# MCKechnie Brass Mill, Birmingham - Sept 2016



## shatners (Sep 4, 2016)

Had a meander around McKechnie Brass this morning.... it seems to be covered in PIR's which relay to a JCB security tower which also has PIR's and CCTV and a speaker that a guy called Dave shouts out at us to say hes called Security Kevin's wife and Kevs now on his way in his Montego and you better clear off because hes tuned his amber lights on and everything!



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I cant for the life of me understand what they are protecting because apart from a few bits and the most cranes I have EVER seen in one place.... its been battered.

Also I finally put a website together of you have five minutes of your life you never want to get back *www.derpage.com*

BIt of history

The Aldridge factory employed around 1,000 people between 1979 and 1987 whilst producing approximately 1,000 tonnes per week, with about 4 extrusion presses in use at any one time, producing around 480,000 extrusions per annum. These presses produced extruded rod, hollow bar & section, in various shapes, sizes & specifications of brass.

It supplied the building industry, the military, amongst others, & in the later years produced specialist wire for the railway industry. Raw material, such as swarf, brass in various forms, was bought from merchants, alongside all metal that was produced as scrap, during the factory process stage. This was all mixed into batches, ready to go into the foundry, starting the process all over again. The profitable wire mill, produced brass, bronze & copper wire to many customers, including the car industry. The wire mill was closed around 2005, & work transferred to another UK plant. The factory had it’s own ballroom, medical surgery, conference facilities, clubhouse & sports facilities. Lots of heat & noise was generated and serious accidents were evident, including sadly, one fatality, severed digits, molten metal burns.

In 2011, there were only two presses running, one producing Standard Brass Rod, & the other extruding rod in ‘section’ form (specialist shapes, sizes & metal specifications. Trying to live with the ever upward spiral of scrap prices, lack of substantial investment, & excessive amounts of scrap created during the production process – made it difficult to break even, let alone make decent profits. To the very end, staff had not been given a pay rise in 8 years.





































































































































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## Sam Haltin (Sep 4, 2016)

That's nicely done. Not so good of the history, health and safety gone wrong but your photos record this well.


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## Rubex (Sep 4, 2016)

Very nice


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## shatners (Sep 4, 2016)

Hugh Jorgan said:


> That's nicely done. Not so good of the history, health and safety gone wrong but your photos record this well.



Thanks Hugh


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## shatners (Sep 4, 2016)

Rubex said:


> Very nice



Cheers Rubex.. much appreciated


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## Brewtal (Sep 4, 2016)

That is stunning. So many good shots here, hard to pick a favourite! Really nicely done, great write up too.


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## smiler (Sep 4, 2016)

Nice set of pics, Thanks


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## andylen (Sep 4, 2016)

Lovely industrial set, thanks for sharing. As above cannot pic out a fav pic.
Did Kevin turn up in his Montego after ?


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## HughieD (Sep 4, 2016)

Outstanding stuff. Loving the composition and colours.


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## krela (Sep 5, 2016)

Great stuff, thanks shatners


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## shatners (Sep 5, 2016)

Thanks all... much appreciated, a fair few nice little bits left despite the metal fairies wreaking havock


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## mookster (Sep 5, 2016)

It wouldn't surprise me if the PIRs and all that crap was there to deter metal thieves, as after it closed down a worker stripping things out was killed when he cut through a wire he was told was disconnected so some of it must still be plugged in somewhere.


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## UrbanX (Sep 5, 2016)

Amazing set, very inspirational. 
Thanks for sharing


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## Derelict-UK (Sep 5, 2016)

Did Kevin materialise?


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## shatners (Sep 5, 2016)

mookster said:


> It wouldn't surprise me if the PIRs and all that crap was there to deter metal thieves, as after it closed down a worker stripping things out was killed when he cut through a wire he was told was disconnected so some of it must still be plugged in somewhere.



Blimey... sad to hear that, it definitely looked a bit trapped in the past, the cranes had deck chairs in for seats!


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## shatners (Sep 5, 2016)

Derelict-UK said:


> Did Kevin materialise?



No, people these days just don't understand that if someone has amber flashing lights on you need to pull over as they are either on their way to a major security breach... or a bin lorry. We gave him three hours which I think was more than generous


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## Conrad (Sep 6, 2016)

Looks like a fun meander, still on my to do list to be told off by a tannoy tower.


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## shatners (Sep 7, 2016)

Yep just enough left to still be worth a mooch


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## Dirus_Strictus (Sep 7, 2016)

shatners said:


> No, people these days just don't understand that if someone has amber flashing lights on you need to pull over as they are either on their way to a major security breach... or a bin lorry.



The amber flashing light is a turn indicator, a warning signal of wide load, a working road maintenance vehicle etc. It does not give the right to some private security employee to speed or force people to move over. 'Protecting' private property is not a major security breach in any definition of the wording. Any valid security breech to the Nation will be 'blue lighted', even by unmarked vehicles.


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## mookster (Sep 12, 2016)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> The amber flashing light is a turn indicator, a warning signal of wide load, a working road maintenance vehicle etc. It does not give the right to some private security employee to speed or force people to move over. 'Protecting' private property is not a major security breach in any definition of the wording. Any valid security breech to the Nation will be 'blue lighted', even by unmarked vehicles.



I'm fairly certain shatners was being sarcastic..


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## flyboys90 (Sep 13, 2016)

You've got a great set of photos.Thanks for sharing.


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## shatners (Sep 13, 2016)

Dirus_Strictus said:


> The amber flashing light is a turn indicator, a warning signal of wide load, a working road maintenance vehicle etc. It does not give the right to some private security employee to speed or force people to move over. 'Protecting' private property is not a major security breach in any definition of the wording. Any valid security breech to the Nation will be 'blue lighted', even by unmarked vehicles.



Erm.. yes, think you missed my sarcastic undertone


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