# GE lighting rushey mead



## jameswildcooper (Jan 30, 2011)

well last night me and a few others attempted to get in.... and we did its absolutely huge and has security on the site so have to be careful.
I deffo recomend going before it gets knocked down which will be in about a week i reckon.
I only have a couple of pictures as i only had my camera phone but i will get a lot more better pics.

heres a couple of pics for a taster 






and for the famous christmas lights.





diesel engine to power pumps










more pics courtesy of caine..
http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa439/UrbanNinjaB/GE%20Lighting/


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## King Al (Jan 30, 2011)

Took out a little bit of your text from this fella, its not a good idea to say exactly when you'll be going back!

I am however looking forward to seeing more of this one


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## MD (Jan 30, 2011)

great work fella shout me if you go back


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## Scaramanger (Jan 30, 2011)

Always fancied getting in to this one. Used to be called thorn lighting years ago. Went by last weekend and could see a security kiosk with some geezer sitting in it. Also has a serious fence I notice. Didn't know they were going to knock it down though...


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## caine (Jan 30, 2011)

Enjoy boys and girls!!

we took a trip back there today and my gosh that place is big! spent over two hours there and covered maybe half of it? i took wayyy to many photos to post them on here so i will leave you with a link! my camera is not amazing but you get the idea 


http://s1197.photobucket.com/albums/aa439/UrbanNinjaB/GE Lighting/


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

yeh there is still securty there in a booth. also the fence is pretty high security. barb wire all way round and its high the fence.

also been told there may be an air raid shelter somewhere in the grounds but we havnt stumbled accross it yet  

it changed names in 1991 if i remember right from thorn lighting to GE lighting.

as for it being knocked down there was a big digger that turned up friday afternoon which makes me think sometime this week its going to come down. its been more or less gutted inside. 
The land was contaminated before so it couldnt be built on and it had the go ahead december 2010 to be de contaminated and built over. it had storage tanks to hold bulk oil fuel, had a few tankers that held liquid gas and the biggest one is a 30,000 gallon oil tank.
Forgot to also mention there must have been a lot of sulphate around the place as some of the areas stink of it. they used to use that stuff in some of the bulbs they made.

used to get told if that place went up it would take a 3-5 mile radius with it....

did a lot of research on this place as i live really close to it and as a kid i always wanted to go in but there was cameras everywhere before.

forgot to also add there is a tennis court outside and accomodation for people to sleep when they are training there...

cheers caine for the pics good job someone has a decent camera


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## RichardH (Jan 31, 2011)

jameswildcooper said:


> also been told there may be an air raid shelter somewhere in the grounds but we havnt stumbled accross it yet



Towards the back of the site, behind the prefab sheds, if I remember correctly. But I think it was filled in years ago.


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

richard where is the prefab sheds? is that where all the trees and bushes are in the corner closest side to troon way road or opposite to this? also do you know if the place had a basement?

cheers for the info though


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## RichardH (Jan 31, 2011)

The Troon Way side is what I was thinking of. I've not lived in Leicester for a very long time.

I've never explored the place, but when I was a wee 'un, my friend's father was an accountant at Thorne Lighting. I was taken to an open day there, and I remember an area of the grass being cordoned off as dangerous, due to the shelter. I was about 10 or 11, and at that time I was mad keen on air raid shelters. I was quite miffed that I couldn't get close enough to see it.

Of course, we're talking nearly 30 years ago, so what was once grass and prefabs may now be impenetrable jungle.


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

Ok thanks mate. One side is still all grass and other is trees and bushes. The grass side is still cordened off? But thats other side from road. Hope it hasnt been filled...


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

Ok thanks mate. One side is still all grass and other is trees and bushes. The grass side is still cordened off? But thats other side from road. Hope it hasnt been filled...


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## boothy (Jan 31, 2011)

Well done JWC !


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## killergibbo (Jan 31, 2011)

hmmm somethings u never know hey lol i also live in leicester and me along with my regiment have done flashbang and room breach's in the building aswell as first aid and this was 3 months ago!!

thing is this building is listed and wont be knocked down so i have no idea where ur gettin that from as this come up after my regiment had asked if we could use c4 and hand pistols but got turned down because the building is listed!

police have been using the site aswell.....

btw dont get caught in there because you will be arrested....

anyways ya the building is mazzive nice place ill have to speak to my mate to get pics of him of the day we was there training


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

mmm ive herd from a few people there was going to be houses built over it. sure it was in the paper ages back aswell. then recently it said there might be 1000 jobs going there is another business opening there?

as for the police use it i know as from my house i can hear the dogs barking in there as they train the dogs to find drugs. some big dog prints on some of the walls lol...

never knew it was a listed building though??


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## killergibbo (Jan 31, 2011)

yea the place is staying mate they will just be cleaning it up thats all.....am shocked you dint hear us lol 120 soldiers making noise and throwin flashbangs and firing blanks haha we did draw alittle crownd tho cos local people thought there was a gun war going on and came to find out


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## jameswildcooper (Jan 31, 2011)

lol nope dont remember hearing that? did you come more than once? were you in and out all the buildings?


