real time web analytics
Report - - British Xylonite / Wardle Storeys - Brantham, Suffolk - Oct 2014 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - British Xylonite / Wardle Storeys - Brantham, Suffolk - Oct 2014

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
HISTORY

British Xylonite (BX) Plastics was a former plastics engineering and production company. The company was one of three subsidiaries of the

British Xylonite Company established by 1938. BX Plastics made xylonite (also known as celluloid or ivoride) and lactoid (also known as casein) at a plant to the south of Brantham in Suffolk, on the north bank of the River Stour across the river from Manningtree in Essex. The company was liquidated in 1999.

The British Xylonite Company had been established by English inventor Daniel Spill in 1877, with American investor Levi Parsons Merriam.[1] It established factories at Hackney Wick and Homerton, in East London, and then expanded to Brooklands Farm near Brantham in 1887 and Hale End near Walthamstow in 1897.[2]

By 1938 British Xylonite had established three subsidiaries - BX Plastics, Halex and Cascelloid. [3] Halex was based in Highams Park, Hale End, in North London and made finished goods (including table tennis balls). Cascelloid had been acquired in 1931, based in Leicester and Coalville, and made toys. Cascelloid was later renamed Palitoy and sold to General Mills in 1968 and then to Tonka 1987, which was acquired by Hasbro in 1991.

Distillers acquired a 50% interest in BX Plastics in 1939, and Distillers then acquired the rest of the British Xylonite group in 1961, merging it into a 50:50 joint venture with Union Carbide's Bakelite company in 1962 to form Bakelite Xylonite in 1963. [4] Distillers sold its 50% interest to BP in 1967, and Union Carbide's European interests were acquired by British Petroleum in 1978, including the remaining Bakelite Xylonite plants.

The Brantham site had been sold in 1966 to British Industrial Plastics, a subsidiary of Turner & Newall, who were in turn acquired Storey Brothers of Lancaster in 1977. The company became Wardle Storeys in 1984. The site finally closed in 2007 and has remained empty since.

THE EXPLORE

Explored with Slayaaaa, this was our second explore of the day after our main one was cut shorter than we would have liked after some lengthy cat and mouse antics with security.

We first tried what appeared to be the semi-live site at the front without much success but heading further in we saw an interesting looking building in the distance adjacent to the railway line and headed for that, not realising the site extended further beyond the railway line.

British Xylonite has been well reported on over the years and I wasn’t expecting much to be honest but after arriving and getting beyond the derpy main building at the front of the site I was actually pleasantly surprised. The majority has seen some serious punishment with many of the buildings being empty shells and some heavy fire damage in places however it still holds some charm and is quite photogenic in places.

Far from the most challenging of explores, after spending the morning ducking and diving security this was a nice relaxed wander without any bother.

Exterior.jpg


Stairs-1.gif


DoorCorridor.jpg


BoilerRoom.jpg


Plaque.jpg


There was some kind of monument behind the front building but sadly the copper plaques indicating what it was for had long since been pinched. Seemed a strange place to have such a thing.

Monument.jpg


Tunnel.jpg


MainBuilding-Front.jpg


Hook1.jpg


Window.jpg


WorkRoom.jpg


IndustrialContainmentUnit.jpg


Corridor.jpg


Bike.jpg


Window2.jpg


EngineRoom.jpg


OvercurrentRelay.jpg


Dials.jpg


Exterior2.jpg


Stairs2.jpg


Telephone.jpg


Pulley.jpg


Trailer.jpg


Pump.jpg


Gallons.jpg


FireHydrant.jpg


Cobwebs.jpg


Sorry if a bit pic heavy but hope you enjoyed :thumb
 

slayaaaa

Moderator
Moderator
Those are nice, your wide angle is ace. Your shots came out really good. Thanks for coming along, was a great day. :)
 

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks mate, was a good day, just a shame we didn't get a little more time at our first choice :D Take two on that one ;)

Thanks for an enjoyable day :thumb
 

slayaaaa

Moderator
Moderator
Thanks mate, was a good day, just a shame we didn't get a little more time at our first choice :D Take two on that one ;)

Thanks for an enjoyable day :thumb

Any time mate, have to get the others with us and get along to those other sites too. :)
 

ACID- REFLUX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Trashed but still plenty to see mate :thumb

Nearly called here last week, wish i had now...i think :)
 

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nice report bud.. That place looks so trashed

Thanks mate, yeah it's taken a serious battering!

Trashed but still plenty to see mate :thumb

Nearly called here last week, wish i had now...i think :)

:D I wouldn't necessarily go out of my way for it but it's worth a wander if you're passing through and have an hour or two to spare. Still some interesting bits in places. :)
 

wf36

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Thanks for posting.

For the record, the copper off the war memorial wasn't stolen, the council have taken it off so it doesn't get nicked!
 

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Ah right, that's good to know, cheers for the heads up.

I understand your average copper thief isn't exactly overflowing with moral fibre but desecrating war memorials for the sake of a few quid is about as low as you can get in my opinion so it's good to know they have (hopefully) been looked after. :thumb
 

Session9

A life backwards
28DL Full Member
Nice detail in the shots.
Shame you didnt get into the live bit, have they put a new fence up?
 

Boomstick84

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Nice detail in the shots.
Shame you didnt get into the live bit, have they put a new fence up?

Ta mate.

We had a look round the site in the middle (building in the first shot on my report) but it was pretty well boarded up. We didn't get a chance to look at what appeared to be the live site on the other side of that as it was getting pretty late in the day by then. It looked quite well fenced from where we were though.
 
Top