Hat tip to Mikeymutt for the intel on this place, it's a real little hidden gem.
The company at this premises began manufacturing cast iron pipes in the 1940s. In the 1980s there was a management buy out and the company was renamed, it then closed again around two decades later and once again changed hands and was renamed, and it remained in operation until it closed for the final time a few years ago.
The site is split in two by a lovely iron railway bridge with the casting storage sheds and workshops on one side and the main foundry building on the other side. Parts of it look to have been closed a lot longer than a few years, perhaps they weren't used after the early 00s closure I don't know. All I know is that the sheds are a treasure trove of thousands of wooden cast moulds - some stuff recognisably pipe shaped or cover shaped and other stuff that is more tricky to identify! The foundry itself although stripped of all it's heavy machinery has pretty much everything else left inside.
There were a couple of little surprises inside as well such as the Second World War-era stretchers being used as shelving units and the railway sleepers being utilised as flooring in the upstairs storage area of the main foundry. Little things like that is part of what I love about exploring smaller scale British industry.
Thanks for looking
The company at this premises began manufacturing cast iron pipes in the 1940s. In the 1980s there was a management buy out and the company was renamed, it then closed again around two decades later and once again changed hands and was renamed, and it remained in operation until it closed for the final time a few years ago.
The site is split in two by a lovely iron railway bridge with the casting storage sheds and workshops on one side and the main foundry building on the other side. Parts of it look to have been closed a lot longer than a few years, perhaps they weren't used after the early 00s closure I don't know. All I know is that the sheds are a treasure trove of thousands of wooden cast moulds - some stuff recognisably pipe shaped or cover shaped and other stuff that is more tricky to identify! The foundry itself although stripped of all it's heavy machinery has pretty much everything else left inside.
There were a couple of little surprises inside as well such as the Second World War-era stretchers being used as shelving units and the railway sleepers being utilised as flooring in the upstairs storage area of the main foundry. Little things like that is part of what I love about exploring smaller scale British industry.
Thanks for looking