Lovely sentimental watch, I spent 20 years there before walking out with the final casting crew. About thirty of us headed up to the near by Stanhope Arms( you were filming in the Stanhope Plant ). At one point a lady, possibly the landlady, commented how nice it was to be having a lovely leaving do and asked which one of us was leaving. A roar of laughter went around has she was told "all of us". Laughter was had that day with great colleagues but there was sadness too, many not seen since and now passed. Thanks for the memories.
This place is a global legend. I’ve even seen Stanton Ironworks drains along the Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai. Respect to the people who worked hard at this place.
Amazing. Reminds me so much of the RR Light alloy foundry and Main Works in Derby which are both now totally gone. So much of that looked just like Stanton. Times long gone and never to be seen again.
I am from Cleveland, Ohio in the US and cant believe how much America and England look alike. Cleveland is in what we call the Midwest in the US, how similar it is to the Midlands in England. Its also called the Rust Belt. The Midwest in the US is where all the steel, auto manufacturing, coal mining were. Im always amazed how much industry there was in England. This vid reminds of watching the closing of Swan Hunter Shipyards in Newcastle and Tyneside. I cant help but think how our grandparents wouldn't believe what's happened to both the UK and US.
"1986", mate you've just reduced me to a wet face, made me realise how long it's been since ex Tory Lord mayor ran me off my mbike, 6586, outside Matlock golf club and took my leg with it also effin both wrists. No more a working welder, been eighing my reduced options ever since. He got off with it, non indicating off a main road, I've been left with it.
Hi Ant. Another excellent video. This one struck me as being very eerie. The b&w picture of the Ironworks at night is excellent. One correction if I may. The b&w picture of the steam loco with it's train of wagons with the little lad on his bike wearing his cowboy hat used in the video and again at the end is in fact Staveley Works near Chesterfield not Stanton. Pete
I also used to repair a tractor at Stanton's holwell works just outside melton mowbray when it was in its last throws . I bet theres not much if that left now
Watch all your videos, you commented you used to live in Trowell my mother was from there lived down The Forge near Trowell Station. Keep filming Ant brilliant.
Last time I were in those large buildings they had stripped most of em out and were starting to use the building again, even got security guard house there now.
Hi really enjoyed your video, I seem to remember Stanton & Stavely ? They made manhole covers and heavy gratings etc. I was in Bristol working for a heavy builders merchant, owned by the Hepworth Group. They were based in that area. I wonder if they were amalgamated? Great work thanks Tony
Yes, Stanton & Staveley group became part of the British Steel Corporation. They mainly made iron products such as spun iron pipes, manhole covers, etc. You'll still see many S&S 'Ductile Iron' manhole covers on our roads today. I did my student apprenticeship at Stanton & Staveley Corby which made tubes. Everything from continuously welded scaffolding poles through to high-tech seamless tubes for drilling rigs. Happy days. It surprises me that so much is left at Stanton - the kit there must still be valuable, even if only as scrap
It looks like every one walked home a few months ago and forgot to come back. Did the firm collapse suddenly ? Very sad sight with lots of usable equipment and plant and gantries.
Hi, i don’t know if its a true thing or not but i went Alton Towers theme park today and i seen an old train station right near the entrance for the theme park. I could see the old station still remaining and the old track bed. I don’t know if its possible to explore but id suggested looking into it.
I lived in Hallam Fields for the first 25 years of my life. Stanton played a large part in my family. As a kid in the school holidays I used to help Mr Baggott that had a newsagents on Queens Ave, Hallam Fields, do his Stanton Round in an old beat up Bedford van taking fags and snacks to the workers in the buildings you explored. I remember back then in the 70's there wasn't much H&S. It was hot, smokey and very loud. We used to take Fags up to the workers up on those cranes.
A sad reflection of the demise of a once Great Britain. Just one example of the huge industrial impact the Midlands had on the nations prosperity. Like Sheffield, near me, a giant of steel production for the world, now all but invisible & erased! Not to mention the Coal Industry, now no more than a guilty secret. How did it all go so wrong?
Thanks again Ant. A very interesting, if a bit unsettling video - and as always, your choice of mysterious music is perfect. Is that the same Stanton that has a longish railway tunnel on the Old Dalby test track line?
Hello ant - greetings from Poland A very interesting and fascinating video. There's an awful lot of history on this site. What a great shame that it's been allowed to fall into rack and ruin. Any chance of regenerating the works?
When I saw the kid riding his bike by the train I was wondering why he's playing by the factory, then I remembered reading what life was like back then and realized, Ah.. He's actually reporting for work for another 16 hour shift....
What a fantastic film. It makes me sad to think of what we have lost. The facts are we still need what places like Stanton were making , its just these days it all comes from overseas. Thanks Ant for such a gem
I was taken on a tour with my school class in 1959 to give us an insight to different trades and employment available to us when we left school, aged 15. Saw them tapping the furnaces and casting pigs. Saw them making the famous spun pipes. Overhead tubs of molten metal. No hard hats or boots then, just what passed as school uniform. Great memories. Privilege to have witnessed it in full swing.
The British keep saying how proud they are of their country yet you keep buying cp from other countries including your steel etc and closing or never upgrading these factories and manufacturing plants. You’re content to return to being a nation of shop assistants and hospitality workers.
