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Report - - Paper Mill - Portugal (May 2017) | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Paper Mill - Portugal (May 2017)

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Echoes

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Serpins Paper Mill built in 1804?

Unfortunately, I can not find any info on this site. It's set in rural Portugal by a beautiful river,which the company diverted waters from for the mill.

The site is overgrown with bushes and thorns, which made some of the smaller buildings inaccessible.
Who know what they contain!


Entry Gates
GRu1DkM.jpg


Main Building
tjdKRD7.jpg


Admin office
OpRcFx3.jpg


IscwkxW.jpg


Mzy26wX.jpg


tXToxI6.jpg


ce694Ja.jpg


pBCd9jC.jpg


l0N3QTr.jpg


5r4hWUY.jpg


pxEc5S9.jpg


o2uOZ4W.jpg


asbZgnF.jpg


tCBDaXX.jpg


huge cogs in the basement
mDNczvU.jpg


mDNczvU.jpg


If anyone can shed any light on the uses of any of the machines then I'd love to know.

I could easily have spent another few hours here. Just amazing to be somewhere completely untouched, definitely like stepping back in time.

Also, it was nice to explore somewhere which isnt sodden with dampness!

(Sorry if there's too many pics)


here's a short video of the explore

 
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Yorrick

A fellow of infinite jest
28DL Full Member
That’s in amazing condition considering it’s been unused for over 30 years.

I can not find any info on this site.
Here you go.

"The Boque Paper Factory was founded in the year 1861 by José Joaquim de Paula, an industrialist who in 1821 had founded the Paper Mill of Góis in Ponte do Sótão.

The first phase of construction of the Boque continued between the year of foundation and 1868, the year in which the first machines were installed in the place and the paper production began.

A few years later, during the 1870's, the factory was sold to Viúva Macieira e Filhos, the current owner of the buildings. The second phase of construction began, with the survey of new buildings adjacent to the original core and the introduction of new mechanisms, which included a continuous papermaking machine, the first of its kind to work in Portugal.

Throughout the 20th century, access to the industrial complex was improved, namely the construction in 1930 of an extension of the railway line between Coimbra and Lousã, to Serpins, and the construction of a road bridge over Ceira, a few meters to the east of the buildings.

The factory complex is formed by several rectangular buildings, orientated to the west, that follow the course of the river. The main building, located closer to the waterway, is divided into two floors in the central body, with chimney to the center and facades torn by the symmetrical opening of round frame windows, corresponding to the former paper processing and manufacturing space. At the rear of the building are the spaces that housed the warehouses, the scale house, the carpentry, the locksmith, the settling tank, the boiler house and also a dam, which allowed the channeling of the water of the river Ceira to the factory buildings.

The Boque Paper Factory stopped working in the 1980s and was definitively closed in January 1986.

It was classified as IM (Municipal Interest) in 2001."


If you want some more, try translating this https://estudogeral.sib.uc.pt/bitstream/10316/14253/1/VOLUME I.pdf
 

Echoes

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Brilliant, thanks!

Yeah the condition of the place is staggering. This is partly due to the fact that its in a rural valley and protected by nature..
 

dweeb

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Amazing... nothing in this country could be left to decay like that without being smashed to bits first!
 

Cuuvin

28DL Colonial Member
28DL Full Member
If anyone can shed any light on the uses of any of the machines then I'd love to know.

Usually the 1st step in papermaking starts with grinding the feedstock to a pulp ( down to individual fibers)... this machine looks like a grinder, stuff to be ground put in the bowl, heavy grind stones rolled around and crushed it into fibers
Mzy26wX.jpg


pulp gets mixed with water, spread out thinly on a belt screen/cloth
o2uOZ4W.jpg


49843_paper_mach_lg.gif



(or drum)
tXToxI6.jpg


Cylinder+Mould+Machine.jpg


and water was then squeezed, or vacuumed out.. Then the paper was dried out and rolled up for further processing.... I think...;)
 
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mw0sec

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I used to do a bit of work for Portals (banknote paper). It always fascinated me to see the stock introduced to the screen - it always seemed too weak & watery to my eyes, but then a sheet of wet paper would appear and start it's progress down the rollers.
 

Echoes

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Well....sadly, this site has been burned down this weekend because of the extreme wild fires taking over large parts of Portugal :(

A friend of mine stays in the area and sent me this

https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/chamas-obrigam-a-evacuacao-de-aldeia-de-melgaco_e1033817

(scroll to 3rd video down)

The former paper factory of Boque, in Serpins, classified as a property of municipal interest, was destroyed today by the fire that burns in the area, Lusa admitted today a councilor of the Chamber of Lousã.

"I have an idea that it burned," said Ricardo Fernandes, who holds the posts of Firefighters, Civil Protection, Security, Forest and Rural Development, whose information was confirmed to Lusa by witnesses at the scene.

José Luis Santos, a history professor, said that the fire "completely destroyed the factory", which had been decommissioned for about 30 years and was classified in 1992 as a property of county value, later converted into a municipal interest, through a new law, published in 2001.


So gutted that this place is gone but so glad I got to see it and document it.
 
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