Wheatsheaf Works - November 2011

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St Neots, Cambs
Our first explore of the day, Kudos to UrbanX for driving, Kudos to Alex76 for sorting the access out and indeed James for the Lemon Sherberts :)

I have struggled to find a lot of history for this place which is surprising consdiering When it was built in 1891, Wheatsheaf Works was the largest footwear factory in the world.
Owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, it supplied a wealth of employment opportunities in Leicester. The area was at the centre of much commercial activity and its iconic clock tower could be seen for many a mile across south Leicester.
Unfortunately, as the face of world manufacturing changed and with the emergence of the Asian markets, production at the site became unprofitable and the factory became redundant and fell into disrepair. The impressive clock stopped ticking and its chimes could no longer be heard along the Welford Road.
Unfortunately/fortunately the site is well secured meaning we could only gain access to one part of the building but it was well worth it.New builds are already being erected in the former loading/parking area at the back of the site. Planning permission was granted in July for the site to be converted into 74 flats so this gives you some idea of the size of the site.

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Thanks for looking
 
Sok bud it was pretty tight we managed all the floors of one wing and were gutted we couldn't get to see the clock tower and the rest...
 
I could not believe how big this site is but another top explore it was a shame we could not gain access to the other buildings will put a couple of mine on after a tinker
 
@Em was a good day all round shame you couldn't make it hopefully next time :)
@Teejf no stamps I was so miffed I have written to their headoffice to complain lol. The part we managed to explore just gave you a small idea as to how immense this place was when in full production.
 
Nice write up and photos dude! An having an uber busy week so will pop my pics up when you've firgitton about the place! Wicked day exploring!
 
so true the league of extraordinary explorers... cant wait for the next one chaps nice shots p7 mine are a little poo to post
 
Bloody Hell that place looks huge, you must worn out a pair boots just walking around it,:) I enjoyed it Thanks.
 
Now that's a building! If I ever won the lottery, I know where the first couple of million's going.

Excellent work, envious of this one. Thanks for posting.:)
 
Great stuff mate, sorry to have missed this mooch out :(
 

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