First off thanks for clicking on this thread! I know the title breathes fear into the heart of any self respecting 'tour derp hater' but this report shall be a little different! Since February 2014 the tourbus has been pulling up on the wrong side of the road in Winnington. This is when the production of Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride at the plant ceased and left a good 75% of the place a giant walk in industrial playground.
The plant at Winnington and its sister at Lostock have produced Soda Ash through the Solvay process since the 1870s. The company became part of ICI in 1923 but when that split in 1991 it went back to the Brunner Mond name untill a take over by Tata in 2006. Soda Ash has a multitude of uses but probably best known for use in the glass industry as a flux and as a major component of washing powders. in 2013 it was announced that Soda Ash production on site would cease with Sodium Bicarbonate becoming Winningtons sole product. Lostock would continue to produce both Soda and Calcium Chloride. The reason for closure was cited as being due to increased gas prices making the lower profit margins made on the soda product unsustainable
I first visited the works in 2007 when a large section of dereliction that is now becoming a new housing estate was the main attraction. At the time If you took the bridge over the river onto Wallerscote island you entered the distribution plant area which remained 'semi live' as a storage area for 1 ton bags of Soda. As far as i know not much changed until recently with plenty of people seeing fit to continue to visit this well documented section for 'HDR fun' time and time again, apparently not even venturing into either of the excellent bath house type buildings to be found mere yards away from plant?
With this in mind we started our mooch in old faithful. More or less as i remember it but now without power (or soda for that matter) Security circled the derp hot spot repeatedly, apparently scaring away the pair of manfrotto hugging, camo trouser wearing,'IM AN URBEXER' types we spotted on the river bank path.
The plant at Winnington and its sister at Lostock have produced Soda Ash through the Solvay process since the 1870s. The company became part of ICI in 1923 but when that split in 1991 it went back to the Brunner Mond name untill a take over by Tata in 2006. Soda Ash has a multitude of uses but probably best known for use in the glass industry as a flux and as a major component of washing powders. in 2013 it was announced that Soda Ash production on site would cease with Sodium Bicarbonate becoming Winningtons sole product. Lostock would continue to produce both Soda and Calcium Chloride. The reason for closure was cited as being due to increased gas prices making the lower profit margins made on the soda product unsustainable
I first visited the works in 2007 when a large section of dereliction that is now becoming a new housing estate was the main attraction. At the time If you took the bridge over the river onto Wallerscote island you entered the distribution plant area which remained 'semi live' as a storage area for 1 ton bags of Soda. As far as i know not much changed until recently with plenty of people seeing fit to continue to visit this well documented section for 'HDR fun' time and time again, apparently not even venturing into either of the excellent bath house type buildings to be found mere yards away from plant?
With this in mind we started our mooch in old faithful. More or less as i remember it but now without power (or soda for that matter) Security circled the derp hot spot repeatedly, apparently scaring away the pair of manfrotto hugging, camo trouser wearing,'IM AN URBEXER' types we spotted on the river bank path.
It became apparent that since i was last in there my attitude has definitely changed quite considerably and the site that back in 2007 seemed 'a bit meh' to me now seemed top banana. I hunted down epic sign after epic sign and had great fun poking in and out of the various bathrooms and workshops you just dont see on the usual Wallerscote reports. 'Gentlemen, Please do not throw tea leaves out the window' Possibly the best sign ive ever seen while exploring yet despite hiding on the fringe of this apparent UE hot spot id only ever seen one photo of it before. Absolute madness!