Currently 65 years old, I remember when Stanton Iron Works was in full swing, in the late 60s early 70s, working 24/7. In the Summer months, I remember quite vividly, sleeping with the bedroom window open, being lulled to sleep, listening to the sound of the Shunting Engines, clanking as they picked up another load. Happy memories. On Sundays, you could not hang the washing out, as it was the rest day, when they would clean out the Coke ovens. The dust was Black, you had to sweep the garden path, the smell of Sulphur was not so pleasant. Still proud to have lived within Sight, Sound and Smell of Stanton.... We went Fishing in the Erewash Canal (And the Nottingham canal). There was a section of the Erewash Canal, called "Hot Waters", kids would swim in the warm water, from the cooling towers. My Cousin had a job there in later years, in the spun Concrete works, making pipe sections for the Channel Tunnel. Thanks for the tour.
@@nickcaunt750 Then we lived on Little Hallam Lane. I was born in the front room of No32. We moved round the corner to 5 Queens Avenue. We could see some of the Ironworks from the bedroom window. Spent very many hours walking around the area, not knowing of course, that Stanton was to become deserted. Stanton made a huge number of sections for the underground Air Raid shelters around the country during WWII. Still seen today on Urban Explorer videos.
I worked there from 1963 to 1970 as a Mechanical Engineering fitter for 5 years and then as a fully qualified fitter. Some of my friends and acquaintances lost their lives on various plants there. I wish the plants were still there but when one of our greatest companies are purchased from abroad the death of the Ironworks was of no relevance to them. The video shows just a tiny fraction of the works and it's a shame rest of the plants had not been videoed before their destruction. I noticed on a recent visit the large office complex is still standing.
@@Richard_Barnes In 1966 I was Ten years old, we left Ilkeston when I left School in 1972. I only know of my Cousin, who worked in the Spun Concrete plant. Sorry, I can't help any further. I was too young.🙂
Where the British Industries went wrong by closing places like this down, and having to import steel and iron products, like these days. All that machinery left behind is a sad scene, Ant. Great video, and many thanks
Sure, closing them down for no apparent reason,,,at alll,,,a mistery, Why did these hypercompetitive indusries fall by the wayside? There is no apparent reason at all, or is there?
@@HeikoQuant There is sadly. After the war Britain didn't modernize its industry at the same rate as other nations such as Japan, Germany, USA and so on. Britain focused on becoming a welfare state and rebuilding homes and trying to maintain its empire. By the 60s,70s, 80s and 90s any industry that was left became outdated and not that profitable, especially compared to cheap overseas labor which could hire 5 or 6 people for the price of one here. Capitalism was a benefit but a detriment at the same time. Britain then became a finance-based economy for goods and services, but unfortunately, this became a deeply unequal society as a large part of GDP is focused on London and isn't evenly distributed across the United Kingdom. This is why you see so much inequality in the North of England, Scotland and Wales in comparison to the South. You can see this in roads, railways, house prices, infrastructure, job opportunities etc. The North and further afield were heavily dependent on industry for livelihoods. Coal Mining is a good example. Communities were built on it and it's in their blood and heritage. Sadly most mainstream politicians don't understand the foundations of the UK and what its people have been through or are made of. Things won't change until we get a leader who has experienced the whole wealth of British society and seen every corner of this great nation, not just one privileged aspect of it that they were born into. Not a political jibe, but more of factual observation. One can only truly understand a subject without seeing all sides of an argument or story.
@@samskateboardvideos Funny then how Germany has both. The same thing happened in Scotland in the eighties. Steelworks and Ironworks that had employed people for generations became 'developement opportunities'overnight.
@@philiprufus4427 It is and sad for us at the same time! Its primarily down to what happened directly after the war and successive governments since, Germany could rebuild its entire economy and industry by scratch, so its factories and means of production were state of the art to begin with, same with Japan. Ours took decades to modernize and catch up and over that time couldn't compete. They then specialized in certain realms, car production, etc. Germany managed both and its something that we should have never been allowed to lose at any cost.
Damn, wasn't aware this place had packed up. Used to go out with a girl from Ilkeston and I think pretty much everyone in the area had either worked there, or had a family member that worked there at one time or another. I drove through the place several times in the mid-90s, it was still on the go but was a fraction of the size it used to be. How sad to see this once great place in ruins.
This is immensely interesting and much appreciated. My late pater was a joiner within these ironworks, and during part of such period I lived in both of the works' villages Dale Abbey and Stanton by Dale (1951 to 1970). Although this video possibly conjours up romantic images of say the glow of blast furnaces on a clear starry night, the realty of living close to these works was much different. These works created an absolutely filthy polluted atmosphere which I doubt would be legal if still going. Enormous clouds of filth were ever present near to the works and, subject to atmospheric conditions, could fall and instantly wipe out a line of freshly hung out clean washing. The smell was foul and locals coigned the phrase 'Duckhams is strong today.' Such had its roots in the history of these coke ovens designed by Woodhall-Duckhams. I have today just discovered a wonderfully written article on these steel works and Stanton by Dale 'The village of Stanton by Dale - from ironworks to idyllic oasis,' by Ashley Frankin (Derbyshire Life') which appears on the internet.
