# S Russell and sons iron foundry..Leicester



## Mikeymutt (May 23, 2017)

S Russel was originally formed in Leicester in 1864 in bath lane by Samuel Russell who was later joined by his sons,the company then opened a foundry in bonchurch streetin 1920.the company continued to grow and grow and in 1931 became a private company,in 1961 the company at its sites had 675 employees,the company was producing many works like high grade iron castings,sawing machinery,like circular metal sawing machines.they specialised in steel frame building,quarry plant structures and steel machinery components.the company was eventually taken over by chamberlain and hill castings in 2004.they operated a few other plants,they specialised in small to medium casting.the foundry eventually closed in 2016 but the other plants remain profitable and are still running.this foundry had its own furnaces and shot blast room.there is a conveyor belt for moving the castings around.and a nice workshop up top.i liked that,full of machinery..I have been wanting to go here for a while now.but had to wait.i eventually got to go with janovitch and man gone wrong,we made the early start to get in bright and early.i was aware there is secca there,and thanks to a tip of from pretty vacant I knew they had dogs.in the sand blasting room I could hear the dogs,at one point I was next to a door and behind it was two bull mastiffs barking away.they had been barking all morning,due to them being there I never got the chance to go to the finishing house,And dispatch.but was happy with what I saw,and we got out ok too.i don't know the full workings out and layout of the factory,but tried my best

Loved the ghost sign for the original company 







The upper store room was full of moulds 




The workshop




























Workshop office and stairs up to mould store room 




Going down to the main furnace area.






















The casting room.i could see the shoots coming down from the furnaces to fill the moulds up.







The main are with great conveyor belt with lots of trolleys on to move the stuff about.


































The core shop.this building looks newer than the rest,and the machinery looked cleaner and newer too.
















A couple of smaller offices


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## Lavino (May 23, 2017)

Looks good to me nice place..


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## krela (May 23, 2017)

Love it, thanks.


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## Sam Haltin (May 23, 2017)

Very nice, your photos get better when you are around derelict industry. My favourite machine has to be the Wadkin Pillar Drill, they don't make them like they used to. What a lot of moulding casts there are. There must have been a fair amount of activity in that factory going by your photos but now - an eerie silence.


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## smiler (May 23, 2017)

Old school foundry, great photography Mikey, Thanks


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## Mr_Banjo (May 23, 2017)

Brilliant report, love those photos, nice job!


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## MD (May 23, 2017)

you didnt make it to the other side ? 
theyve made it virtually impossible now


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## The_Derp_Lane (May 23, 2017)

That's such a nice place, thanks for posting.


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## Electric (May 23, 2017)

Absolutely brilliant Mikeymutt. Proper, traditional heavy engineering (or at least what's left of it).


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## Mikeymutt (May 25, 2017)

Thank you all.and md I mean the right hand side of the gates.were the offices and finishing house is.due to big dogs,


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## prettyvacant71 (May 25, 2017)

Fantastic pics MM! I just love that last shot of the draws

So much to take in, love it!


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## Sue Northedge (Jun 25, 2017)

*S Russell & Sons*

Thanks for showing these fantastic photos. I was doing some research regarding S Russell & Sons as my late father Reg worked there after being demobbed from the Royal Navy after WW2. He was there up until the mid 80's when he was made redundant. I have some fantastic castings that were produced there in the sand filled moulds. If there are any left in the factory some could be quite valuable.Bitter sweet memories for me and my siblings. Thanks again Mikey.


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## Mikeymutt (Jun 26, 2017)

Sue Northedge said:


> Thanks for showing these fantastic photos. I was doing some research regarding S Russell & Sons as my late father Reg worked there after being demobbed from the Royal Navy after WW2. He was there up until the mid 80's when he was made redundant. I have some fantastic castings that were produced there in the sand filled moulds. If there are any left in the factory some could be quite valuable.Bitter sweet memories for me and my siblings. Thanks again Mikey.


so glad it brought back nice memories for you.its always nice when you here from people associated with various places I visit


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## Ferox (Jun 29, 2017)

Excellent mate. Great pics


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