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Monday 21 December 2015

St John the Evangelist's Church, Crawshawbooth - December 2015

Opening in 1892 this rather large church closed in 2012 following a fall in the congregation and a series of lead thefts which left an estimated repair bill of £500,000. The church sits covered in a thick yellow/orange dust with roof damage slowly eating away at this Grade II listed building.

The building was listed on The Victorian Society Top 10 Endangered List  in 2013 and is also listed by English Heritage as At Risk with a condition of Very Bad.

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Visited with ZerO81 and Judderman, Tbolt having wandered in the day before. This wonderful church had been on our radar for a while and it would seem to be now firmly placed on the tourist trail.

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Its a very long and very narrow walk up the to the bell tower, one your not going to forget in a hurry as when do finally get up to the top there is very little to see other than a roof in a shocking state of repair, lots of pigeon shit and then you have to come down again.

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So if an extremely dusty, darkened church is your thing then its a 9/10 otherwise your looking at a 5 or possibly a 4.

Merry Christmas folks, see you all in the New Year.

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Tuesday 15 December 2015

Croda Chemicals, Bromborough - December 2015

Opening in 1855 as Price's Patent Candle Company, Croda Chemicals Bromborough specialised in fatty acids and finally closed in December 2009, this sprawling chemical plant was a small part of a massive global chemical empire and the site is now ever so slowly being demolished to make way for housing.

Health and safety at this site had been award winning over the years, sadly however this may have slipped of late.

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The site contains unparalleled health and safety signage, which was as well when we visited, given the clumsy twats that we are - we being myself, Mr Blacksnake, Tbolt, Judderman and that stumpy Hobbit like one known only as ZerO81.

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As the rain tumbled down (again) and the wind blew in from the River Mersey no climbing of towers or chimneys occurred and the order of the day was trying to keep warm and dry as long as possible.

After a false start we left the site and spotted two Ninja like photographers which resulted in Mr Blacksnake testing the water with a rather cheeky almost "Sweeney" type entrance.

Walking into this place you immediately know your in for a photographic treat, from them little things that certain folk covet.

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To the big stuff.

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Let us have a wander around.

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On to the offices and medical centre, which for most parts looked as if an explosion had gone off.

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With a final wander around the plant

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I'm going to give this place a stonking 9/10 being industrial derp at its near best, only let down by the weather on the day, totally derptastic, rounded off with snacks and drinks in the pissing down rain in a layby on the side of the Mersey.



Wednesday 9 December 2015

Kelvin Fenton Mill, Burnley - December 2015

Visited with Blacksnake, Tbolt and ZerO81,  this is a mill that is half demolished and is about 12 months from becoming death on a stick.

Kelvin Fenton operated from these premises specializing in packaging, a distinct lack of information on this place exists (or that I can be bothered looking for with any extreme effort).

The entrance kind of suited my kind Hobbit like friends and this derp of building followed our early morning theme of mud, it was one of them kind of days and Tbolt's Vengabus was becoming ever increasingly soiled.

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If you manage to brave it to the top floor a good view of Burnley can be seen, including Burnley Empire Theatre.
 
But to be honest was it worth the effort and possible breakage of limbs/death ? No.

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It was time to leave

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The photos make it look better than it is 3/10