Now 2023 .. sixty years ago. I worked at their Concrete pipe section ... bluddy hard work but kept. me fit ... after our nightly quota was done I use to wander into the foundry to watch them. casting the new Ductile iron a new casting that made England and Stanton famous ...all. gone now.... in 68. I was 24 and emigrated to. Australia .. Still. here at Surfers Paradise ....BUT I REMEMBER ....Days of the passed . a lot. of the men I worked with served in the war and they would tell. me their stories ... It must have beed terrible for them ... GOD Bless...
ant, how do you do it - another memory jerker , i used to go to the central melting plant to repair the hoists that would take the bricks up to repair the brickwork inside . something else i'd forgotten all about. you should be payed by the nhs to keep our memories alive. thanks again.
What ant filmed is basically what's left,a huge part of the old works was cleared and remains mostly abandoned although some of the smaller works buildings are in use by different trades.
I’m 43 I worked there in the citadel as they called it worked repairing giant ladles weighing 6 tons plus and huge vessels for poring molten metal into I used to re line them fix down new lids then lift them out the deep pits they sat in by crane onto a locomotive to go into the cmp or central melting plant I worked with a fella called Johnny witham excuse the spelling he was an older likeable chap I’m guessing no longer with us
I recognized the hydraulic power pack manufacturer's name. The whole place has deteriorated so much in a relatively short amount of time. Your video bought back some memories of my engineering days. I wonder whether any ex-employees will see your film and say "Oh, I remember being there"
Thanks,i used to call at Staveley,Stanton and Melton Mowbray sites.There used to be one at Pyebridge near Alfreton too,it shut years ago,I'm told 5000 used to work at Pyebridge.It's now become an industrial estate with varied trades operating.All sites are demolished now (just the clock tower at Staveley left and part of the admin block at Stanton ?)..its so sad but I feel honoured to have witnessed the processes involved.Thanks again.
on 2022-09-21 i was having a stroll in Ajman, UAE when i saw a cover of rectangular pothole which said 'Stanton and Staveley - Chieftain'. i did not know what that was. out of curiosity i googled them and eventually landed on this video. i think i can safely say that some mystery pothole in a random street brought me here.
I worked here as a subcontractor in 1989, we were fitting experimental hydraulic pushers to the furnace, it didn't work first time, and to be honest I couldn't tell you if the refit worked as I never went back. It seems at the time the company was still developing new ideas and trying new technology, it was surprising to see this video and the complete demise in just a couple of decades. Sad really.
All the drain covers where I live say Stanton and Staveley on them and I have seen them all over the country too! Such a shame it's finished now. Great British company,a sad end. Bet it would have been like a great big family working there.
I grew up with a steelworks a short distance away. Although I found the heat and the flashes scary I did find the rumbling noises it made at all hours of the day and night rather comforting. However, it closed over 20 years ago and it's now an industrial estate - I don't think there's anything left at all which is a shame. Good to see there's some of Stanton left at least.
Unbelievably sad, I would say we’re a nation of shop keepers, but that’s not necessarily true these days. I see all this new-build on my travels and I often wonder what the hell all these people do for a living. Loved the old tool room, that Elliott shaper was the sort of machine all apprentices used in their first year of training, for me that was 1987.
It's amazing how quickly all this stuff deteriorates. To think it only closed 13 years ago. Your comment on ear defenders, hard hats and hi viz vests was interesting. For most of the company's existence they wouldn't have been in existence let alone used. Even back in the 70s and 80s these items would only have appeared in specialist locations e. g hard hats in mines. They are quire a modern experience for general usage.
However justified the closure may have been, it still seems rather tragic that all that heavy equipment was just switched off and abandoned. What a ******* waste. Scrap value alone is eye-watering but what was that gear worth the day before the plant shut?
The amount of tools and equipment thats just been left is crazy. So much just wasted. There is thousands of pounds worth of tools, equipment and motors just left. Even a bloody lathe and a drill press! Unbelievable! If I had been there i definitely would've taken that vice and some other stuff that i could carry. Big old vices like that cost 100 pounds+. At least there wasn't loads of grafiti everywhere, which is good. If you filmed this recently, you need to go back with some friends and some big bags and take what you can before the building is demolished and the stuff inside is scraped.
Another very interesting video. My father worked there in the late 1940's but could not make ends meet because of the poor wages. He was a foundry pipe tester. He returned to working in the coal mines where he worked until he retired.
That was a bit creepy and haunting Ant, the muic added to it as well😨 One would hope that all that lot has been cleared by the scrappy since your visit. How much of the site is left today or has it all been covered in houses by now??
sad to see,i grew up on Asfordby hill nr melton mowbray where we had Holwell works,part of the Stanton and Stavely group,that too had dwindled down from several 1000 men when my dad worked there to several 100 when i was there,now its due to close altogether later this year but there are still remenants of the huge site it once was.
