This is somewhere I've sat on for a long time, it's one of those rare places that really shouldn't have existed for as long as it did but I found out today that at long last it's being cleared out and redeveloped - two of my friends from my other major hobby, oval racing, work for a large scrap metal company who were given the contract for clearing the place out prior to it's development and they posted some photos of a couple of the vehicles today which they have saved that I instantly recognised. The owner is on site with them and taking various things away into storage but a lot of it will end up scrapped sadly, they're chopping through it very quickly.
There isn't a huge deal of information around about the company, Staines Tinware Manufacturing Co. was set up in 1919, producing a wide range of metal items for both household and industrial usage. The old works in the middle of Staines closed down in the mid-1990s and they moved to a new premises where they still operate out of to this day. After closure, one side of the property was rented out by a company who manufactured plaster busts and other stuff, but this too closed some time ago. Upon it's closure in the mid 1990s, every old piece of machinery and almost everything else was left inside, although some of it was moved to one end of the building. It was one of the most incredible industrial time capsules I've ever seen, the sort of place which simply shouldn't exist any more given the length of closure. Thankfully it's location in a totally non-descript building stuck in the middle of a narrow residential street, with houses on two sides and a tyre garage on the other meant it was very much overlooked, the way in was only there for a very short period of time before it was securely sealed a matter of hours after we left.
It was whilst we were poking around the centre of the building that me and my friend made the most amazing discovery. We caught sight of a flash of chrome under a pile of rubbish and junk so set about uncovering whatever was hidden under the pile, and much to our shock and amazement we uncovered a very, very rare and desirable as well as valuable Sunbeam Tiger. It's probably one of the most valuable vehicles I've ever found in a derelict property, it's now thankfully been removed by the owner and placed into storage - other than a dented roof and a broken drivers window it looked almost roadworthy.
This was an amazing place, one which I was so glad I was in the right place at the right time to see.
Thanks for looking
There isn't a huge deal of information around about the company, Staines Tinware Manufacturing Co. was set up in 1919, producing a wide range of metal items for both household and industrial usage. The old works in the middle of Staines closed down in the mid-1990s and they moved to a new premises where they still operate out of to this day. After closure, one side of the property was rented out by a company who manufactured plaster busts and other stuff, but this too closed some time ago. Upon it's closure in the mid 1990s, every old piece of machinery and almost everything else was left inside, although some of it was moved to one end of the building. It was one of the most incredible industrial time capsules I've ever seen, the sort of place which simply shouldn't exist any more given the length of closure. Thankfully it's location in a totally non-descript building stuck in the middle of a narrow residential street, with houses on two sides and a tyre garage on the other meant it was very much overlooked, the way in was only there for a very short period of time before it was securely sealed a matter of hours after we left.
It was whilst we were poking around the centre of the building that me and my friend made the most amazing discovery. We caught sight of a flash of chrome under a pile of rubbish and junk so set about uncovering whatever was hidden under the pile, and much to our shock and amazement we uncovered a very, very rare and desirable as well as valuable Sunbeam Tiger. It's probably one of the most valuable vehicles I've ever found in a derelict property, it's now thankfully been removed by the owner and placed into storage - other than a dented roof and a broken drivers window it looked almost roadworthy.
This was an amazing place, one which I was so glad I was in the right place at the right time to see.
Thanks for looking
