Our first explore of the day, Kudos to UrbanX for driving, Kudos to Alex76 for sorting the access out and indeed James for the Lemon Sherberts
I have struggled to find a lot of history for this place which is surprising consdiering When it was built in 1891, Wheatsheaf Works was the largest footwear factory in the world.
Owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, it supplied a wealth of employment opportunities in Leicester. The area was at the centre of much commercial activity and its iconic clock tower could be seen for many a mile across south Leicester.
Unfortunately, as the face of world manufacturing changed and with the emergence of the Asian markets, production at the site became unprofitable and the factory became redundant and fell into disrepair. The impressive clock stopped ticking and its chimes could no longer be heard along the Welford Road.
Unfortunately/fortunately the site is well secured meaning we could only gain access to one part of the building but it was well worth it.New builds are already being erected in the former loading/parking area at the back of the site. Planning permission was granted in July for the site to be converted into 74 flats so this gives you some idea of the size of the site.
Thanks for looking
I have struggled to find a lot of history for this place which is surprising consdiering When it was built in 1891, Wheatsheaf Works was the largest footwear factory in the world.
Owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, it supplied a wealth of employment opportunities in Leicester. The area was at the centre of much commercial activity and its iconic clock tower could be seen for many a mile across south Leicester.
Unfortunately, as the face of world manufacturing changed and with the emergence of the Asian markets, production at the site became unprofitable and the factory became redundant and fell into disrepair. The impressive clock stopped ticking and its chimes could no longer be heard along the Welford Road.
Unfortunately/fortunately the site is well secured meaning we could only gain access to one part of the building but it was well worth it.New builds are already being erected in the former loading/parking area at the back of the site. Planning permission was granted in July for the site to be converted into 74 flats so this gives you some idea of the size of the site.
Thanks for looking