So sad to see another vibrant industry closed by extreme environmentalist politiions.The people it employed and the income it provided!Now everything in 3rd world countries and high prices for everything!--God Bless you- Vic!
my dad came from Middlesbrough to build a lot of this stuff, met me mam, rest is history. Remember swimming in Chaddies' pond as kid, got the shock of my life - absolutely freezing cold ! Soon got out again - the only place we used to swim was a place we called 'hotwatters' or hot-waters, which was where the canal narrowed through a narrow channel at one point which was warmed by the steam and the heat irradiated from the nearby furnaces. This feature was just wide enough to safely glide back and forth across until you had eventually learned to swim. We would also all gather black mud off the bottom then smear it all over ourselves like warpainted, little savages-thence to leap off the power-house roof to come up again spotlessly clean.
If a foreign country attacked us and managed to destroy our heavy industry, our mines our light industry and our textile industry we would be sure we were in great danger. Nothing would convince us that it didn't matter. It does matter. It has happened without any need for enemy attack. For critical supplies, including energy, we are now dependant on imports. If we don't wake up to this I fear for the future.
A great video today. The other half of the tour “Stanton ironworks & The Abandoned WW2 Air Raid Shelters”. Both fantastic to watch, and absorb. Thanks Ant for both. Cheers buddy!
What a shame there isn't a way of getting some decent light in there, Ant, but nevertheless very very interesting. Thanks for all your work bringing us these superb videos. Cheers, Bob
Gave up......selection of random old photos and wobbly video of random ancillary buildings........cant hang around to see if they actually go in the iron works or not....
@@TrekkingExplorationI know it wasn't until my brother in law told me that you begin to take notice. Nearly all manhole covers and road grates were made there unbelievable.
Awesome stuff chaps 🙂 I worked at Imperial Tobacco (formerly Players) and had the pleasure of knowing a few ex-Stanton blokes back in 1991 and so. Used to chat about the works and how many used to work there. Same as Players really until the inevitable changes come and they disappear as though they've never existed. Thanks for the look around this fantastic place. 👍🏻
@@TrekkingExploration Subbed.I watch a lot of local history stuff and cant understand why you have never come up in recommends, so now binge watching.👍👍👍
W😮W - very in interesting - I want just to turn things back on - just so I can get the big cranes working again!!! Also liking the old b/w Photos of the Locos & interesting you found the remains of that old Railway & buffer!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂
Lovely sentimental watch, I spent 20 years there before walking out with the final casting crew. About thirty of us headed up to the near by Stanhope Arms( you were filming in the Stanhope Plant ).
At one point a lady, possibly the landlady, commented how nice it was to be having a lovely leaving do and asked which one of us was leaving. A roar of laughter went around has she was told "all of us". Laughter was had that day with great colleagues but there was sadness too, many not seen since and now passed.
Thanks for the memories.
This place is a global legend. I’ve even seen Stanton Ironworks drains along the Sheikh Zayed road in Dubai. Respect to the people who worked hard at this place.
Amazing. Reminds me so much of the RR Light alloy foundry and Main Works in Derby which are both now totally gone. So much of that looked just like Stanton. Times long gone and never to be seen again.
Never thought you would reply, thanks very much, being a big railway man love your walks round the old lines around Ollerton.
I am from Cleveland, Ohio in the US and cant believe how much America and England look alike. Cleveland is in what we call the Midwest in the US, how similar it is to the Midlands in England. Its also called the Rust Belt. The Midwest in the US is where all the steel, auto manufacturing, coal mining were. Im always amazed how much industry there was in England. This vid reminds of watching the closing of Swan Hunter Shipyards in Newcastle and Tyneside. I cant help but think how our grandparents wouldn't believe what's happened to both the UK and US.
Our political class has so much to answer for
"1986", mate you've just reduced me to a wet face, made me realise how long it's been since ex Tory Lord mayor ran me off my mbike, 6586, outside Matlock golf club and took my leg with it also effin both wrists. No more a working welder, been eighing my reduced options ever since.
He got off with it, non indicating off a main road, I've been left with it.
Really enjoyed that.
I find old works like that fascinating, but they do creep me out.
It was a bit like... Now I'm in I want to leave 😂😂
@@TrekkingExploration 😄.
We still need to sort out Spinkhill of you've not already been back... whilst it's dry
It's amazing how quickly nature takes over these man-made installations!
From Sandiacre and remember the works very well and stopping on the road to let the shunters cross
Great video love the old pics too
Hi Ant. Another excellent video. This one struck me as being very eerie. The b&w picture of the Ironworks at night is excellent. One correction if I may. The b&w picture of the steam loco with it's train of wagons with the little lad on his bike wearing his cowboy hat used in the video and again at the end is in fact Staveley Works near Chesterfield not Stanton. Pete
I also used to repair a tractor at Stanton's holwell works just outside melton mowbray when it was in its last throws . I bet theres not much if that left now
Watch all your videos, you commented you used to live in Trowell my mother was from there lived down The Forge near Trowell Station. Keep filming Ant brilliant.
Hi John. I was on Stapleford Road opposite the post office from 1983 until 2002
Last time I were in those large buildings they had stripped most of em out and were starting to use the building again, even got security guard house there now.
