Okay I'm finally through my backlog, thanks to the mods for sorting through my slew of reports. Keep any eye out for whats next! I've got my eye on a certain (relatively) recently abandoned local hospital...
History
Cwm Coke opened in 1958 to consolidate and support coke production in the region as part of an expensive modernisation project to an adjacent colliery in Beddau. By the 1970`s,the plant employed around 1580 workers alone,and was producing 515,000 tonnes of Coke annually. Originally supplied with coal from its sister site, Cwm Colliery, later bought in from further afield by road and rail following the colliery's closure in the wake of the 1980's mining strikes. An estimate of several million tonnes of reserve coal remained below the abandoned site. As for the coking plant, it was sold and stayed in operation into the early 21st century. Following its closure it has been one of the great south wales urbex sites and is slowly being picked apart by demolition year by year. One day it will be gone entirely and the local scene will be lesser for it.
The Trip
Despite my concerns over this being the first actively surveilled site I'd tried, the trip went pretty smooth overall. I managed to cover pretty much the entire site in a loop, and spent several hours digging through all the nooks and crannies, in awe at the scale of the industrial decay towering above. I felt like a bug scuttling through the remains of something incomprehensibly larger than me, and the experience has cemented what will likely remain a lifelong love of the hobby, and despite the demolition this site still has plenty to offer and likely will for years to come. Despite most of the lower ladders and second story access points being shorn away I still managed to find a way up onto the coking superstructure itself, and the views were incredible. I couldn't get all the way to the top as I didn't trust the severely rusted gantries and sadly didn't get too many pictures from the vantage points as my slight fear of heights kept my hands away from the camera. I was a little incautious by the end of my first loop around the site and got within sight of the road, at which point a car sped past and someone shouted at me. Foolishly, rather than realising I'd already seen everything and making a hasty exit, I reasoned it was probably just a concerned citizen and went back round for another loop. After maybe another 20 mins of exploring I turned around to find secca following on and quietly filming me. Luckily he was pretty polite after I clarified what I was doing and that I was there alone and, despite initially insisting I crawl out the way I came in, let me waltz right out the front gate! All in all definitely my best 'splore yet. Apologies if there's too many pics- this was a big place!
Pictures
History
Cwm Coke opened in 1958 to consolidate and support coke production in the region as part of an expensive modernisation project to an adjacent colliery in Beddau. By the 1970`s,the plant employed around 1580 workers alone,and was producing 515,000 tonnes of Coke annually. Originally supplied with coal from its sister site, Cwm Colliery, later bought in from further afield by road and rail following the colliery's closure in the wake of the 1980's mining strikes. An estimate of several million tonnes of reserve coal remained below the abandoned site. As for the coking plant, it was sold and stayed in operation into the early 21st century. Following its closure it has been one of the great south wales urbex sites and is slowly being picked apart by demolition year by year. One day it will be gone entirely and the local scene will be lesser for it.
The Trip
Despite my concerns over this being the first actively surveilled site I'd tried, the trip went pretty smooth overall. I managed to cover pretty much the entire site in a loop, and spent several hours digging through all the nooks and crannies, in awe at the scale of the industrial decay towering above. I felt like a bug scuttling through the remains of something incomprehensibly larger than me, and the experience has cemented what will likely remain a lifelong love of the hobby, and despite the demolition this site still has plenty to offer and likely will for years to come. Despite most of the lower ladders and second story access points being shorn away I still managed to find a way up onto the coking superstructure itself, and the views were incredible. I couldn't get all the way to the top as I didn't trust the severely rusted gantries and sadly didn't get too many pictures from the vantage points as my slight fear of heights kept my hands away from the camera. I was a little incautious by the end of my first loop around the site and got within sight of the road, at which point a car sped past and someone shouted at me. Foolishly, rather than realising I'd already seen everything and making a hasty exit, I reasoned it was probably just a concerned citizen and went back round for another loop. After maybe another 20 mins of exploring I turned around to find secca following on and quietly filming me. Luckily he was pretty polite after I clarified what I was doing and that I was there alone and, despite initially insisting I crawl out the way I came in, let me waltz right out the front gate! All in all definitely my best 'splore yet. Apologies if there's too many pics- this was a big place!
Pictures
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