Gloster Aircraft Company Bentham Works Jan 2016

[mookster]

So far this year I have really struggled to find anything that has immediately been calling me to explore it. Maybe I'm just suffering a bit of burnout after last year's efforts but there we go.

Quite by accident I found a place which did catch my attention so after a quick bit of organising me and Landie Man set off into deepest Gloucestershire. The original location I had found proved to be a no-go even after talking to the very nice owner but I left my number in the hope that maybe one day the situation will change. So it was on to the backups and I had this place pencilled in as one of those 'big empty factories' that may or may not still be there. We arrived and discovered that firstly it was indeed still there and second all seemed good to go. Getting past the fence and after a quick trip sliding into a muddy ditch we were in and immediately confronted by a still-smouldering firepit that had obviously been lit the previous night. It was probably the doing of a hobo or someone so we pressed on, and had a really good explore in truly awful weather. I enjoyed it here far more than I thought I would, I had assumed owing to the lack of recent posts on the place it was either demolished or totally ruined but looking back at old photos from 2010 and 2013 it really hasn't changed much at all, there is even a bin in one of the buildings in the exact same spot it was in back in 2013.

Clebby posted a fantastic history of the site back in 2013 which I will shamelessly plagiarise below.

It was not used to mass produce aircraft; instead it was used to build and test prototypes. (Mass production took place at the companies nearby Hucclecote factory). Many famous planes have their origins at the Bentham Works, including the Meteor, the only Allied jet aircraft to see combat in WW2 which had it's first ground run at the site on June 29th, 1942.

The prototypes for the Gloster Javelin, an "all weather interceptor aircraft", were not only built at the Bentham Works but also designed here too. The prototypes would then be taken by road to the companies aerodrome at Moreton Valence for testing. The Javelin was used by the RAF throughout the 50s and much of the 60s, and proved to be a very successful aircraft.

I cannot find an exact date for the building but my guess would be 1940, as in February 1940 GAC was selected to design the aircraft to be powered by the W.1 Engine; the E.28/39, the very first Frank Whittle based jet aircraft (yes, Frank Whittle was the man behind Pyestock). The aircraft was also known as the Pioneer, as it was the very first British jet engined aircraft to fly; again showing how important this site is in British aviation history.

GAC wound up in 1963 however, and since then the site has been used by Wilmot Breeden and later welding firm Bentham International. BI specialised in pipework, particuarly for the petro-chemical industry. The site also once housed the largest brake press in Europe. The site appears to have been vacated around 1998/2000.

In 2008 there was a small fire in one of the buildings, this was enough to bring a security team on site and they remain there to this day. However because of the position of the building they are stationed in it makes avoiding them fairly easy. We got metres away from their building without being spotted, and found the room in one of the offices at the top in which the power supply to all their cameras and the building itself was plugged in!

This is a great place steeped in history and pretty much devoid of any damage from idiots. The lighting in here is amazing, some of the best I have ever shot in. We also found the old air raid shelter but it is hidden behind a secured door and the stairwell currently has a large tree wrapped in brambles growing through it.

Thanks for looking, more here https://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/albums/72157663333060446​

 

[krela]

It hasn't changed since I first went 10 years ago. Not in the slightest. I'm always surprised it hasn't found a way back into use as it has good transport links and it's a decent storage space.

 

[UrbanX]

They are epic spaces in there! Beautiful shots Mooks.
Thanks for sharing

 

[Trinpaul]

I'm surprised it's in such good nick.

 

[night crawler]

Great work there Mookster and great condition. I love that photo of the old printer, seem to remember them when I first started working printing off drawings. It looks like it still could do that.

 

[smiler]

I enjoyed that Mook, Thanks

 

[J_a_t_33]

Nice shots