# Shredded wheat factory..welwyn garden city



## Mikeymutt

After a day out exploring with rubex,this was the third and final site of the day.it was a chance explore.after looking for stuff online I came across this.but the newest reports was from over two years ago.i did some looking into newspaper articles to see the fate of the place but only found that it was under threat of demolition or conversion.even though it is a listed building.and in the top hundred 20th century buildings.the site was owned by tescos who wanted to convert it into a megastore but this had a huge opposition against it from the local community.the factory was built in 1925 under the design of architect Louis de soissons.the factory silos dominate the town.built of concrete and glass,the factory was owned by nabisco who then sold it to rank hovis in 1988 then it was sold to cereal partners in 1990.the site finally closed its doors to the workers 2008..so as me and rubex were only twenty mins away from here on out second explore I decided just to give it a look anyway just in case.as we approached it I expected to see a load of large empty waste ground or some plush flats.so was shocked and pleased to find it still standing.we parked up and did not take long to find a way in.the place is in a great state of decay.more so than photos I have seen online from a while back.whilst wandering around,after an hour we saw a group of young lads making loads of noise.then as we were heading out we saw another small group.one must have been about nine.we were both shocked.rubex prob still is.and as we were getting out of our acsess there was three young girls wanting to get out too.rubex went into a motherly mode and was telling them to be careful in there and that it's dangerous for young kids to be in there.i mean we are big kids but we have common sense.we made our way out of the fence and the young girls seemed to stay close to rubex.and as we got out there was a security guy waiting for us.rubex explained the situation.he sent the kids on the way then stood talking to us for a while.he actually turned out to be one of the nicest people I have ever met.he even said we looked professional.then he let us on our way so we headed off pleased after a successful day


----------



## fluffy5518

Good story and i love your style of photography Mr Mutt !!! The decay in there is amazing as is Pic 1. PS Was good to meet you at the DP doo last week !!


----------



## Rubex

I can't believe how many kids there were in here! Walking out of an abandoned building with a group of children never looks good lol so I'm glad the security guard was nice  one of the young girls clung to the arm of my jacket the whole time we were walking out. Great photos!


----------



## SlimJim

Haha, I heard about the gobby kids! Good thing you had Rubex with you to liaise with the little scamps, I'd be really grumpy with them! 

What a flaky old place! Some really nice rich, saturated colours in your shots! Liking it


----------



## Mikeymutt

fluffy5518 said:


> Good story and i love your style of photography Mr Mutt !!! The decay in there is amazing as is Pic 1. PS Was good to meet you at the DP doo last week !!



Thank you fluffy..it was great to meet you too ☺


----------



## Mikeymutt

Rubex said:


> I can't believe how many kids there were in here! Walking out of an abandoned building with a group of children never looks good lol so I'm glad the security guard was nice  one of the young girls clung to the arm of my jacket the whole time we were walking out. Great photos!



Thank you rubex..that one certainly took a shine to you ha ha


----------



## Mikeymutt

SlimJim said:


> Haha, I heard about the gobby kids! Good thing you had Rubex with you to liaise with the little scamps, I'd be really grumpy with them!
> 
> What a flaky old place! Some really nice rich, saturated colours in your shots! Liking it



Thanks slim..yeah luckily she was there.but I think her bark is worse than her bite ☺


----------



## smiler

As good as always Mikey, Well done to you both for seeing the young'uns safe, A place like this attracts kids and too many of em get hurt, my respect for you both was well placed. Thanks


----------



## BikinGlynn

Wow, some amazing pics there, the first one had me staring for ages. Nice report!


----------



## tazong

Cracking pictures - the decay in that place was amazing.


----------



## Mikeymutt

smiler said:


> As good as always Mikey, Well done to you both for seeing the young'uns safe, A place like this attracts kids and too many of em get hurt, my respect for you both was well placed. Thanks



Thank you smiler..you can't just let them wander places like that.it was more rubex who helped than me..but I would have done the same.


----------



## smiler

Mikeymutt said:


> Thank you smiler..you can't just let them wander places like that.it was more rubex who helped than me..but I would have done the same.



The other side of the coin of course is if a child gets hurt,up go the barriers + extra security and we can't get in, so it makes sense to try and protect em, they won't appreciate it mind, I didn't.


----------



## Sam Haltin

Excellent pictures. Good job that Rubex played the motherly figure. The kids look it as an adventure playground. Good post.


----------



## Dick Derpin

Nice set, i like the fire alarm on the pillar with the rust runs!


----------



## HughieD

I run out of superlatives for your pix so I'll just go for a 'wow'.


----------



## Jon6D

Some great photo's there


----------



## Conrad

Cool stuff, some lovely peeling paint and industry


----------



## rockfordstone

love this, wanted to see it for ages, well done guys


----------



## ReverendJT

These are great! Can't wait to see it myself.


