History
The site originally was the home of the Torridge Vale Butter Factory which was founded in 1874 and transported dairy products to London via the railway that once ran on the tarka trail line, in 1932 the site was acquired by cow and gate and then sold on to dairy crest who used the site as a creamery up until 1993 with the loss of 100 local jobs. Since it has stood empty it has been trashed over the years by youngsters, seen 2 suicides from the tower and also is known as the art factory with hundreds of pieces of artwork over many of it walls!
The explore/explores
Well this is a local spot for me living only a 2 minute walk up the hill, over the past 10 years I have been here 30 of 40 times, there are parts of the factory we have only recently found even with the amount of times we have visited, vandals have removed a lot of metals and things of value but there are still a few things that make a great photograph, I have over the past year been improving my skills and used here a lot during that time. Now and again have bumped into guys in there but most leave when they hear a noise. The factory is huge with lots of little rooms and corridors which now days I know like the back of my hand, there have been talks of the site being developed into homes for the past 8 years but nothing has been approved and nature slowly reclaims the building every time I go there. This is a great first explore for a novice urbexer with it being a very easy to access place and it being out of the way of the locals. I have seen many reports on this over the years but thought with it being my local I would do one myself......some spots may have not been seen before and some a lot more, one for the people who have visited before, the last photo is the staircase that takes you to the top of the cooling tower (how many people have found it) ....enjoy
First time i took my partner here in 2016, nothing ever changes in the factory just the odd bit of new graffiti
A shot from upstairs facing the fire exit that faces out into the courtyard which would of once had a roof above it!
This shot is out of one of the windows looking upon the overgrown courtyard............
Some artwork just off of the corridor that leads from the main factory floor, relatively new paintwork
From the office and canteen side of the factory complex towards the old pulley lift that came out of the doors you can see off the main floor
The main floor, changed over the years whilst being taken over more and more by nature and greener every time I visit
The mechanism that was used for the old pulley lift that ran out of the doors down to service road below
Not quite the highway to hell, but a nice drop to the lower separator floor below.....
This room is a random one, it has housed over the years a cupboard of old records, followed by old tapes and supermodel photos....now they are thrown all over the factory
One day we decided to have a play in a safe area of the factory with a fountain left over from new year.......
This doorway leads up a very dark stairwell that stops off at all floors of the drying tower,
not many people have found this as I have not seen any photos from the cooling tower
One of the old generators in the basement level of the factory
Old electrical control panel in the basement level
Looking down from the second floor of the cooling tower which was partly demolished after a few suicides.......
This shot is from the third floor of the cooling tower, you can see the doors where the floors would of originally been along with walkways, the top floor has still got a walkway that goes to the outside of the tower where there is some graffiti but ive never had the balls the walk across it as I do not know how stable it will be after sitting for 20 odd years
The site originally was the home of the Torridge Vale Butter Factory which was founded in 1874 and transported dairy products to London via the railway that once ran on the tarka trail line, in 1932 the site was acquired by cow and gate and then sold on to dairy crest who used the site as a creamery up until 1993 with the loss of 100 local jobs. Since it has stood empty it has been trashed over the years by youngsters, seen 2 suicides from the tower and also is known as the art factory with hundreds of pieces of artwork over many of it walls!
The explore/explores
Well this is a local spot for me living only a 2 minute walk up the hill, over the past 10 years I have been here 30 of 40 times, there are parts of the factory we have only recently found even with the amount of times we have visited, vandals have removed a lot of metals and things of value but there are still a few things that make a great photograph, I have over the past year been improving my skills and used here a lot during that time. Now and again have bumped into guys in there but most leave when they hear a noise. The factory is huge with lots of little rooms and corridors which now days I know like the back of my hand, there have been talks of the site being developed into homes for the past 8 years but nothing has been approved and nature slowly reclaims the building every time I go there. This is a great first explore for a novice urbexer with it being a very easy to access place and it being out of the way of the locals. I have seen many reports on this over the years but thought with it being my local I would do one myself......some spots may have not been seen before and some a lot more, one for the people who have visited before, the last photo is the staircase that takes you to the top of the cooling tower (how many people have found it) ....enjoy
First time i took my partner here in 2016, nothing ever changes in the factory just the odd bit of new graffiti
A shot from upstairs facing the fire exit that faces out into the courtyard which would of once had a roof above it!
This shot is out of one of the windows looking upon the overgrown courtyard............
Some artwork just off of the corridor that leads from the main factory floor, relatively new paintwork
From the office and canteen side of the factory complex towards the old pulley lift that came out of the doors you can see off the main floor
The main floor, changed over the years whilst being taken over more and more by nature and greener every time I visit
The mechanism that was used for the old pulley lift that ran out of the doors down to service road below
Not quite the highway to hell, but a nice drop to the lower separator floor below.....
This room is a random one, it has housed over the years a cupboard of old records, followed by old tapes and supermodel photos....now they are thrown all over the factory
One day we decided to have a play in a safe area of the factory with a fountain left over from new year.......
This doorway leads up a very dark stairwell that stops off at all floors of the drying tower,
not many people have found this as I have not seen any photos from the cooling tower
One of the old generators in the basement level of the factory
Old electrical control panel in the basement level
Looking down from the second floor of the cooling tower which was partly demolished after a few suicides.......
This shot is from the third floor of the cooling tower, you can see the doors where the floors would of originally been along with walkways, the top floor has still got a walkway that goes to the outside of the tower where there is some graffiti but ive never had the balls the walk across it as I do not know how stable it will be after sitting for 20 odd years
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