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Report - - Stone Manganese Marine Propellers, 200 ton shed, Birkenhead , Merseyside .2015 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Stone Manganese Marine Propellers, 200 ton shed, Birkenhead , Merseyside .2015

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The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
I have put this in Non public because there are a few local lads who are hoping to visit and hit the gantrys
I was underwhelmed after finding that the place has been stripped out and the moulds in the floors have all been either filled in or covered with wooden planks, basically all these years of anticipation were over anticipated on my part but the great history remains.

A little history and some of my images from 2010 and present day, also some images here that were on Google but Courtesy of Mike Woodfin who worked at the Bronze I think, his excellent images can be found here MIKE WOODFIN


HISTORY
Stone Manganese Marine [SMM] was formed in 1892 in London, where they made ships propellers. They moved to Wallasey at the start of world war two.
The site is on the dock road in Wallasey, and is visible from the Wallasey tunnel tool booths.
Due to a European Union grant being given to a rival German company , manufacturing ceased on the site in 1998 with the loss of 39 jobs, the company now only offers a consultancy service but still operates in germany and canada.
The site consists of the office building at the front, the large 200 ton shed that is being used today for petrochemical purposes.
Just to note that all of the blue gantries have now gone and most of the props have been cut up for scrap.


The 200 ton or tonne shed today that I have been hankering after for years
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for anyone interested about how Massive propellers are made, here is a little video Propellor Foundry

This old gantry has now gone completely, I took this in 2010
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Thanks to Mike Woodfin, this will give you an idea of what it was like, there were a number sheds like this on site in its heyday.
5827639469_818ff35651_b.jpg



Shuttered it like so
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shaped it like this
5828295753_081428ea89_b.jpg

Poured in the molten mangenese bronze
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and ended up with a monster propeller like this.
prop.jpg


There are a number of propellers still on site but all of the MOD pieces have gone, like this submarine propeller for instance, I took this shot in 2010, see the shape
35046996551_017e604ac1_c.jpg


Anyway, back to the 200 ton shed, I was in and taking photos, so here they are...a massive anticlimax for me but non the less I can sleep easier now knowing that I have seen the place.

The shed itself taken in 2010, the gantry in the foreground has now gone.
35177334455_d6e662fa58_c.jpg


Once inside it was mega in stature and I was pleased to see the twin Gantry cranes
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some moulds in the shed floor, now covered over?
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Sadly a bit bland but non the less a good photographic document
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A thermostat welded to the RSJ at the fire assembly point, I bet it could get Hot in here and probably very noisy too.
34796108450_f21571f747_c.jpg


In a side bay in are a load of old locker cabinets, most had the padlocks still on them and locked
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Side gates and raised area, SEE PICTURE 7 in this report to get an idea of working life here.
35182437215_9da8707183_c.jpg


That crane
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The crane plate
34796106080_96b255affc_c.jpg


Another side area with Tracks and raised platform


to the bogs
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I know that it is not a great improvement on 2010 and I was a bit disappointed to see that inside the 200 ton shed had been stripped, but I love the local History and when I told the painter that one of my elderly relatives was the shop steward here I was not fibbing, nor was I fibbing when I said that a few of my mates dads worked here, anyway, there was a nice little bonus on the way out when I saw an amphibious craft in the grounds...cool or what.
34796107280_64489750a6_c.jpg


Thanks for looking
 
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The Kwan

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Fantastic...

Jeez those propellers have been sat there for a few years!
All of the MOD pieces have gone because they were classified but there are only about three left there now for merchant vessels that never received them and whilst they are sat not causing a nuisance I think the company is happy to accommodate them because they own the whole site and still offer a refurbishing service so may yet find a use for them, that is my guess, the images of the props in this report are old. prolly still be there in ten years time because they are too big for the metal fairies Asda Trolly :)
 

BrainL

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Brilliant report mate, remember that building well from the toll booths, had no idea what was in there though :)
 
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