Yes I filmed this one a while ago. You can tell by how much hair I have 😂
Thank you for watching
Hi really enjoyed your video, I seem to remember Stanton & Stavely ? They made manhole covers and heavy gratings etc. I was in Bristol working for a heavy builders merchant, owned by the Hepworth Group. They were based in that area. I wonder if they were amalgamated? Great work thanks Tony
Yes, Stanton & Staveley group became part of the British Steel Corporation. They mainly made iron products such as spun iron pipes, manhole covers, etc. You'll still see many S&S 'Ductile Iron' manhole covers on our roads today. I did my student apprenticeship at Stanton & Staveley Corby which made tubes. Everything from continuously welded scaffolding poles through to high-tech seamless tubes for drilling rigs. Happy days. It surprises me that so much is left at Stanton - the kit there must still be valuable, even if only as scrap
Ant, thank you so much, so sad, but amazing, the atmosphere of the works comes through in the video. Take care.
Thanks very much Christine 🙂
Fantastic video Ant very haunting.
Thanks very much Nigel
My father in law worked at stanton in the 70s
It looks like every one walked home a few months ago and forgot to come back.
Did the firm collapse suddenly ?
Very sad sight with lots of usable equipment and plant and gantries.
Valve wheel casting, one of my first projects at clowne technical college 1980.
Amazing, what puzzles me is why there's 10s of millions of £s worth of scrap just left there ?
fantastic vid ant ,but what with the losses of mining jobs and then that must have been a massive blow to all concerned
I used to work in a factory/foundry that made they type of plumbing you featured about 6,00.
That was amazing,Ant! Thanks for that video!
Thanks very much Michael
Interesting video, thank you for making/ sharing it!!
Thanks very much Annette 🙂
Hi can you do a tour on Attenborough Gravel Plant. Thanks
I'll have a look in the next few weeks to see If it can be done
excellent
Thanks very much Chris
Lovely video, is the old fire station still there ? I can remember driving through the site in the mid 1990's going to and from jobs .
Yes it was when I visited last year. Thanks for watching 🙂
Hi. I worked there when they shut it, it was the price of scrap metal that made it shut & the work went abroad.
Hi, i don’t know if its a true thing or not but i went Alton Towers theme park today and i seen an old train station right near the entrance for the theme park. I could see the old station still remaining and the old track bed. I don’t know if its possible to explore but id suggested looking into it.
I lived in Hallam Fields for the first 25 years of my life. Stanton played a large part in my family. As a kid in the school holidays I used to help Mr Baggott that had a newsagents on Queens Ave, Hallam Fields, do his Stanton Round in an old beat up Bedford van taking fags and snacks to the workers in the buildings you explored. I remember back then in the 70's there wasn't much H&S. It was hot, smokey and very loud. We used to take Fags up to the workers up on those cranes.
Brilliant story Simon. Without doubt you'd of sold fags etc to my father & Uncle.
19:25 Hydro Turbine or Steam Turbine noted.
A sad reflection of the demise of a once Great Britain. Just one example of the huge industrial impact the Midlands had on the nations prosperity. Like Sheffield, near me, a giant of steel production for the world, now all but invisible & erased! Not to mention the Coal Industry, now no more than a guilty secret. How did it all go so wrong?
Thanks again Ant. A very interesting, if a bit unsettling video - and as always, your choice of mysterious music is perfect. Is that the same Stanton that has a longish railway tunnel on the Old Dalby test track line?
Thanks Simon. No Stanton Tunnel is South of Nottingham. This Stanton is on the Derbyshire border 🙂
@@TrekkingExploration many thanks!
Hello ant - greetings from Poland
A very interesting and fascinating video. There's an awful lot of history on this site. What a great shame that it's been allowed to fall into rack and ruin. Any chance of regenerating the works?
Thanks Ant.😀
Thanks for watching
When I saw the kid riding his bike by the train I was wondering why he's playing by the factory, then I remembered reading what life was like back then and realized, Ah.. He's actually reporting for work for another 16 hour shift....
Cool video 👍
Thanks very much
Nothing is forever.
Dreadfully sad :(
Absolutely 😔
Thank you for an excellent but sad video. Sad because it graphically shows the decline of British heavy industry. Now it all come from China!
What a fantastic film. It makes me sad to think of what we have lost. The facts are we still need what places like Stanton were making , its just these days it all comes from overseas. Thanks Ant for such a gem
Reminds, a bit, of Clay Cross Works...
Mate of mine, appen off his head, appen not, fell inter smelter one day......
Tescos now.
I was taken on a tour with my school class in 1959 to give us an insight to different trades and employment available to us when we left school, aged 15. Saw them tapping the furnaces and casting pigs. Saw them making the famous spun pipes. Overhead tubs of molten metal. No hard hats or boots then, just what passed as school uniform. Great memories. Privilege to have witnessed it in full swing.
The British keep saying how proud they are of their country yet you keep buying cp from other countries including your steel etc and closing or never upgrading these factories and manufacturing plants. You’re content to return to being a nation of shop assistants and hospitality workers.
Seems, ask Rishi and his billionaire mates asset strippers.
@@suzyqualcast6269 it was going on long before them.
Currently 65 years old, I remember when Stanton Iron Works was in full swing, in the late 60s early 70s, working 24/7. In the Summer months, I remember quite vividly, sleeping with the bedroom window open, being lulled to sleep, listening to the sound of the Shunting Engines, clanking as they picked up another load. Happy memories.
On Sundays, you could not hang the washing out, as it was the rest day, when they would clean out the Coke ovens. The dust was Black, you had to sweep the garden path, the smell of Sulphur was not so pleasant.
