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Report - - The London Brickwork Company, Stewartby (August 2014) | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - The London Brickwork Company, Stewartby (August 2014)

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1nk4

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The Explore

Visited with member 'Gpub' - This is a huge site, we only explored the first main building, we plan to go back again soon to check out the remainders. This was a nice easy explore, didn't see a single soul as we went round, the only problem was the hurricane type wind that howled through the place and brought down a lot of crap with it! This place is well worth a visit if you're nearby! We cut our visit short as im recovering from a broken leg, and hopping around on crutches for 3 hours, takes it out of you lol!


History (From Unplugged's Report)

The London Brick Company owes its origins to John Cathles Hill. In 1889, Hill bought the small T.W.Hardy & Sons brickyard that was incorporated as the London Brick Company in 1900.

London Brick merged with Malcolm Stewart's B.J. Forder, along with London Brick, one of the four main groupings in the fletton industry. The resulting company for a while called L.B.C. & Forders went on to acquire other brick firms in the late 1920s giving it a dominant position in the fletton industry. They moved to an area of Bedfordshire and started the London Brick Company and Stewartby after the family name in 1926 for the workers of the company.

Production was primarally by rail and a railway line and station were installed to supply the factory and a working level crossing for the brickworks along with the junction and supply lines still remain. In 1931 the company was producing 1000 million bricks per year and in 1935 increased to 1,500 million. The end of WW2 saw a repair and housing boom and production peaked at 1750million bricks over 60% of the market.

The site closed in 2008 when the current owners Hanson couldn't meet the UK limits for sulphur dioxide emissions. The site was closed and largely demolished. A few buildings remain along with four chimneys that were spared demolition and listed for preservation marking Bedfordshire's brick-related history. These will remain and will be incorporated into future developments.


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gPub

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
A qaulity afternoons entertainment. Amazing access and such a welcoming athmosphere. Well worth the short trip to bedford. Shame about the swollen foot! Couple of great pics there aswell. Cant wait for the next trip mate.
 

Els

Obsessed with BS7671
Regular User
Though for best results hop in a time machine and set the controls for 2008
 

Session9

A life backwards
28DL Full Member
Nice pics mate and good effort on crutches. As Els said, it was so much better back in 2008 to 2010.
 

The Lone Shadow

Industrial Fanatic!
28DL Full Member
Nice report mate. Like Speed said, the best bits are yet to be seen. Search over the railway tracks :thumb

The Lone Shadow
 

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