So i wanted to create a new post instead of updating the old one so all of you get to see its glory
There are now 3 buildings left on the site and i have gotten into all of them, there are two attached to each other, one is a smaller loading bay which is a pain to access (this includes crawling through an exterior hole on the second floor which is just a bit smaller than a piece of a3 paper). It is also infested with pigeons but is still a laugh. The other main part are offices and archives. This one is pigeon free. There is also roof access. There were a few ways of getting into it but it changes weekly, people (not me) rip down barricades and then they get patched up by security. So it is a risk wether you can get in or not.
There's not loads, but I did find this -
"1912 Chiswick Soft Soap and Polish Company
1914 Yalding Manufacturing Company Ltd
1921 McDougall and Yalding Ltd
1927 Cooper, McDougall and Robertson Ltd
1937 Plant Protection Ltd
1964 ICI Agricultural Division
1975 ICI Plant Protection Division
1987 ICI Agrochemicals
1993 Zeneca
2001 Syngenta
Dec 2003 Company Closed.
The Yalding works can truly be considered the source and origin of agricultural chemicals since a factory producing crop protection products had been established on this site for just over ninety years. Interest in crop protection developed when the effectiveness of soft soap in controlling aphids on hops was discovered.
A major producer of soaps, the Chiswick Polish Company, perceived an opportunity for development, and in 1912 purchased a triangular site at Yalding (No 7 site) which was well served by road, rail and river, on which they built a factory for the manufacture of soft soap.
In 1914, the Chiswick Polish Co Ltd sold out to a consortium consisting mainly of local fruit and hop growers, and became known as the Yalding Manufacturing Co Ltd. This was established to continue manufacture of their well known Imperial Brand Soft Soap, and to extend their range to include fruit and hop washes, fungicides and insecticides.
Then, following the discovery by Professor Ian McDougall of McDougall Bros of Manchester of the insecticidal properties of derris, the Yalding factory merged with McDougall in 1921 to become McDougall and Yalding Ltd.
Finally three firms, William Cooper and Nephews of Berkhamstead, McDougall Bros of Manchester, and Robertson of Oban, who up to this time had been largely involved in animal health products, were brought into the crop protection field following the discovery that copper compounds used in sheep dips were also effective as general fungicides, particularly against potato blight.
This resulted in a series of amalgamations and in 1927 the firms of McDougall and Robertson, William Cooper and Nephews, McDougall and Yalding Ltd, Tomlinson and Hayward Ltd and Abol Ltd merged to form Cooper, McDougall and Robertson LTD.
In the following years, ICI was also beginning to develop interests in crop protection chemicals, which were conflicting with those of Cooper, McDougall and Robertson Ltd. In June 1937 these interests were merged in a new company, Plant Protection Ltd. At this stage the manufacturing side, including the factory at Yalding came under the control of ICI Dyestuffs Division. This responsibility eventually transferred to ICI General Chemicals Division (subsequently Mond Division) who had become heavily involved in the manufacture both of active ingredients and of formulations such as 'Perenox'.
In 1964 ICI decided to merge its crop production and crop protection interests and Plant Protection Ltd became part of ICI Agricultural Division. Finally, in 1987, following acquisition of the Stauffer Chemical Company, and in keeping with the ICI corporate image campaign, the name Plant Protection disappeared and the company then operated globally as ICI AGROCHEMICALS.
In June 1993 the ICI name was replaced by Zeneca when the company separated from its parent to become a leading bioscience company.
In November 2000, the agribusinesses of AstraZeneca and Novartis were changed to become part of the Swiss company Syngenta. Less than a year later in August 2001, the closure of the company was announced, which finally happened in December 2003."
I went back on a saturday afternoon and I'm pretty sure it will be demolished in the very near future, cars and vans are on the site, building materials are being delivered. It is only a matter of time until it is leveled. So, i went to get in 1 last time.
There was a broken window with a ripped down board, shelving units blocked the entrance but i found a scaffold poll to wrench them out of the way.
All pics are unedited and the lighting was hard to get a decent pic.
There are no alarms that i am aware of.
You might even be able to get permission to get in, but where is the fun in that
If you do, contact prestige guarding ltd at Yalding.
