# Southam Cement Works - September 2007



## Goldie87 (Sep 12, 2007)

Visited here with a friend from 28DL on a sunday afternoon. Nice weather and had a good stroll about without any bother. I think this place ceased production around 1999, yet is still relatively untouched. 






View of the main part of the works





Slurry pools















The main control room


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## Foxylady (Sep 12, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Hi Goldie
It's been a while since I've seen any pics from there, so it was good to see how intact it still is. Those photos of yours are excellent. 
Cheers for that.


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## King Al (Sep 13, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Great first thread Goldie, great location, great pic's nice one


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## Mr Sam (Nov 1, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

what a day that was  the plan was a general recce so after an hour or so mumbling around watching workers from a distance we found a different route in almost bumping into 2 other explorers 

deffinetly one for a re-visit







i climbed to the top of a rather rickety ladder and peeped through a hatch only to be met with a drop inches from where id emerged, somehow with an arm round the ladder i got my camera out






the colours through the water reminded me of titanic for some reason






one can only imagine the dust 






site is totally live and active during weekdays and still people around on sundays






before leaving the house i found my cat in my cement mixer which i found rather amusing


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## smileysal (Nov 1, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Looks like a large site. Loving the green water  and the amount of dust on the extractor  Looking forward to seeing the pics from your next visit.

Cheers,

 Sal

ps. yes, i like the pic of your cat in the cement mixer lol


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## WeeT (Nov 2, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Excellent pics! Wish there was a place like this local to me


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## King Al (Nov 2, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



WeeT said:


> Excellent pics! Wish there was a place like this local to me



echo that  super sight


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## borntobemild (Dec 24, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

I live about two miles away from the cement works so visit regularly. Access is easy via the old Leamington to Daventry railway line that runs behind it.
Last time i went for a wander i was accosted by a couple of security guards. Had to pretend i was senile/lost/looking for great crested newts.

Photos are excellent.
Next time I go I'll take my camera - though it has to be said - they will probably be crap photos. 
The railway line taking the cement to Rugby only closed in 1985.

For anyone living locally, this site gives loads of ideas for places to explore.

http://www.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/


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## Mr Sam (Dec 31, 2007)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



borntobemild said:


> Had to pretend i was senile/lost/looking for great crested newts.



one to remember


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## Lightbuoy (Jan 1, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Good report and pics! 
Liking the little sheds in the middle of the tanks -great place for growing tomatoes I bet!!!  Thanks for sharing ya pics with us.

Lb


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## borntobemild (Jan 18, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

I had a little wander round at the weekend. No time to go in but took some pics from outside. I've just heard that Cemex have applied for permission to use it as a landfill site, 500 lorries a day.  not good news.

Tried to give an idea of the size of the place. It was really windy and there was loose corrugated iron flapping about all the time which made it quite spooky. 
Lots of cement slurry - not good stuff for walking in!

Settlement tanks are huge 75m diameter. Canal is disused - leads back to Grand Union. Railway is the old Leamington-Daventry line.

I saw the biggest cat i've ever seen in my life. It was massive! Unfortunately it legged it before i could get a picture. If it had come towards me i might well have run away. I can understand how legends like 'The Beast of Bodmin Moor' come about

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## Lightbuoy (Jan 18, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Great pics BTBM 

Shows the scale of the place pretty well me thinks!

Lb

P.s. -sounds like the Beast of Bodmin was a bit lost!


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## Lightbuoy (Jan 18, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

On second thoughts, perhaps we know the owner of the "beast"


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## Foxylady (Jan 18, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Excellent pics, BTBM. As Lb said, it's really neat to be able to see the scale of the place and especially how the buildings sit in relationship to each other.
Re the application for a landfill site...isn't this an SSSI site? I was reading about quarries and such like, and apparently they are only allowed to operate for an agreed amount of years. Once left to return to nature they usually become awarded SSSI status due to the rare plants, etc, that often grow on these kind of soils. Be interesting to see what happens.


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## BarneySchwarzenegger (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

excellent stuff, see what you mean about titanic(mrsams,pic).


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## Virusman26 (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

Some awesome shots there of an amazing looking site. Funny one of the cat!
The dust deposits on that window are just mad!:icon_evil


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## borntobemild (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



Foxylady said:


> Excellent pics, BTBM. As Lb said, it's really neat to be able to see the scale of the place and especially how the buildings sit in relationship to each other.
> Re the application for a landfill site...isn't this an SSSI site? I was reading about quarries and such like, and apparently they are only allowed to operate for an agreed amount of years. Once left to return to nature they usually become awarded SSSI status due to the rare plants, etc, that often grow on these kind of soils. Be interesting to see what happens.



