real time web analytics
Report - - Nobel's, Ardeer (Again) - Oct. 2009 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Nobel's, Ardeer (Again) - Oct. 2009

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

BenCooper

Mr Boombastic
28DL Full Member
I know what you're thinking - you're thinking when the hell am I going to STFU about Ardeer? Soon, I promise :) This was a revisit to walk the last few unexplored paths, go into every building I've missed, and hunt down a few loose ends - plus get better pictures of some places for my book project. There were a few bonuses, though...

First up, one of the four gunpowder presses - GP4 is a "Yankee" horizontal hydraulic press, which was apparently preferred by the workers.

4007994530_454f607804.jpg


GP1-3 are vertical hydraulic presses.

4007240995_fc9ce97338.jpg


GP1 still has the controls, dials etc - it's in the best condition.

4007261327_9354cccd94.jpg


I found a wee book of photos (see later) - and one was of a vertical press in use, around 1935.

4009391786_2370a56ea3.jpg


Next, onto the detonator test building.

4007266643_83192e2d9e.jpg


4008043300_7073d8358f.jpg


4007297417_7903bcb452.jpg


A drop test machine - still works :)

4008083118_08584e63ef.jpg


Next onto the labs - I just really stopped here for lunch, but decided on another wee poke about and found a big stash of paperwork - first some time-lapse photos:

4008102370_7ec6f2ae85.jpg


Then lots and lots of plans - including the beautiful ballistic mortar, and some plans of the labs. They mostly date from 1912-13.

4008508983_592665fed0.jpg


4008522063_760b1f53ec.jpg


One of the lab plans had a handwritten note on the back: "I have viewed this drawing several times - it is a good one - they were artists in 1912. The drawing helps to tell the history of the Testing Station, because I expect the buildings will be altered in the near future and then no other drawing and no person will be able to recall what is inscribed herein. JH 18/1/54"
The plans are different to the current layout of the labs, so whoever wrote this was right.

4009340460_b37a831cb2.jpg


4008594419_8972b4ec45.jpg


I also found a wee booklet - for the 60th Anniversary Dinner for the Foreman's Association. There were a bunch more interesting pictures in there - not at brilliant resolution, but some I've not seen anywhere else. The press one above came from this booklet - here are some others, first the factory gate in 1949:

4008620281_93f9e81495.jpg


The original nitroglycerine hill and dynamite cartridging huts - probably about 1890.

4008623105_3f9eae2d42.jpg


The nitrocellulose department in WW1:

4009394804_83857413bd.jpg


Also in the drawer was a big plastic hand - no idea why...

4008104606_d0a0b09082.jpg


Elsewhere, a much better shot of the rotating-mirror camera:

4008134394_8e1e3f1066.jpg


A couple of ballistic mortar projectiles, with a slide rule for calculating explosive power:

4007365121_41fd402b71.jpg


Finally, the silica gel drying stoves:

4008118558_cb961e290e.jpg


And a storage magazine:

4008123300_1389cce301.jpg


More pictures, as usual, in my great big Flickr set...
 
Top