# Coalite, Bolsover, Derbyshire - May 2010



## ThenewMendoza (Jun 3, 2010)

It can be easy to dismiss a site like this, it _was_ massive, and much, or most has been demolished. Little remains, but what does is still worthy of poking your nose into. I've driven past dozens of times over the last 18 months or so but told myself it'll wait, there's bigger and better stuff to do elsewhere, further afield. Sometimes the explores on your doorstep that you put off are some of the best, not always, but in this case I was kicking myself for not taking a look sooner.

It all started with a walk up a disused rail line from Bolsover.







And a pile of bricks.






It didn't inspire confidence, but there was hope. Part of the sludge reclamation section remains.






They produced a material known as Carbon Black, a by-product of the coking process, it's a pigment used in the production of tyres. Sludge would be pumped into a press and put under pressure to remove liquids.

The press.











The product.






The cry for..






We moved on. There is a weighbridge and security lodge on this section of the site, we should have turned the lights off, carbon footprint and all that. 






That concluded our business on one side of the road, but there's more to see across Buttermilk Lane.






Demolished....






It's not all bad though. 






The government prognosis wasn't great.






Engineering blueprints for the entire works, all contained within three filing cabinets.






Laboratories...
















And then it got better. 






And better...











For those wondering, Coalite is a brand of smokeless fuel, produced from coal, roasted at 640 degrees Celsius. It was invented by Thomas Parker in 1904. The site was opened in 1936, it closed in 2004.

More info can be found here - [ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coalite[/ame]

Visited with Sal, thanks for looking.

M


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## skeleton key (Jun 3, 2010)

*MSP 90 HELP lol
Thanx ,good insight ,thanx for shareing.
SK
*


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## dave (Jun 3, 2010)

What a cracking report the records room looked fantastic what was the age range of the documents fairly recent or any older ones.


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## ThenewMendoza (Jun 3, 2010)

I didn't go through them all but some of the engineering stuff I did browse through went back as far as the 1950s.

Cheers.

M


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## Pyroninja (Jun 3, 2010)

Seeing the big pile of bricks I didn't think this would be much but it just kept getting better and better, great stuff


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## TK421 (Jun 5, 2010)

Nice one, I remember passing this place on the A1 when it was still working, a wonderful coal tar smell (like carbolic soap), the ovens would have been a great explore when still in situ, but none the less there is still a lot to see from your report, thanks for posting mate


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## smileysal (Jun 5, 2010)

Even in it's present state, it still smells the same mate.  

Here's a few of mine. 






















































​Sorry there's so many. 

 Sal


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## Krypton (Jun 6, 2010)

Great Site - Great Shots!

Looks really intresting! Hats off too you both!

K!


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