Sites you worked on that are no more

[theoss]

I have a bit of an interest in industrial stuff and was wondering if anyone has worked on any interesting sites, and any stories to tell.

I became particulary intersted in Yorkshire chemicals, Leeds, which is now lost.

 

[rtbcomp]

I remember working on data entry equipment on a chemical site on the outskirts of Leeds. It would have been in the late 70's early 80's. I got locked in Webster's brewery doing the same job.

I think the most interesting was MIRA, working on Perkin-Elmer mini computers hooked up to data capture equipment in the wind tunnel and data loggers carried in the back of a Range Rover, connected by cable to the car under test, both flying round the test track. Unfortunately I never got a ride. Also with PE I worked on a mini installed in a train based at Derby used for track testing. I also visited the R&D departments at Rolls Royce and The British Shoe Machinery Manufacturing Company in Leicester. The SRC R&D department at Daresbury had a Van de Graaf generator about 3 stories high.

The worst was working for Burroughs on banking equipment, covering most of South & West Yorkshire. Bank managers are some of biggest *****s I've ever come accross.

 

[bill_gj]

I was a Plessey apprentice many moons ago. Part of the time I was in Plessey Marine in Ilford - we made torpedoes (Mk24, I think it's called Tigerfish now). That was interesting.

Rtbcomp - MIRA - I used to go there regularly. I remember the vehicles with theri 'umbilicals'.

 

[rtbcomp]

I forget to add Perkin-Elmer also had a machine at the Lindsay Oil Refinery. That was in a concrete blockhouse and used for process control. It had a visual display of the plant with temp & pressure readings, cutting edge in those days!

I also visited various BSC sites when I worked for ICL; Scunthorpe, Stocksbridge & "Steelos" in Rotherham.

 

[drjim]

Yorkshire chemicals on kirkstall rd Leeds? My ex used to work there in production planning, officially frogmarched off site (basically through one door to the outside world) when they made her redundant.

 

[theoss]

Yorkshire chemicals on kirkstall rd Leeds? My ex used to work there in production planning, officially frogmarched off site (basically through one door to the outside world) when they made her redundant.

That's one of them, the other was Hunslet, but mainly process stuff there and no offices. I have some pictures I took inside both plants before they were demolished. It looked like it once would have been a good company to work for, and some of the stuff at Hunslet looked very much upto date.

3 story Vander graf! why?

 

[rtbcomp]

It may have been the one on Kurskstall Road, I'm going back over 30 years. The road was a dual carriage way and the approach to the plant was along a long lane IIRC. It wasn't Hunslet, the company I worked for was based there. I also visited Yorkshire Imperial Metals just down the road from Hunslet.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=265602590&blogID=371646006

3 story Vander graf! why? - to produce a very high voltage. I don't know what they did there (government establishment), but they had a Kray supercomputer on site too.

 

[aero]

Hangar 9 at Schiphol east. Pulled down last year, I was there for 3 years on and off. The Hangar was one of the oldest standing at schiphol. One of the Dutch engineers who reached retirement age had a picture of him as a boy the hanger in front of a Connie, shame I don't have a copy. (they used to let you inside back then!)

 

[madkayaker]

now that would make a good workshop

 

[Weldingartisan]

As an apprentice I worked on a new aluminium smelter plant at Invergordon, Scotland. It was built to run on supposedly cheap hydro-electric power. The power bus bars supplying the smelters were 600 x 150mm solid aluminium! We were installing 450mm dia. pipework from the smelters to the cooling towers. It was demolished a few years ago as I believe the 'cheap' electricity never materialised. W/A

 

[bigbadbugga]

Sorry bout posting a link to another forum but I think it might be relevant and of interest to many on here, at least it's not another welding forum.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/index.php

Check out the industrial sites section, you might see some of the places you are reffering to.

 

[rtbcomp]

Sorry bout posting a link to another forum but I think it might be relevant and of interest to many on here, at least it's not another welding forum.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/index.php

Check out the industrial sites section, you might see some of the places you are reffering to.

Thank's for posting that - looks like exploring is a popular pastime!