Cwm Coke - Sep 19

[BikinGlynn]

Unusually for me Im posting a revisit, why? well its been a few years since Iv been & I bloody like this place.

Combined with the fact as Im sure you are all aware a demolition order is in place for it so I thought Id share



A bit of stolen history

Originally a coal mine with two shafts called Mildred and Margaret between 1914 up to 1948,when the NCB (National Coal Board) was formed.Between 1952 and 1960,there was a huge cash injection which saw the development of the Coke workings.

By the turn of the 1970`s,the Coke plant employed some 1580 workers alone,and was producing 515,000 tonnes of Coke per year ...

It did this up to 1986 when the Works was bought by CPL Industries,who ceased the coal mining part of the site on 28th November 1986.At this time,a brochure stated that there was potentially 9 million tonnes of coal reserves still underground.

Coke production continued up to 2002,when a decision was made to stop production due lack of re investment for new technologies.



I was surprised to hear the wooden cooling towers are listed, but they are in a bad way & Im doubtful they will be standing much longer.



My first visit was a solo affair & I spent a while dodging security but this return was with a friend & bizarrely we didnt see any sign of secca.!

Cant believe I just read that they are still present



Sorry a bit pic heavy this one!

& everyone needs one of these ;-)

Finally I think the coke got to my mates head!

 

[krela]

Wow, the place looks so tired now.

 

[BikinGlynn]

Tired but still beautiful

 

[Sabtr]

I thought this one had gone long ago - coal and the various usage sites are fast disappearing.
I bet there are some wonderful erm.. compounds left behind at that site. Can almost see them leeching in some photos.

 

[BikinGlynn]

I thought this one had gone long ago - coal and the various usage sites are fast disappearing.
I bet there are some wonderful erm.. compounds left behind at that site. Can almost see them leeching in some photos.

No its deff still there. as mentioned think they have permission to demolish but no sign of work starting yet!

 

[krela]

One of those places that will probably be surprisingly quick to demolish and incredibly slow to decontaminate (2 phases, before and after demolition). Having said that, they might just cover the ground in a non permeable membrane and pretend it's safe. Not somewhere I'd like to live either way!

 

[ocelot397]

She's definitely gone down hill over time!

(Incidentally, I didn't mean to steal your title on my last post!)

 

[urban-dorset]

One of those places that will probably be surprisingly quick to demolish and incredibly slow to decontaminate (2 phases, before and after demolition). Having said that, they might just cover the ground in a non permeable membrane and pretend it's safe. Not somewhere I'd like to live either way!

Is this ground contamination only, or stuff in the air too? [Yes, I'm showing my ignorance of coke production here!].

 

[Sabtr]

Is this ground contamination only, or stuff in the air too? [Yes, I'm showing my ignorance of coke production here!].

It's site specific. Near Newcastle upon Tyne they demolished a large cokeworks quickly. Basically they buried everything and plonked a business park on top - they used the membrane method.
Near Blyth in Northumberland there was a large old ship breakers. Most materials were recycled when the breakers operated but asbestos lagging was piled up. When that site was reclaimed they simply buried the asbestos beneath inert material. Harbour facilities now stand on the site but where the asbestos is has never been touched.
Probably the worst site I know of is at Walker on Tyneside. It's a riverside site and had several nasty factories there - one was a bone yard (yuk) and the other was a tar works. When the tar works closed they demolished it and leveled the site. No membrane and just rubble, grass and footpaths. Aside from a permanent oily leak into the Tyne, there are also many mentions of people passing out there - it's said to be fumes from the old factory. The land was eventually closed to the public though I'm unaware of its current status.

For the Cwm site you could check planning applications to see what plans are in place? I expect that they'll do a very good job these days compared to older sites such as the tar works on Tyneside.

 

[krela]

Is this ground contamination only, or stuff in the air too? [Yes, I'm showing my ignorance of coke production here!].

Actually both, but the air contaminants from the fumes involved in creating coke was processed - some of the waste air processing plant rooms where they took contaminants like sulphur out of the air are truly disgusting, and one of the few places I've ever felt like I'm in a really toxic place.

 

[BikinGlynn]

Actually both, but the air contaminants from the fumes involved in creating coke was processed - some of the waste air processing plant rooms where they took contaminants like sulphur out of the air are truly disgusting, and one of the few places I've ever felt like I'm in a really toxic place.

I dont find it too bad tbh ,its all pretty airey & open but prob cos Im used to working in engineering environment.
That said its easy to get bloody filthy in there, u only have to lean on something wrong & ur covered lol

 

[urban-dorset]

Thanks everyone for the explanation, much appreciated.