Steel city

Scunthorpe's steelworks is the UK's largest steel processing centre - at over 3 square miles, it's the size of a town.

View from north

It's one of Tata Steel Europe's two major integrated plants in the UK with facilities such as four blast furnaces, continuous casting and a rod mill. It employs over 4000 people (excluding contractors) and is noted for heavy pollution.

History

On checking an old map, I can see iron working was present on the same site (and others) at the turn of the 19/20th century but the Scunthorpe was tiny by comparison. Some key dates include:
1860 - iron ore first mined in Scunthorpe
1967 - British Steel nationalised
1988 - British Steel privatised
1999 - becomes Corus
2007 - Corus acquired by Tata

The Visit

The Tata works cover the majority of the area. Entering by car via Brigg Road puts you within distance of several central plants.

There's an oily, chemical, sooty smell. Naturally, there's a lot of dirt and blackness, and the heavy cloud added to the brilliant gloominess. Reddish coloured pipes and grey shafts crisscross the many roads and railway lines, connecting plant with plant. Vents billow steam at every turn, safety notices are everywhere, and road names like Basic Slag Road and Ore Blending Road give clues to the function of the numerous areas.

Most plants are active, with hums and clangs and whirs and hisses adding to the soundscape. Around the central blast furnace works the giant metal arms come together and flow into and around the furnace towers.

On with the photos..

View from west

Entrance to the 'Four Queens of Ironmaking', the blast furnace area

Miscellaneous shots

Military exploratory: RAF Kirton in Lindsay

This RAF base was decommissioned in 2013.

Originally there was a WWI airfield in the vicinity, and a new base was built in WW2. Numerous units were based here and this base saw plenty of action in the Battle of Britain.

It became an army base in the 1960s, then returned to RAF use in 2004, and hosted the No.1 Air Control Centre (1ACC) - the RAF's only deployable ground-based early warning and air control system. In March 2013 it was announced that it would close.

The facility can be divided into two areas, firstly the barrack area, which features dormitories, the 'Phoenix Club' and other miscellaneous buildings. Some of the buildings have been seriously damaged, including what looks like missile damage and feel unsafe to interfere with too much. Then there is what I'll call the 'military operations' area, with aircraft hangars, a radar room, control rooms, rooms with signs warning of dangerous substances, an armory, and various more.

Here are some photos:

View of the control building, radar dome and hangars

 Inside a hangar

Empty corridor adjacent to a hangar

A view towards the tower

Boiler room

Another view of the (control/watch?) tower

View from the tower

Some kind of pump / engine room

Part-destroyed buildings

Upstairs at the Phoenix Club

Wrecked corridor

Large wall picture: "No.1 Air Control Centre"

Finally, here's a YouTube timelapse video.

Top night in Donny

There isn't long before it will no longer be possible to appreciate the view from the top of what must be the town centre's highest building before it gets knocked down.

The site was originally called Glasgow Paddocks - below is an 1925 aerial photo looking towards Waterdale.

Built in the 60s and originally named the Coal House as the headquarters of National Coal Board for South Yorkshire & North Notts, it became the Council House in the 80s. Now the council offices have moved to a new building a short way away, and the building will be replaced by 'leisure and other' uses - take a look at this 'master plan' pdf for an idea of how this area will hopefully be developed.

At time of inspection, all except the basement and ground floor had been stripped out, and there were areas where asbestos was being cleared. The lights were on in the basement and lift maintenance rooms.

Daytime shot

Top-floor lift rooms

Rooftop views

Basement / ground floor

Update 20/07/14

Today it was demolished - here's a 6 second Vine video:

Aftermath:

Note the orange chair is seen again in the last photo.

Thanks for reading, click the links below to see other reports!

Theme park thrills

Camelot theme park near Chorley closed in 2012.

One of the country's smaller parks, the flagship ride was Knightmare, and this seems to be the only 'thrill' ride remaining. For more information on the history of the park see its entry on Wikipedia.

Here are a few snaps and a video:

Entrance

The Knightmare ride

Bertie Bassett's Driving School

The showground

Smiffy's Dungeon of Doom

YouTube video: