Brief history... maybe the briefest ever...
So there you have it. Previous reports here and elsewhere made this an explore I couldn't miss, eventually I got the chance.
Anyway, I was quite surprised to see yellow coats milling around, and a bit of traffic around the site as well. I got in OK, and at first I was surprised by the number of lights that were switched on.
First stop was the enormous cranes. I've seen smaller sports stadiums, seriously...
By far the largest crane I have ever seen...
The view from the crane gantry. Notice all the cupolas. There are two sets here, one for each furnace (so I was told). When full, these were loaded by the cranes onto railway wagons to go to the works next door...
The bottom of a blast furnace...
and the blast furnace control room...
So I'd been here for a couple of hours now, and went downstairs...
and just as I was taking this picture it all went wrong...
A bloke in a yellow coat appeared on the stairs and was coming towards me. Turned out he was a surveyor (more on that later). He really wanted me to leave, and I really wanted to stay. Final words from each of us was "We never saw each other, OK
"
So I made my way to the next shed, where there is an automated, suspended production line, much like we saw at Longbridge...
Well what really sucked is that I had been shopped to security, who appeared right underneath me. Nice enough guy though and quite professional. He wanted to know how I got in, but I couldn't remember
despite looking for a while 
So that was it. Out of the front gates, and denied seeing any more of the site. Mind you, it was still a good explore. Industrial epicness on a great scale.
A point to note, the site is currently undergoing asbestos surveys, and a security survey, prior to demolition. I also hear that it's going to be well secured in the next two weeks.
So there you have it. Previous reports here and elsewhere made this an explore I couldn't miss, eventually I got the chance.
Anyway, I was quite surprised to see yellow coats milling around, and a bit of traffic around the site as well. I got in OK, and at first I was surprised by the number of lights that were switched on.
First stop was the enormous cranes. I've seen smaller sports stadiums, seriously...
By far the largest crane I have ever seen...
The view from the crane gantry. Notice all the cupolas. There are two sets here, one for each furnace (so I was told). When full, these were loaded by the cranes onto railway wagons to go to the works next door...
The bottom of a blast furnace...
and the blast furnace control room...
So I'd been here for a couple of hours now, and went downstairs...
and just as I was taking this picture it all went wrong...
A bloke in a yellow coat appeared on the stairs and was coming towards me. Turned out he was a surveyor (more on that later). He really wanted me to leave, and I really wanted to stay. Final words from each of us was "We never saw each other, OK
" So I made my way to the next shed, where there is an automated, suspended production line, much like we saw at Longbridge...
Well what really sucked is that I had been shopped to security, who appeared right underneath me. Nice enough guy though and quite professional. He wanted to know how I got in, but I couldn't remember
despite looking for a while So that was it. Out of the front gates, and denied seeing any more of the site. Mind you, it was still a good explore. Industrial epicness on a great scale.
A point to note, the site is currently undergoing asbestos surveys, and a security survey, prior to demolition. I also hear that it's going to be well secured in the next two weeks.