Unfortunately FoxyLady,this one isn't an SSSI. Three others in the area (Ufton, Stockton and Harbury) are. This one hasn't been derelict for long enough. Nowadays, any hole in the ground is a potential goldmine (did i really say that!) and the owners (Cemex) know it. If they get the planning permission, they can get more money for filling it in than digging it out.
There's a lot of local politics going on that i won't bore you with here.
Its a real shame. The place has been quarried for over a hundred years. It's got masses of fossils in it as well!
http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/search/default_hndlr.asp


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## Ratters (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

that place looks huge, good report though.


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## Foxylady (Jan 19, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



borntobemild said:


> Its a real shame. The place has been quarried for over a hundred years. It's got masses of fossils in it as well!



It is a real shame. That's interesting about the fossils, because Shapwick Grange that I've explored has SSSI status because of its fossil content. Maybe status could be pushed on those grounds alone!


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## borntobemild (Jan 21, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



Foxylady said:


> It is a real shame. That's interesting about the fossils, because Shapwick Grange that I've explored has SSSI status because of its fossil content. Maybe status could be pushed on those grounds alone!



good thinking. I know the site is rich in wildlife as well. I've seen great crested newts in one of the ponds. 
I'll get on to the local wildlife trust.

ps - your signature is brilliant


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## Foxylady (Jan 21, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*



borntobemild said:


> I've seen great crested newts in one of the ponds. I'll get on to the local wildlife trust.



Oh, excellent. 



borntobemild said:


> ps - your signature is brilliant



Courtesy of The Wurzels!


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## Mr Sam (Jan 21, 2008)

*Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07*

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

now it makes sence, you gotta say it a lil faster in a west country half pissed on cider accent


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## borntobemild (Jun 19, 2008)

*photos*

Went back on at the weekend - beautiful morning so no excuse for sh*t photos this time. Visit curtailed by puncture on bike unfortunately.

Log book in maintenance workshop







Very very big building. About 100m from one end to the other






um - switchgear






sand hopper. looks like they just switched it off, went home and never came back







conveyer that took the sand up to the 'very big building'






serious bit of kit that drove the fans I think. Reminds me of something out of Phantom of the Opera for some reason






generator of some sort






general shot of site






place is so big you could spend a whole day there. 

more pics here - including one of an orchid for all you wildlife lovers

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa101/borntobemild/southam/


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## Mr Sam (Jun 19, 2008)

cool stuff must pop back here now its dryed up a bit


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## nursepayne (Jul 11, 2008)

Borntobemild the site is definately a haven for wildlife, I saw deer around the back of the site once.
That pic of the cat owning the machine is adorable


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## borntobemild (Oct 23, 2008)

Went back last weekend and took a few more pics.

Lots of changes have taken place over the summer, with a number of buildings demolished or buried in spoil.
The owners (Cemex) have a couple of Planning Applications out for the site and they seem to be 'tidying' it up. 

Great shame.































more pics here

http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa101/borntobemild/southam2/


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## Foxylady (Oct 23, 2008)

Wow, that's amazing to see how the trees and bushes have grown and encroached so much since the last time. Great to see more photos. Cheers.


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## Mr Sam (Oct 23, 2008)

nice one!!!

i was just thinking the other day need to get back here


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## crumbler (Oct 25, 2008)

wow, awsome site, great structures, really nice shots.


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## Mancha (Apr 20, 2009)

Went past here today and noticed they have demolished some settlement tanks on the northern side of the disused railway line!!!! If you look at Borntobemilds 5th picture from the top this was the tank with the green coloured water in it.



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## borntobemild (Oct 2, 2009)

Went back (again) at the weekend. The place is so big, I always find a bit I haven't been in before. The two big settlement tanks on the other side of the railway have gone now. Not much further demolition, and security seems to have eased off. 
It hasn't rained for a month here so everywhere was nice and dry. So dry that i could taste the dust in my mouth as i walked around.

Makes a big difference. Cement dust not good when wet. 

Some of the equipment in there looks incredibly sophisticated. Obviously making cement is more complicated than just heating up a bit of limestone with a bit of sand.

new and old






no idea what this was for






large hadron collider






couple of shots from the structure right next to the chimney












that's a lot of volts






hope these don't hold spent nuclear fuel






i arrived about 8:00 on a beautiful sunny morning. About an hour later a thick fog had enveloped the whole site. Quite spooky really. Took this shot of the chimney as i was leaving.


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## Goldie87 (Oct 2, 2009)

Nice to see some more recent shots of the place


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## Mr Sam (Oct 4, 2009)

oooo may have to pop back here pronto


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