Still proud to have lived within Sight, Sound and Smell of Stanton....
We went Fishing in the Erewash Canal (And the Nottingham canal). There was a section of the Erewash Canal, called "Hot Waters", kids would swim in the warm water, from the cooling towers.
My Cousin had a job there in later years, in the spun Concrete works, making pipe sections for the Channel Tunnel.
Thanks for the tour.
I'm the same age, but from Chilwell (then). I also fished hot waters and remember quite a lot of what you have recalled.
@@nickcaunt750 Then we lived on Little Hallam Lane. I was born in the front room of No32. We moved round the corner to 5 Queens Avenue. We could see some of the Ironworks from the bedroom window.
Spent very many hours walking around the area, not knowing of course, that Stanton was to become deserted.
Stanton made a huge number of sections for the underground Air Raid shelters around the country during WWII.
Still seen today on Urban Explorer videos.
I worked there from 1963 to 1970 as a Mechanical Engineering fitter for 5 years and then as a fully qualified fitter. Some of my friends and acquaintances lost their lives on various plants there. I wish the plants were still there but when one of our greatest companies are purchased from abroad the death of the Ironworks was of no relevance to them. The video shows just a tiny fraction of the works and it's a shame rest of the plants had not been videoed before their destruction. I noticed on a recent visit the large office complex is still standing.
Great story David 👍🏻Did you know any blokes who left to work for Players => Imperial Tobacco? I worked with a few in ITL back in 1992.
@@Richard_Barnes In 1966 I was Ten years old, we left Ilkeston when I left School in 1972. I only know of my Cousin, who worked in the Spun Concrete plant.
Sorry, I can't help any further. I was too young.🙂
What did they make at Stanton ? , Old men & pipes , a saying I heard while working there in the 1980's 🤣
the turbos are actually centrifugal pumps. sorry mate but i spent several years at sea as an engineer. But cheers keep it up excellent vids.
I'll blame the individual I was with who told me what it was 😂 Thanks for watching
Where the British Industries went wrong by closing places like this down, and having to import steel and iron products, like these days. All that machinery left behind is a sad scene, Ant. Great video, and many thanks
Absolutely agree. Thank you for watching 🙂
Sure, closing them down for no apparent reason,,,at alll,,,a mistery, Why did these hypercompetitive indusries fall by the wayside? There is no apparent reason at all, or is there?
@@HeikoQuant There is sadly. After the war Britain didn't modernize its industry at the same rate as other nations such as Japan, Germany, USA and so on. Britain focused on becoming a welfare state and rebuilding homes and trying to maintain its empire. By the 60s,70s, 80s and 90s any industry that was left became outdated and not that profitable, especially compared to cheap overseas labor which could hire 5 or 6 people for the price of one here. Capitalism was a benefit but a detriment at the same time. Britain then became a finance-based economy for goods and services, but unfortunately, this became a deeply unequal society as a large part of GDP is focused on London and isn't evenly distributed across the United Kingdom. This is why you see so much inequality in the North of England, Scotland and Wales in comparison to the South. You can see this in roads, railways, house prices, infrastructure, job opportunities etc.
The North and further afield were heavily dependent on industry for livelihoods. Coal Mining is a good example. Communities were built on it and it's in their blood and heritage. Sadly most mainstream politicians don't understand the foundations of the UK and what its people have been through or are made of. Things won't change until we get a leader who has experienced the whole wealth of British society and seen every corner of this great nation, not just one privileged aspect of it that they were born into. Not a political jibe, but more of factual observation. One can only truly understand a subject without seeing all sides of an argument or story.
@@samskateboardvideos Funny then how Germany has both. The same thing happened in Scotland in the eighties. Steelworks and Ironworks that had employed people for generations became 'developement opportunities'overnight.
@@philiprufus4427 It is and sad for us at the same time! Its primarily down to what happened directly after the war and successive governments since, Germany could rebuild its entire economy and industry by scratch, so its factories and means of production were state of the art to begin with, same with Japan. Ours took decades to modernize and catch up and over that time couldn't compete. They then specialized in certain realms, car production, etc. Germany managed both and its something that we should have never been allowed to lose at any cost.
Damn, wasn't aware this place had packed up. Used to go out with a girl from Ilkeston and I think pretty much everyone in the area had either worked there, or had a family member that worked there at one time or another. I drove through the place several times in the mid-90s, it was still on the go but was a fraction of the size it used to be. How sad to see this once great place in ruins.
This is immensely interesting and much appreciated.
My late pater was a joiner within these ironworks, and during part of such period I lived in both of the works' villages Dale Abbey and Stanton by Dale (1951 to 1970).
Although this video possibly conjours up romantic images of say the glow of blast furnaces on a clear starry night, the realty of living close to these works was much different. These works created an absolutely filthy polluted atmosphere which I doubt would be legal if still going.
Enormous clouds of filth were ever present near to the works and, subject to atmospheric conditions, could fall and instantly wipe out a line of freshly hung out clean washing. The smell was foul and locals coigned the phrase 'Duckhams is strong today.' Such had its roots in the history of these coke ovens designed by Woodhall-Duckhams.