----------



## flyboys90

You captured some amazing colours Mikey especially the first one.Superb write up and images.


----------



## nxxxv

I* can't believe that it is like that now. I used to work there on the Shredded Wheat ovens. I met my wife there. I worked there during the "Winter of Discontent", we were lucky to have full employment. It is so sad to see it in such a state.


----------



## Mikeymutt

nxxxv said:


> I* can't believe that it is like that now. I used to work there on the Shredded Wheat ovens. I met my wife there. I worked there during the "Winter of Discontent", we were lucky to have full employment. It is so sad to see it in such a state.


It's always nice to hear from people who have worked at a place..must bring back memories for you..prob makes you sad though looking at the state of it now though


----------



## phil07

Worked there for 25 years upto it's closing made some live long friends there 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk


----------



## qsychodelic

I live near the town, and I've lived here for almost nine years now i think, and I've wanted to know what it looks like in the Shredded Wheat factory so bad! Im so glad i was able to see this. I find the building absolutely stunning, especially its exterior. Its such a shame that they are considering knocking it down and replacing it with something else.


----------



## heyitschar

I absolutely love these photos, living near this abandoned factory ive always wanted to visit it but never have the chance, these photos are the best.


----------



## BerettaIsBetta

I worked here for 3 happy years of my working life. It makes me really quite sad to see it I such a state, it was quite a thing to see it when it was full of production lines churning out tonnes of cereal every single day. 

The first picture is looking down the main packing area, where they used to box up big biscuit shredded wheat, shreddies, all the small biscuit varieties, and bran flakes. To the right would be where all the toasting ovens were. It was a very busy and bustling workplace in its prime.

I've also lived in the town all my life, and makes me equally as sad to see how they have let it go, all to give them an excuse to knock it down and build yet more stuff that we don't need.

It's high time they sort it out. It's getting more and more dangerous every day and worries me greatly that children are getting in there, only a matter of time before something happens that we all dread.

Thanks for posting the pictures, was very interesting.


----------



## Mikeymutt

Nice to hear the interesting stories from you ex workers and glad the pictures brought back memories


----------



## BerettaIsBetta

Albeit now quite sad ones Mikey, there was no need to shut the place down in the first place, such a waste.


----------



## Mikeymutt

I did read the whole circumstances of it shutting was a bit dodgy and controversial..involving money for the land.but ain't that always the case..I believe it all got relocated near to bath.


----------



## BerettaIsBetta

That's right, there are other factories in Staverton and also Bromborough in the Wirral, they shared the products that were made in WGC between them.


----------



## TheNarrator

Very nice photos! I really like the one of the fire alarm button


----------



## Brewtal

Aw mate these pics are epic! The reflections in pic 1 are incredible! Really good work!


----------



## Dirus_Strictus

Prickly_buzz said:


> Nice set, i like the fire alarm on the pillar with the rust runs!



Sadly those rust runs are an indication as to why this place will be a costly conversion. It appears the concrete 'cladding' was added during the first ten years of the building's life - in an effort to stop the base plates of the steel pillars corroding. Knowing of the anti-corrosion methods available then, I doubt the weathering process was fully halted.

Grand set of images here, and thanks for the telling exteriors!


----------



## Grim mctimberley

This pics are awesome...my day used to work there many moons ago... Mad to see how the place is now.


----------



## Mikeymutt

Thanks for the comments guys..this went a bit viral.with over twenty five thousand views in two days.which is surprising as it is an empty building what has been around a while


----------



## MiAmoré

I wondered what happened to this place. Some of my old neighbours worked there. They gave me a box of cookie crisp before it was released 

When I was at school I used to be able to smell the factory. We used to say it smelt like dog biscuits.


----------



## MiAmoré

Mikeymutt said:


> Thanks for the comments guys..this went a bit viral.with over twenty five thousand views in two days.which is surprising as it is an empty building what has been around a while



It is all over facebook locally. I found it a 2am and fell asleep while reading it thus went there in my dreams it was pretty fun.


----------



## Perzoh

Hi,i really like the photos, i recently started exploring derelict buildings with my friends. but the only problem is where i am a 15 year old boy when we get caught we get in a lot of trouble, i was also just wondering where about in welwyn this is as i would love to explore and see the astonishing views that you see in the pictures also i recently came across an abandoned pigfarm in fairfield i am currently trying to research its history but i have still no result, your pictures inspire me. 

P.S. keep up the great photography, and stay safe!


----------



## UrbanP UK

Great set Mikey, nice old building great decay


----------



## UrbanX

Great set of pics. #1 is the winner. 
So good to see former workers joining the forum to comment too! 
Thanks for sharing!


----------



## MrDan

Looks good that! I'm liking your processing on those too, looks like there's some good shots to be had there.


----------



## Mikeymutt

Thank you Mr Dan..it's a big place for sure ☺


----------

