# Holdings Pottery... our take. IMAGE INTENSIVE.



## TeeJF (Aug 30, 2011)

This place has been done to death so I'll not go into the history. It's wierd finding an urb-ex site on a road I travel on day after day... even more so when you reckon I can remember this place trading and hadn't even realised it had shut down. It looks like the barn up by the road - Broughton Barn - which Holdings owned - has been re-roofed with slates taken off the pottery when they converted it into a number of seperate dwellings, two of which are already sold. Google Earth shows the roof on the pottery intact in 2005 which makes sense because they were still trading then, and on the same satellite pass the barn is derelict. Companies House shows the last accounts filed by Holdings Potteries as 2010 with the extra information, _*"Nature of business, dormant company"*_. 

We do not know why they ceased trading. What we do know is they had been around since the 1842 and on this site since the turn of the century. They dug the clay out of the ground in the fields surrounding the pottery and processed it in house. The aitems they produced were sold both locally in their own shop at the front of the pottery, and to contract clients, some of which must have been the church due to the nature of certain of the pottery items which we found.

To be perfectly honest I wasn't too impressed when we started this explore - rainy Bank Holiday, couldn't practise climbing with our new kit, couldn't go further afield because it was late in the day after waiting for better weather, fall back to a local site for want of something better to do! And industrial sites are simply not our bag, Tonto and I much prefer WW1 forts and Victorian lunatic asylums, but after five minutes mooching through the absolute mass of personal artifacts left behind when this place closed - and it's clear they were inveterate hoarders - well it's hard not to enjoy an explore of this nature. Sadly the deterioration is exponential, in no part due to there being no slates on the roof of most of this building. And I must say I found it heart breaking to see stuff of this nature... I mean there was even a graduation photograph in it's frame and a B&W of "somebodies mum"... plus numerous children's toys for a toddler. That in turn beggars the question what was a toddler doing wandering around in a factory where some quite heavy machinery is running?

When you look at our piccies you will notice that I have totally obscured names and on the pics we took of the many personal photos left lying around I have completely obscured faces. No apologies - at the end of the day some of these people are still around and one must respect their privacy even when they do leave behind graduation photos et all. I can't help wondering why someone would leave something so precious behind in a derelict building, apart from the obvious, IE they have passed away. But as far as I can tell the person on the photo is still very much alive and still lives only a few miles away. Perhaps colege was not a happy time for him, who knows but whatever the reason I am sure it is logical.

This site is causing a bit of upset locally though. Whilst it has not been chavved up with grafitti etc. and most, if not all of the damage appears to be due to the removal of the roof slates, it has attracted urb-exers and now the local tabloid "Rag of Lies" has mentioned the site specifically in conjunction with Rossendale Hospital. It has even named "Chewy" though only by his nick, and not his real name. The reporter in question is a scum bag of the first order and his whole journalistic style depends upon getting as many sensational words, and naming as many people as possible, in EVERY sentence. Personally I'd like to se the ar*e hole's brake pipes cut... but hey! that would be interfering with the freedom of the press wouldn't it! 

But enough ranting about the sad scrote... suffice it to say I hope his neck rots and his head collapses in that bit nearer to his ar*se hole through which he speaks most of the time.

On with the piccies!

*A pano of the front of the site...*










*There are loads of interesting things abandoned in the undergrowth around the building like this...*









*...and this...*









*This shed away from the main building shows how you can't dismiss any part of a site as "looks boring"! it is crammed with bits and pieces...*









*Un-sold stock in the shed...*









*An electric potters wheel, probably used by Mr. Tregurtha, the resident craftsman who started there at the age of 14...*









*Done to death but I couldn't resist a go myself!*









*All those lovely bits and pieces weren't even in the main building! Moving from the grounds across to the pottery proper, the old signage on the main building is fading rapidly...*









*This little guy greets you when you first creep in...*









*An invoice from 1969...*









*Delightful handwritten accounts in a leather bound ledger...*









*The first of many enigmatic artefacts one might expect NOT to find abandoned...*









*The graduation programme page detailing the achievement of someone from the pottery...*









*Everywhere is a jumble with personal artefacts and unfinished pottery trodden underfoot...*









*The Victorians commonly used this system of a centralised power source which drives shafts throughout the building. Flat drive belts then run off to power individual machines...*









*We're not sure what this machine does but we think it presses clay into a mould to mass produce uniform items without the need for individual throwing...*









*More un-finished stock...*









*This little gem was only found when I trod on it. It is an old photo souvenir set from Llandudo priced at 1/- That's one shilling, or five pence to those of you who think in the new fangled money... *









*Slabs of clay which was processed on the premises. It is still malleable and perfectly usable...*









