Southam Cement Works - September 2007

Visited here with a friend from 28DL on a sunday afternoon. Nice weather and had a good stroll about without any bother. I think this place ceased production around 1999, yet is still relatively untouched.


View of the main part of the works


Slurry pools






The main control room

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Hi Goldie
It's been a while since I've seen any pics from there, so it was good to see how intact it still is. Those photos of yours are excellent.
Cheers for that.

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Great first thread Goldie, great location, great pic's nice one

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

what a day that was the plan was a general recce so after an hour or so mumbling around watching workers from a distance we found a different route in almost bumping into 2 other explorers

deffinetly one for a re-visit




i climbed to the top of a rather rickety ladder and peeped through a hatch only to be met with a drop inches from where id emerged, somehow with an arm round the ladder i got my camera out



the colours through the water reminded me of titanic for some reason



one can only imagine the dust



site is totally live and active during weekdays and still people around on sundays



before leaving the house i found my cat in my cement mixer which i found rather amusing

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Looks like a large site. Loving the green water and the amount of dust on the extractor Looking forward to seeing the pics from your next visit.

Cheers,

Sal

ps. yes, i like the pic of your cat in the cement mixer lol

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Excellent pics! Wish there was a place like this local to me

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

WeeT said:

Excellent pics! Wish there was a place like this local to me

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echo that super sight

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

I live about two miles away from the cement works so visit regularly. Access is easy via the old Leamington to Daventry railway line that runs behind it.
Last time i went for a wander i was accosted by a couple of security guards. Had to pretend i was senile/lost/looking for great crested newts.

Photos are excellent.
Next time I go I'll take my camera - though it has to be said - they will probably be crap photos.
The railway line taking the cement to Rugby only closed in 1985.

For anyone living locally, this site gives loads of ideas for places to explore.

http://www.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

borntobemild said:

Had to pretend i was senile/lost/looking for great crested newts.

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one to remember

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Good report and pics!
Liking the little sheds in the middle of the tanks -great place for growing tomatoes I bet!!! Thanks for sharing ya pics with us.

Lb

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

I had a little wander round at the weekend. No time to go in but took some pics from outside. I've just heard that Cemex have applied for permission to use it as a landfill site, 500 lorries a day. not good news.

Tried to give an idea of the size of the place. It was really windy and there was loose corrugated iron flapping about all the time which made it quite spooky.
Lots of cement slurry - not good stuff for walking in!

Settlement tanks are huge 75m diameter. Canal is disused - leads back to Grand Union. Railway is the old Leamington-Daventry line.

I saw the biggest cat i've ever seen in my life. It was massive! Unfortunately it legged it before i could get a picture. If it had come towards me i might well have run away. I can understand how legends like 'The Beast of Bodmin Moor' come about

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Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Great pics BTBM

Shows the scale of the place pretty well me thinks!

Lb

P.s. -sounds like the Beast of Bodmin was a bit lost!

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

On second thoughts, perhaps we know the owner of the "beast"

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Excellent pics, BTBM. As Lb said, it's really neat to be able to see the scale of the place and especially how the buildings sit in relationship to each other.
Re the application for a landfill site...isn't this an SSSI site? I was reading about quarries and such like, and apparently they are only allowed to operate for an agreed amount of years. Once left to return to nature they usually become awarded SSSI status due to the rare plants, etc, that often grow on these kind of soils. Be interesting to see what happens.

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

excellent stuff, see what you mean about titanic(mrsams,pic).

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Some awesome shots there of an amazing looking site. Funny one of the cat!
The dust deposits on that window are just mad!:icon_evil

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Foxylady said:

Excellent pics, BTBM. As Lb said, it's really neat to be able to see the scale of the place and especially how the buildings sit in relationship to each other.
Re the application for a landfill site...isn't this an SSSI site? I was reading about quarries and such like, and apparently they are only allowed to operate for an agreed amount of years. Once left to return to nature they usually become awarded SSSI status due to the rare plants, etc, that often grow on these kind of soils. Be interesting to see what happens.

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Unfortunately FoxyLady,this one isn't an SSSI. Three others in the area (Ufton, Stockton and Harbury) are. This one hasn't been derelict for long enough. Nowadays, any hole in the ground is a potential goldmine (did i really say that!) and the owners (Cemex) know it. If they get the planning permission, they can get more money for filling it in than digging it out.
There's a lot of local politics going on that i won't bore you with here.
Its a real shame. The place has been quarried for over a hundred years. It's got masses of fossils in it as well!
http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk/engine/search/default_hndlr.asp

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

that place looks huge, good report though.

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

borntobemild said:

Its a real shame. The place has been quarried for over a hundred years. It's got masses of fossils in it as well!

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It is a real shame. That's interesting about the fossils, because Shapwick Grange that I've explored has SSSI status because of its fossil content. Maybe status could be pushed on those grounds alone!

Re: Southam Cement Works 09/09/07

Foxylady said:

It is a real shame. That's interesting about the fossils, because Shapwick Grange that I've explored has SSSI status because of its fossil content. Maybe status could be pushed on those grounds alone!

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good thinking. I know the site is rich in wildlife as well. I've seen great crested newts in one of the ponds.
I'll get on to the local wildlife trust.

ps - your signature is brilliant