Bath House (Amenities Block), Thomas Broadbent & Sons Ltd, Huddersfield - March 2016
Bit of a random one, this. I'd been telling jST about an unfortunate situation I'd had when skulking around the derelict Sovereign Works section of the still thriving Thomas Broadbent and Sons Engineering Works late one night.
Quite embarrassing for me really, but oh well, the story goes like this...
I was trying to move a huge gear out the way of what I thought was a door. Firstly, it wasn't a door; it was just a door-shaped bit of paint. Yeah, I know, it was dark! Secondly, this wheel was almost as tall as me and weighed probably half a ton. At some point when trying to roll the fucker out the way of this 'door', I lost the centre of gravity and it started to come toward me. It was at this point I realised how heavy the bastard was. I was unable to counteract the weight and it fell toward me. Although I'd managed to soften the blow by spreading my weight and pushing up from underneath it - lowering it slower than freefall and sort of cushioning it onto my thighs - it still managed to crush me somewhat.
It took me a decent 15 minutes of struggle to get myself out from under it, eventually needing to wedge blocks of stonework under the gaps by my legs and literally scrape myself free. I was left with some colourful blue and purple bruising, but no significant damage thankfully. Upon hearing this story, jST recognised the name and did a bit of googling. What he turned up was an absolute belter of a lead that I would have certainly missed.
Turns out, the empty Sovereign works site I had been looking to get inside was of zero interest compared to a much smaller, modern building sat in the corner of the same site that I had totally overlooked. Protected by listed status in 2009, this bath house had apparently remained untouched from modernisation, despite still being in use as a bath house for the foundry as late as 2013.
With sunlight fading, I went to check on access immediately that very same evening, and not wanting to miss a beat, returned early the following morning with my camera to get it done. The red hue in some of these photos is from the glorious sunrise that morning. The next time jST was available, we went to take a look together.
Bit of a random one, this. I'd been telling jST about an unfortunate situation I'd had when skulking around the derelict Sovereign Works section of the still thriving Thomas Broadbent and Sons Engineering Works late one night.
Quite embarrassing for me really, but oh well, the story goes like this...
I was trying to move a huge gear out the way of what I thought was a door. Firstly, it wasn't a door; it was just a door-shaped bit of paint. Yeah, I know, it was dark! Secondly, this wheel was almost as tall as me and weighed probably half a ton. At some point when trying to roll the fucker out the way of this 'door', I lost the centre of gravity and it started to come toward me. It was at this point I realised how heavy the bastard was. I was unable to counteract the weight and it fell toward me. Although I'd managed to soften the blow by spreading my weight and pushing up from underneath it - lowering it slower than freefall and sort of cushioning it onto my thighs - it still managed to crush me somewhat.
It took me a decent 15 minutes of struggle to get myself out from under it, eventually needing to wedge blocks of stonework under the gaps by my legs and literally scrape myself free. I was left with some colourful blue and purple bruising, but no significant damage thankfully. Upon hearing this story, jST recognised the name and did a bit of googling. What he turned up was an absolute belter of a lead that I would have certainly missed.
Turns out, the empty Sovereign works site I had been looking to get inside was of zero interest compared to a much smaller, modern building sat in the corner of the same site that I had totally overlooked. Protected by listed status in 2009, this bath house had apparently remained untouched from modernisation, despite still being in use as a bath house for the foundry as late as 2013.
With sunlight fading, I went to check on access immediately that very same evening, and not wanting to miss a beat, returned early the following morning with my camera to get it done. The red hue in some of these photos is from the glorious sunrise that morning. The next time jST was available, we went to take a look together.
