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Report - - John Summers & Sons (Shotton, Flintshire, May, 2018) | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - John Summers & Sons (Shotton, Flintshire, May, 2018)

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urbanchemist

28DL Regular User
Regular User
This has been covered before, with two 2011-vintage reports, so the current effort is by way of an update.

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/john-summers-sons-shotton-steelworks-april-2011.60963/
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/john-summers-sons-deeside-december-2011.67394/

I wasn’t really expecting this one to be accessible - it never has been when I’ve looked before - but I was pedalling round the Chester-Dee circular cycle route and luckily had brought a camera along just in case.

The building: A nice old pile of terracotta and red brick next to Hawarden bridge. Built in 1907 as the headquarters of John Summers and Sons steelworks, it was then taken over by the British Steel Corporation, then Corus (now Tata) Steel and is currently owned by Pochin (a developer).

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Side views - there used to be a 1950s extension (labs), since demolished, and you can see where it was attached. Below that a 1910 photo taken from the other side.

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According to the listing https://www.britishlistedbuildings....uilding-corus-steelworks-sealand#.Wxup6FMvyQ4 the building is notable for its Art Nouveau interior, particularly the staircase, tiles and stained glass. In practice its hard to see much of this since its all boarded up and dark inside, and the staircase is wrapped in cardboard, apparently as protection from airsofters. The majority of the rooms are just empty offices, with a boardroom and some accommodation rooms modernised in the 1950s on the top floors. Pictures are ordered from the basement up.

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Sweeping stairs and views down to the basement and the front door. The revolving doors may be original.

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Boardroom - some of the panelling in this and other places looks more recent than 1907.

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On to areas modernised in the 1950s.

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I took a couple of pics of the kitchen and scullery on the top floor because I liked the look of the cabinets. The Mrs later identified them as “English Rose” style, apparently still popular with those into retro stuff.

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One of the clock faces with chimes and a view of Hawarden bridge. Most of the clock mechanism has now disappeared.

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View of the Tata steel works next door.

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Not a great deal has changed compared to the previous reports - a bit of trashing but mostly decay.
 

Olkka

Chillin at the structure
Regular User
Something endearing about those banisters wrapped in cardboard. Also look at that rooftop smoking shed - John Summers & Sons took care of their employees properly. Thanks for sharing Chemist!
 

urbanchemist

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Didn't notice any cricket stuff up there, but I wasn't looking too hard - a bit rushed by that stage.
 

charliP0P

28DL Member
28DL Member
The stairs were actually wrapped by myself and a few others when we used the buildings for training. We wanted to preserve the original wood and leave it as undamaged as possible. Great to see our handwork is still in place almost 4 years after we vacated the premises. Cracking shots too!
 

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