There are now 3 buildings left on the site and i have gotten into all of them, there are two attached to each other, one is a smaller loading bay which is a pain to access (this includes crawling through an exterior hole on the second floor which is just a bit smaller than a piece of a3 paper). It is also infested with pigeons but is still a laugh. The other main part are offices and archives. This one is pigeon free. There is also roof access. There were a few ways of getting into it but it changes weekly, people (not me) rip down barricades and then they get patched up by security. So it is a risk wether you can get in or not.
There's not loads, but I did find this -
"1912 Chiswick Soft Soap and Polish Company
1914 Yalding Manufacturing Company Ltd
1921 McDougall and Yalding Ltd
1927 Cooper, McDougall and Robertson Ltd
1937 Plant Protection Ltd
1964 ICI Agricultural Division
1975 ICI Plant Protection Division
1987 ICI Agrochemicals
1993 Zeneca
2001 Syngenta
Dec 2003 Company Closed.
The Yalding works can truly be considered the source and origin of agricultural chemicals since a factory producing crop protection products had been established on this site for just over ninety years. Interest in crop protection developed when the effectiveness of soft soap in controlling aphids on hops was discovered.
A major producer of soaps, the Chiswick Polish Company, perceived an opportunity for development, and in 1912 purchased a triangular site at Yalding (No 7 site) which was well served by road, rail and river, on which they built a factory for the manufacture of soft soap.
In 1914, the Chiswick Polish Co Ltd sold out to a consortium consisting mainly of local fruit and hop growers, and became known as the Yalding Manufacturing Co Ltd. This was established to continue manufacture of their well known Imperial Brand Soft Soap, and to extend their range to include fruit and hop washes, fungicides and insecticides.
Then, following the discovery by Professor Ian McDougall of McDougall Bros of Manchester of the insecticidal properties of derris, the Yalding factory merged with McDougall in 1921 to become McDougall and Yalding Ltd.
Finally three firms, William Cooper and Nephews of Berkhamstead, McDougall Bros of Manchester, and Robertson of Oban, who up to this time had been largely involved in animal health products, were brought into the crop protection field following the discovery that copper compounds used in sheep dips were also effective as general fungicides, particularly against potato blight.
This resulted in a series of amalgamations and in 1927 the firms of McDougall and Robertson, William Cooper and Nephews, McDougall and Yalding Ltd, Tomlinson and Hayward Ltd and Abol Ltd merged to form Cooper, McDougall and Robertson LTD.
In the following years, ICI was also beginning to develop interests in crop protection chemicals, which were conflicting with those of Cooper, McDougall and Robertson Ltd. In June 1937 these interests were merged in a new company, Plant Protection Ltd. At this stage the manufacturing side, including the factory at Yalding came under the control of ICI Dyestuffs Division. This responsibility eventually transferred to ICI General Chemicals Division (subsequently Mond Division) who had become heavily involved in the manufacture both of active ingredients and of formulations such as 'Perenox'.
In 1964 ICI decided to merge its crop production and crop protection interests and Plant Protection Ltd became part of ICI Agricultural Division. Finally, in 1987, following acquisition of the Stauffer Chemical Company, and in keeping with the ICI corporate image campaign, the name Plant Protection disappeared and the company then operated globally as ICI AGROCHEMICALS.
In June 1993 the ICI name was replaced by Zeneca when the company separated from its parent to become a leading bioscience company.
In November 2000, the agribusinesses of AstraZeneca and Novartis were changed to become part of the Swiss company Syngenta. Less than a year later in August 2001, the closure of the company was announced, which finally happened in December 2003."
I went back on a saturday afternoon and I'm pretty sure it will be demolished in the very near future, cars and vans are on the site, building materials are being delivered. It is only a matter of time until it is leveled. So, i went to get in 1 last time.
There was a broken window with a ripped down board, shelving units blocked the entrance but i found a scaffold poll to wrench them out of the way.
All pics are unedited and the lighting was hard to get a decent pic.
There are no alarms that i am aware of.
You might even be able to get permission to get in, but where is the fun in that
If you do, contact prestige guarding ltd at Yalding.
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