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The coalbrookdale iron works had been situated in the iron gorge in Shropshire for over three hundred years.seen as the founders of the industrial revolution after being the first to use coke fire blast furnaces which speeded up the production of iron.generations of families have worked at the foundry.the last company to survive there was aga/range master which sold out to an American company in 2015 but they decided that the foundry was not needed anymore.so the decision was decided to close the plant in November.and all work would be done at there main works in ketley with cast oven parts being brought in from abroad.the foundry is being stripped at an alarming rate and with in a short time will be a shell.the workers turned up to be told they were not needed anymore as the plant was shutting a week early,the owners in America got wind of people coming to support them and told them to get off site as quick as possible as they did not want the bad publicity.the workers shut the gates and tied boots to them.so ending over three hundred years of industrial work there were industry began...visited here with zedstar over the festive period.the place has a real sad feel to it being an end of an era in a great industrial part of the country.its a sad thing with big foreign companies coming in and stripping our assets by moving them abroad or moving all the works into one area and then out sourcing for other works,but I guess its a sign of the times.thanks to prettyvacant for the heads up on this one.
The workers boots on the gates
The machine shop.this is fairly stripped now but a few of the large drills still in there
Storage area for the finished castings
Some big grinders.for smoothing the cast parts I would presume
Heading to the furnace area.this was above the cupulas.
Delivery bay for the iron to be melted down
Looking to the number two cupula with number one in front of it
Rails run around the factory with trolleys on them to transpart the molten metal
The foremans desk
The main casting area had low conveyors to move the casyings about
Castings laid out on the floor
Some sort of heat proof coat
This seems to be a load of the rough cast all melted together
As we entered the bath house all the lights came on from the sensors,and the heating still worked.sad to see the clothes still hanging there
Over a bit of wasteland is an older part of the foundry but has been derelict for years.we had to be careful going across here as we were in full view of seccas window,but I liked this bit with the old lights and greenery in there.
The workers boots on the gates
The machine shop.this is fairly stripped now but a few of the large drills still in there
Storage area for the finished castings
Some big grinders.for smoothing the cast parts I would presume
Heading to the furnace area.this was above the cupulas.
Delivery bay for the iron to be melted down
Looking to the number two cupula with number one in front of it
Rails run around the factory with trolleys on them to transpart the molten metal
The foremans desk
The main casting area had low conveyors to move the casyings about
Castings laid out on the floor
Some sort of heat proof coat
This seems to be a load of the rough cast all melted together
As we entered the bath house all the lights came on from the sensors,and the heating still worked.sad to see the clothes still hanging there
Over a bit of wasteland is an older part of the foundry but has been derelict for years.we had to be careful going across here as we were in full view of seccas window,but I liked this bit with the old lights and greenery in there.
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