*This range must have been quite popular as it was very much in evidence in various states of manufacture...*









*There are no slates anywhere on the biggest part of the roof...*









*Not what you would expect to find amongst heavy machinery...*









*Tonto found a mass of old 35mm photo slides next to the clay sieve in the clay processing room...*









*This massive clay sieve pressed water out of the clay after another machine had removed stones and contaminants...*









*The manufacturer's name plate. this company still exists in Burslem today...*









*On the side of the sieve...*









*This is the "Blunger" which takes the raw clay and mixes it with water to form a cream from which stones etc. fall out naturally. The clay cream is then passed to the sieve...*









*The blunger blades...*









*Another delightfully named machine - the "Pugmill"! This machine extrudes the cleaned and semi-dried clay as rods which are passed on to the workshop for use. Some of the dried up clay rods are stacked behind...*









*Dereliction...*









*Back within the treasure trove of artifacts, this came to light...*









*As before the names are obscured...*









*Evidence of diversiification found within the shop at the front of the factory...*









*And finally, the old pottery sign which used to sit out at the main road...*








*Hope you enjoyed the photos as much as we enjoyed the mooch through this time capsule!​*


----------



## Pincheck (Aug 30, 2011)

Some really interesting stuff there, glad you had the sense to blank out some of the personal stuff. Well done


----------



## TeeJF (Aug 30, 2011)

Pincheck said:


> glad you had the sense to blank out some of the personal stuff. Well done



For what started out as a simple 'splore it's taken me most of the bl**dy day to post on this and our own site 'cos of blanking stuff out etc. 

Such is life! 

Thanks for your kind comments.


----------



## King Al (Aug 31, 2011)

Very thorough report that TeeJF!


----------



## georgie (Aug 31, 2011)

i also enjoyed this place its nice


----------



## Foxylady (Sep 3, 2011)

Wow, I was intrigued to see the set of Llandudno pics as I used to collect sets like those...sadly sold them off when in dire straits many years ago. Fab stuff of a great explore, guys. Nice one.


----------



## nelly (Sep 3, 2011)

Now thats just brilliant, nice bits and a great story with each photo, thanks you.


----------



## Raggy (Sep 3, 2011)

Very interesting place, nicely done


----------



## KayleighT (Sep 3, 2011)

FAB FAB FAB!! Loving these! Keep me updated on when you guys go out etc, will see if i can tag along


----------



## TeeJF (Sep 4, 2011)

Foxylady said:


> Wow, I was intrigued to see the set of Llandudno pics as I used to collect sets like those...sadly sold them off when in dire straits many years ago. Fab stuff of a great explore, guys. Nice one.



Sad too to see them being trodden into the dirt... along with just about everything else in the building. I'm staggered that someone has left their formal graduation photo behind along with a host of personal memorabilia - obviously we know who it is but can't say 'cos of privacy issues. We did some searching through things like local authority planning aps, Companies House records etc. and a very interesting picture soon began to emerge. 

Thanks for your kind comments...


----------



## TeeJF (Sep 4, 2011)

KayleighT said:


> FAB FAB FAB!! Loving these! Keep me updated on when you guys go out etc, will see if i can tag along



Sure... not got any trips up't north planned right now or I'd give you a bell. We're off "darn' the smoke" next week and hopefully doing the asylum near Southampton. Thanks for your kind comments about the posting.

Next biggie is hopefully Beeltiz Heilstatten in Berlin in October. Can you get 5 days off?


----------



## TeeJF (Sep 4, 2011)

nelly said:


> Now thats just brilliant, nice bits and a great story with each photo, thanks you.



Cheers Nelly! You know for a "I'm bored, where can we go" type explore it did have some really interesting stuff to see. Tonto was in her element!

How's Daisy and mum getting on?


----------



## gingrove (Sep 4, 2011)

Great report even if it's rather sad that all that personal stuff is just abandoned, did the owner die? Thanks for posting


----------



## st33ly (Sep 4, 2011)

Nice report 
I like how everyone has something different in there photogrphs that others either haven't spotted or don't pick out for uploading.


----------



## TeeJF (Sep 5, 2011)

gingrove said:


> Great report even if it's rather sad that all that personal stuff is just abandoned, did the owner die? Thanks for posting



Hiya... whilst I can't add "and well" the owner is certainly still alive... or at least the info we dug up points to him being so very recently! He appears to be part of a registered company quite local to the exploratgion site and it looks very much like the barn re-development up at the road is his work too.

Thanks for your kind comments.


----------



## TeeJF (Sep 5, 2011)

st33ly said:


> Nice report
> I like how everyone has something different in there photogrphs that others either haven't spotted or don't pick out for uploading.



Very true! Thanks for your kind comments.


----------