I have today just discovered a wonderfully written article on these steel works and Stanton by Dale 'The village of Stanton by Dale - from ironworks to idyllic oasis,' by Ashley Frankin (Derbyshire Life') which appears on the internet.
So did my Grandad, Herbert Godfrey. Tapping the furnace.
Pleasley Colliery was built and operated by the Stanton iron company.
Now 2023 .. sixty years ago. I worked at their Concrete pipe section ... bluddy hard work but kept. me fit ... after our nightly quota was done I use to wander into the foundry to watch them. casting the new Ductile iron a new casting that made England and Stanton famous ...all. gone now.... in 68. I was 24 and emigrated to. Australia .. Still. here at Surfers Paradise ....BUT I REMEMBER ....Days of the passed . a lot. of the men I worked with served in the war and they would tell. me their stories ... It must have beed terrible for them ... GOD Bless...
So many reusable items of plant and tools sadly just lying around gently rusting away. How sad.
ant, how do you do it - another memory jerker , i used to go to the central melting plant to repair the hoists that would take the bricks up to repair the brickwork inside . something else i'd forgotten all about. you should be payed by the nhs to keep our memories alive. thanks again.
Wow. Every other drain cover and lamppost in the country has Stanton cast on it. So sad
True.
Actor Robert Lindsey and most of his family worked at Stanton,he still has family in Ilkeston.
and Richard Beckinsale.
Wow thanks for these never knew.
A fascinating glimpse into what once was, and our decaying heritage. As always the sympathetic use of music enhances your video. Great stuff Ant.
Thanks very much John I'm pleased you enjoyed it 🙂
Absolutely.
Absolutely amazing that so little has been done to recover the plant and machinery.
What ant filmed is basically what's left,a huge part of the old works was cleared and remains mostly abandoned although some of the smaller works buildings are in use by different trades.
I’m 43 I worked there in the citadel as they called it worked repairing giant ladles weighing 6 tons plus and huge vessels for poring molten metal into I used to re line them fix down new lids then lift them out the deep pits they sat in by crane onto a locomotive to go into the cmp or central melting plant I worked with a fella called Johnny witham excuse the spelling he was an older likeable chap I’m guessing no longer with us
I recognized the hydraulic power pack manufacturer's name. The whole place has deteriorated so much in a relatively short amount of time. Your video bought back some memories of my engineering days. I wonder whether any ex-employees will see your film and say "Oh, I remember being there"
Thanks,i used to call at Staveley,Stanton and Melton Mowbray sites.There used to be one at Pyebridge near Alfreton too,it shut years ago,I'm told 5000 used to work at Pyebridge.It's now become an industrial estate with varied trades operating.All sites are demolished now (just the clock tower at Staveley left and part of the admin block at Stanton ?)..its so sad but I feel honoured to have witnessed the processes involved.Thanks again.
on 2022-09-21 i was having a stroll in Ajman, UAE when i saw a cover of rectangular pothole which said 'Stanton and Staveley - Chieftain'. i did not know what that was. out of curiosity i googled them and eventually landed on this video.
i think i can safely say that some mystery pothole in a random street brought me here.
I worked here as a subcontractor in 1989, we were fitting experimental hydraulic pushers to the furnace, it didn't work first time, and to be honest I couldn't tell you if the refit worked as I never went back. It seems at the time the company was still developing new ideas and trying new technology, it was surprising to see this video and the complete demise in just a couple of decades. Sad really.
Countless members of my family worked there. One (my G. G. Grandfather, an iron pipe moulder) died working there at the age of 65.
All the drain covers where I live say Stanton and Staveley on them and I have seen them all over the country too! Such a shame it's finished now. Great British company,a sad end. Bet it would have been like a great big family working there.
I grew up with a steelworks a short distance away. Although I found the heat and the flashes scary I did find the rumbling noises it made at all hours of the day and night rather comforting. However, it closed over 20 years ago and it's now an industrial estate - I don't think there's anything left at all which is a shame. Good to see there's some of Stanton left at least.
Unbelievably sad, I would say we’re a nation of shop keepers, but that’s not necessarily true these days. I see all this new-build on my travels and I often wonder what the hell all these people do for a living.
Loved the old tool room, that Elliott shaper was the sort of machine all apprentices used in their first year of training, for me that was 1987.
cant belive all the overhead cranes still there an that engineering shop wow
It's amazing how quickly all this stuff deteriorates. To think it only closed 13 years ago.
Your comment on ear defenders, hard hats and hi viz vests was interesting. For most of the company's existence they wouldn't have been in existence let alone used. Even back in the 70s and 80s these items would only have appeared in specialist locations e. g hard hats in mines. They are quire a modern experience for general usage.
However justified the closure may have been, it still seems rather tragic that all that heavy equipment was just switched off and abandoned. What a ******* waste. Scrap value alone is eye-watering but what was that gear worth the day before the plant shut?
still see the odd Stanton and Stavely drain covers around the UK
Everywhere aren't they? And lamp posts. Thanks very much for watching
The amount of tools and equipment thats just been left is crazy. So much just wasted. There is thousands of pounds worth of tools, equipment and motors just left. Even a bloody lathe and a drill press! Unbelievable! If I had been there i definitely would've taken that vice and some other stuff that i could carry. Big old vices like that cost 100 pounds+. At least there wasn't loads of grafiti everywhere, which is good. If you filmed this recently, you need to go back with some friends and some big bags and take what you can before the building is demolished and the stuff inside is scraped.
