# Wadkin Machinery/ Leicester/ July 2014



## Dredd (Aug 25, 2014)

*History*
In 1897 John Wadkin founded the company alongside his brother in law Mr W Jarvis. The company was formed following an idea to invent a machine that would be so versatile that it could carry out operations that were originally done by hand. John Wadkin titled this machine, "a pattern milling machine" The partnership was not successful and Mr Wadkin eventually left the company. Mr Jarvis then acquired the help of Mr Wallace Goddard with the intention to expand the business. Mr Jarvis became acquainted with a Greek gentleman by the name of Ionades who invented an advanced carburettor. General Motors in the US confirmed that they were interested and invited Mr Jarvis for a meeting to discuss, which led to Mr Jarvis booking a place on the Titanic as a means of travel and the disastrous result that he went down with the ill-fated liner. This left Mr Wallace Goddard with a business in Leicester and no-one to run it. Luckily he had a son that took charge and this continued until 1927 when Mr J Wallace passed away. The 1914-1918 war saw the Government ask Wadkin for help to develop a machine that could turn out wooden propellers for the R.A.F. at a high-speed rate. After the war the demand for woodworking machinery was at a tremendous upsurge. Throughout the 1930's Wadkin extended their range and entered the high technology market and began making larger, high production woodworking machines such as moulders and double ender machines. From the 1990's Wadkin recognised the need to develop back up service support to its machine customers, and developed a nationwide network of engineers in developing its customer response team, which still stands today offering support 365 days a year. In 2010 following the liquidation of Wadkin Limited, the intellectual propert rights were purchased by Nottingham based woodworking machinery distributors and manufacturers A L Dalton Ltd. This move brought together two long established woodworking machinery suppliers who have traded with each other for over 50 years and accumulated over 200 years experience in the industry between them. Today Wadkin continues to offer woodworking machines and specalist services to the woodworking sector from its new home in Nottingham, including new machine manufacture, spare parts, tooling and training. (History courtesy of Southside Assassin)

*The Explore*
Explored with _Unplugged_ and _Southside Assassin. _ This was the second site of the day, with Corah being the first. Entry was not as easy as we thought. We searched the perimeter high and low for ways in but it seemed pretty locked down. Then a last minute tip off from Hamtagger gave us instructions on what to look for upon a tricky entry – Thanks a bunch buddy it helped enormously. Once inside all footsteps were slow and steady, sticking only to shadows and dark corners where possible. All communication was in the form of hand signals and silent whispers as we were made aware of security patrols inside the building. As we approached a cargo door, I jokingly pressed the door control buttons to see if it still worked and to my surprise the door retracted with a very loud clanging that almost gave away our position. As the mooch went on, we evaded secca, but I noticed things like lights left on – so I felt we weren’t alone.
Overall was a really enjoyable explore albeit very nervy; the factory floor downstairs being like a large airship hanger and the offices upstairs much of it made from wood and in relatively good condition – Never have I seen a derelict building with so many windows and doors still intact. There was also some access onto the roof that was rather refreshing in the nice weather. It would’ve been nice to have a couple of suds to sip on as we went though.
The building is still quite secure in many places and I believe there were a few parts of the site that we missed because of this – A revisit sure wouldn’t go ohmiss.
On our way out, we passed a room with a door that had its windows blocked out by newspaper. Suddenly we heard a TV on in the background. At this point we decided to make a quiet but hasty exit, realising secca were in the next room. As we neared the main corridor we set off the security lights which made a sudden and loud noise, we all decided to make a break for it, laughing our arses off whilst spilling back out into the street. It was an exhilarating end to a nice explore. 

*The Pictures*
_Wadkin in the 1940’s_



















_Wadkin present day_























































I hope the photos are not too much.
Thanks for viewing my report, I hope you liked

Dredd


----------



## krela (Aug 26, 2014)

That's an excellent report, thank you.


----------



## skankypants (Aug 26, 2014)

Great report,realy nice to see the images when it was live,thanks for posting


----------



## UrbanX (Aug 26, 2014)

Fantastic stuff! The place looks huge!!


----------



## Dugie (Aug 26, 2014)

Nice looking place, just needs a new lease of life and its good to go.

Thanks for sharing.

Dugie


----------



## flyboys90 (Aug 26, 2014)

Thanks for sharing these especially the early b & w gives one an idea how busy and productive the factory was.Great photos and write up.


----------



## cunningplan (Aug 26, 2014)

Like every one said, great to see the old photos of it in use, great report and photos  Thanks


----------

