We popped in here on what started off as a very wet winters morning, luckily the weather improved when we got here. We honestly did not expect to be here long. But I think we ended up being here about four hours. Yes it's trashed, some buildings demolished, but the site is so big and spread out it took us a while to check it all out. It was better than we expected it to be, mainly due to the great graffiti about. And to me the Sheffield area is my favourite place for graffiti, with the likes of Coloquix and BrayK etc.
The Loxley valley works was first used for industry in the 17th century with two mills and steel works. The area is rich in ganister which was mined and used heavily in the production of hollow refractories. These bricks could withstand high temperatures so we're ideal for use in the steel industry. They lined the furnaces used in the production of steel. The site was vital during the second world war with 95% of the hollow refractories in the country. The site was so important in the production of steel for the war effort that the three firms occupying the sites had their own anti aircraft gun to protect the site. Hepworth owned the site till 1997. It was then bought out by Alpine and rebranded as Premier. With the decline of the steel industry in this country the site closed in 1999. The site was later bought in 2006 by Bovis with the plans to build hundreds of houses on site. This fell through due to planning issues and the site laid derelict still. It seems now though that new plans have come through and doing some reading it looks like demo has started in the rest of the site. Although it seems that a lot of controversy is following this with people worrying about the scenic area being ruined, also the valley is prone to flooding.
Starting off with the main factory. The chimney still remains intact.
Their is plenty of graffiti in this area.
This was the canteen area. For some reason they had painted it in a salmon pinky colour.
Continued..
The Loxley valley works was first used for industry in the 17th century with two mills and steel works. The area is rich in ganister which was mined and used heavily in the production of hollow refractories. These bricks could withstand high temperatures so we're ideal for use in the steel industry. They lined the furnaces used in the production of steel. The site was vital during the second world war with 95% of the hollow refractories in the country. The site was so important in the production of steel for the war effort that the three firms occupying the sites had their own anti aircraft gun to protect the site. Hepworth owned the site till 1997. It was then bought out by Alpine and rebranded as Premier. With the decline of the steel industry in this country the site closed in 1999. The site was later bought in 2006 by Bovis with the plans to build hundreds of houses on site. This fell through due to planning issues and the site laid derelict still. It seems now though that new plans have come through and doing some reading it looks like demo has started in the rest of the site. Although it seems that a lot of controversy is following this with people worrying about the scenic area being ruined, also the valley is prone to flooding.
Starting off with the main factory. The chimney still remains intact.
Their is plenty of graffiti in this area.
This was the canteen area. For some reason they had painted it in a salmon pinky colour.
Continued..