Aye, same vices - at Chesterfield Tech then later encountered at JJ Blows, Chatsworth Road.
I am in my late sixties and I have seen that sort of thing going on in industry in the U K all my life,now we have got rid of the lot.
Another very interesting video. My father worked there in the late 1940's but could not make ends meet because of the poor wages. He was a foundry pipe tester. He returned to working in the coal mines where he worked until he retired.
Thanks for doing this. My Dad and also my Grandad worked here for many years.
I've only just seen your video's got to say really enjoying them this one is very close to where I know live.
Thankyou Stephen i'm glad you are enjoying them :)
There's nothing more quiet than an abandoned factory. What a shame.
Absolutely. Thanks Neil
That was a bit creepy and haunting Ant, the muic added to it as well😨 One would hope that all that lot has been cleared by the scrappy since your visit. How much of the site is left today or has it all been covered in houses by now??
It's gradually being cleared and redeveloped. It's not the same since this was filmed
Very interesting thank you 😊
Thank you very much Terry 🙂
Great explore as always Ant. Very nostalgic too and again you chose great music. Thank you. Very interesting.
Thanks very much Shirley 🙂
A fascinating tour into our industrial history thanks for sharing.
Thanks very much. Glad you enjoyed it
sad to see,i grew up on Asfordby hill nr melton mowbray where we had Holwell works,part of the Stanton and Stavely group,that too had dwindled down from several 1000 men when my dad worked there to several 100 when i was there,now its due to close altogether later this year but there are still remenants of the huge site it once was.
So sad to see another vibrant industry closed by extreme environmentalist politiions.The people it employed and the income it provided!Now everything in 3rd world countries and high prices for everything!--God Bless you- Vic!
my dad came from Middlesbrough to build a lot of this stuff, met me mam, rest is history. Remember swimming in Chaddies' pond as kid, got the shock of my life - absolutely freezing cold ! Soon got out again - the only place we used to swim was a place we called 'hotwatters' or hot-waters, which was where the canal narrowed through a narrow channel at one point which was warmed by the steam and the heat irradiated from the nearby furnaces. This feature was just wide enough to safely glide back and forth across until you had eventually learned to swim.
We would also all gather black mud off the bottom then smear it all over ourselves like warpainted, little savages-thence to leap off the power-house roof to come up again spotlessly clean.
If a foreign country attacked us and managed to destroy our heavy industry, our mines our light industry and our textile industry we would be sure we were in great danger. Nothing would convince us that it didn't matter. It does matter. It has happened without any need for enemy attack. For critical supplies, including energy, we are now dependant on imports. If we don't wake up to this I fear for the future.
A great video today. The other half of the tour “Stanton ironworks & The Abandoned WW2 Air Raid Shelters”. Both fantastic to watch, and absorb. Thanks Ant for both. Cheers buddy!
Thanks very much Martin 🙂🙂
I used to work security there back in the 90s for a couple of years. That place was so big patrols used to take an hour or two
What a shame there isn't a way of getting some decent light in there, Ant, but nevertheless very very interesting. Thanks for all your work bringing us these superb videos. Cheers, Bob
Yes it was very dim inside and no torch really made much difference 😔
Brilliant mate....a big thank you
Remarkable video many thanks 👍
Thanks very much Steven
Gave up......selection of random old photos and wobbly video of random ancillary buildings........cant hang around to see if they actually go in the iron works or not....
Awwww but thanks for the comment as they all help promote the video. I'm sorry I cannot invest in BBC quality.
It all went to france
just look at any manhole covers and they will be from stanton
It's unbelievable to think how much was once manufactured there 😔
@@TrekkingExplorationI know it wasn't until my brother in law told me that you begin to take notice. Nearly all manhole covers and road grates were made there unbelievable.
eeerie. I went to school down the road in Kirk Hallam and know the area well
Thank you for watching 🙂
3:45 The letters "N" are mirrored !😂
I'll go back and have a look
Awesome stuff chaps 🙂 I worked at Imperial Tobacco (formerly Players) and had the pleasure of knowing a few ex-Stanton blokes back in 1991 and so. Used to chat about the works and how many used to work there. Same as Players really until the inevitable changes come and they disappear as though they've never existed. Thanks for the look around this fantastic place. 👍🏻
Shame to see it like this Ant, Jack & Richard worked there untill retirement age 🤔
a as he's from there
s an addition my brother in law's father worked there i believe
My dad was plant manager both Stanton and Stavley a different times.He finished when the French brought it and put their own people in.
It probably didn't last very long after that 😔 Thank you for watching
@@TrekkingExploration Subbed.I watch a lot of local history stuff and cant understand why you have never come up in recommends, so now binge watching.👍👍👍
W😮W - very in interesting - I want just to turn things back on - just so I can get the big cranes working again!!! Also liking the old b/w Photos of the Locos & interesting you found the remains of that old Railway & buffer!!! 🙂🚂🚂🚂
Yes it was quite the place. It used to be huge
Funny that because my sir name is Stanton.