higher, level but the whole structure seemed a tad unstable and, as I was on my own, I didn't push my luck:



This is the interior of the small room the doorway to which can be seen to the left of the stairs in the first image. It was in total darkness but appeared to contain little of interest:



A couple of shots of the interior of the main part of the plant which, as you can see, consists largely of nothing very much:





Other stuff left around the building were some large tyres:



And the usual items of thoroughly trashed electrical switchgear:





So, all in all, a bit of a disappointment but, for me at least, it's a start.

J

Pretty stripped, but interesting none the less, I would have liked to have seen the railway working. I remember travelling on a peat bog railway in Ireland a few years back, and they moved the track to suit the area of peat they were harvesting, so it was classed as a 'temporary way', normal railways tend to stay put, hence the term 'permenant way'! Well done for your explore there mate, you had a good day for it too!

TK421 said:

Pretty stripped, but interesting none the less, I would have liked to have seen the railway working. I remember travelling on a peat bog railway in Ireland a few years back, and they moved the track to suit the area of peat they were harvesting, so it was classed as a 'temporary way', normal railways tend to stay put, hence the term 'permenant way'! Well done for your explore there mate, you had a good day for it too!

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Yeah, I would love to have seen the light railway in operation as well. It worked pretty much as you describe above, with part of the track being more or less permanent and the rest being moved around and relaid as the workings shifted.

Having thought about it since I posted the photos, it occurs to me that, although the place has obviously been stripped pretty bare, there may never have been all that much more in the way of machinery in there in the first place. That very large empty shed was probably used mostly for the storage of the bagged peat. I don't think the peat itself really required a hell of a lot in the way of processing - more just a case of screening out the crap and sticking in bags, but there would have been a requirement for a lot of storage space.

Anyway, thanks for your encouraing words - much appreciated.

J

Good Report and pics -no. 3 stands out for me.

Thanks for posting

Nice pics, cool location. would be perfect for a car photoshoot that place

I love places like this you can almost still hear the din of noise as if its still about the place in a ghostly whisper.

Simon-G said:

I love places like this you can almost still hear the din of noise as if its still about the place in a ghostly whisper.

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Actually, the day in question, despite the lovely blue sky and fluffy clouds, was pretty damned windy and my laundry bill ended up higher than normal because of the amount of sudden bangs and clangs caused by loose cladding on the building blowing in the wind. But, I know exactly what you mean about the "the ghostly whisper" thing - it's an excellent description of something I'd experienced before but hadn't tried to put into words.

J

I really like this one too. The exterior shot particularly has that lovely spacey abandoned feel to it.
Nice one.