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## Goldie87 (Jan 31, 2011)

killergibbo said:


> btw dont get caught in there because you will be arrested....



How is this different from any other site, theres a chance police might be called wherever you explore. I can't find anything on any of the buildings being listed, I could be wrong but I find it highly unlikely any of them are. The site itself has recently been sold and the buildings there will be demolished very soon. 

Thanks for the tour btw guys, was a great explore. Hopefully meet you all again soon!


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## MD (Jan 31, 2011)

Cheers lads 
Good to meet you all


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 1, 2011)

even looking around the rooms again more than once im still lovin it....

nice to meet you both


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## caine (Feb 1, 2011)

good to meet you all lads 

oh yeah... you remember i found that negative strip 

well... i scanned them in!



























enjoy 





EDIT!!! : After a mess about with photoshop i managed to get them to this!


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## caine (Feb 1, 2011)

and who can forget these instructions for a machine in there 













note the date...4th august 1969


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## LittleMrBigStuff (Feb 1, 2011)

Great explore, was good to meet MD and goldie87. looking forward to doing a few more like this one


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## Goldie87 (Feb 1, 2011)

The images on the negatives look quite old going by some of the cars and the way the people in the background are dressed!


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## caine (Feb 1, 2011)

Goldie87 said:


> The images on the negatives look quite old going by some of the cars and the way the people in the background are dressed!



yepp!!! very happy with that find! shame i dont have a negative scanner.. literally shoved them in the normal scanner impressed with how they came out though!!


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## LittleMrBigStuff (Feb 1, 2011)

http://www.thisisbusiness-eastmidla...-000-JOBS/article-3111606-detail/article.html

http://www.streetlightonline.co.uk/Visits/geleicester.htm


.... couple of links with a bit of info about the site for anyone thats interested


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 1, 2011)

them pics are from the early 50s... them street lights in the big ben pics look old.

also this looks like a early 1950s ford anglia in this pic 





just like this one with the fog light on the N/S/F 





although having a better look it actually looks like a austin 16 which is pre war if i remember right 1940s


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## caine (Feb 1, 2011)

jameswildcooper said:


> them pics are from the early 50s... them street lights in the big ben pics look old.
> 
> also this looks like a early 1950s ford anglia in this pic
> 
> ...




looks about right  check out the edited post mate.. got them looking scchhhhweeeeeeett


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 1, 2011)

they look fuckign bad boy... wonder what road that car is on? found out a bit more about the air raid shelter. It dont look good for it...


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## Goldie87 (Feb 1, 2011)

Looks like the old pics must be of street lighting installations they did, pretty sure the ones by big ben are still there. 



jameswildcooper said:


> found out a bit more about the air raid shelter. It dont look good for it...



That doesn't sound good, take it they have been destroyed


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 1, 2011)

well i PM,D richard H on here asked him this..

just a couple of questions about the bunker if you can remember from GE lighting...

can you remember from when you came through the main gate which side it was on. The left or the right of when you got to the back of the grounds?

where abouts was the prefab sheds? 

was the bunker a hatch sticking out the ground?

we managed to find some sheds that had been knocked down in the trees and behind that was a big mud mound like maybe something had been buried?

Im wondering if they have just buried over the hatch




this was the reply i got....

I don't think there was anything obvious. There was just a patch of grass right at the back of the site, beyond the prefab sheds facing Troon Way, which was cordoned off with red-and-white tape. I was told not to go over there because there was an old shelter, and it was dangerous. It was near the small gates on Troon Way (well, they used to be small, don't know if they still are), but back aways towards some scrub.

Definitely didn't see any hatches or anything that would give the game away as a bunker, but I didn't get very close, and wasn't allowed to loiter for very long.

They could have buried over the hatch; it's also possible that the whole thing just collapsed in on itself.


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## Goldie87 (Feb 1, 2011)

Thats a shame, suppose there could be something still there but it would take some finding!


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 1, 2011)

its under that mud mound me and caine were standing on 

im certain its under there as that looked a lot fresher and it was soft sinkey mud compared to everywhere else


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## Goldie87 (Feb 1, 2011)

jameswildcooper said:


> its under that mud mound me and caine were standing on
> 
> im certain its under there as that looked a lot fresher and it was soft sinkey mud compared to everywhere else



Never know they will probably clear all that area when development is well under way, might uncover something!


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## killergibbo (Feb 2, 2011)

if they are going to build something new there then they will have to totally remove the bunker as someone already stated it might of caved in on itself so the land will be very uneven and foundations need to be made aswell so the bunker will be dug up very soon without any doubt inless they are just clearing the area i.e tiding it up for a new company to take over the land


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## jameswildcooper (Feb 2, 2011)

The place has been stripped bare. Wiring and pipe work...


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## RichardH (Feb 2, 2011)

jameswildcooper said:


> well i PM,D richard H on here asked him this..
> ...
> this was the reply i got....
> 
> ...



It's a good job I wasn't declaring my undying love for you, isn't it?


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