Wadkin Factory .

[auscab]

A walk through the Wadkin factory now . Mark , aka Wallace1973 put it up on the Canadian web site. I don't know if he is a member here ? There are a few of these Wadkin walk through video's . The factory is due to be knocked down soon I think.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKAu5uBU8vQ


Check this video out of a walk through the Wolverton Railworks site as well .
listen to it up loud too.:)




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHZnXyvrLGs&x-yt-ts=1421782837&x-yt-cl=84359240


Rob

[artful bodger]

Pretty sad that Wadkin is no longer.
In general I detest Brittish cars and motorbikes. However Wadkin made some great woodwork machines.
The patternshop where I did my apprenticeship back in the 80's had a wadkin patternmaking lathe which was a fine bit of gear. A wadkin bobbin sander which was also great. And while I was there the company bought a Wadkin pattern milling machine that would have cost as much as a house! and oh boy! was it a ripper. Bet the same company still has it.
It would have been interesting to see a video when Wadkin still had all of their manufacturing equipment installed.
The buildings look pretty ghostly just empty.
Guess there will still be wadkin machines around when doomsday happens?

[rod1949]

Jeez look at all that asbestos on the roofs... we're all going die:damn:

[Chris Parks]

Jack English Machines on Youtube, his proper name is Jack Forsberg, has a nice collection of Wadkin and uses them to make a living....

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jack+english+machines

[auscab]

Thanks Chris .
Jack is a member here .
Someone ? sorry, I will have to look for the thread, started a thread here about an amazing saw that had been restored . It was Jacks PK ,

( Edit . this was the thread. http://www.woodworkforums.com/showthread.php?t=152653&highlight=Wadkin+PK )

it had the same affect on me as it has actually had around the world of woodworking people in woodworking forums who know that very good things sometimes come rusty and unloved . and even cheap if your lucky.
I knew that already but I had never seen a Wadkin PK before I opened that thread here!! ha ha .
What a saw !!

Here is another one of the factory . There is another that I'm searching for.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534&v=DVa_b84_NYc




Rob

[clear out]

Jack English Machines on Youtube, his proper name is Jack Forsberg, has a nice collection of Wadkin and uses them to make a living....

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jack+english+machines

A few pics of the Wadkin temple and the head keeper.
I visited last year a few weeks after the rust junky fest.
H.337841337840

[camoz]

Henry,

I was loading stuff to the bucket anyway, so thought I would turn your temple pic upright for you:)

http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r754/woodworkforum/temple_zps5lzy0zft.jpg (http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/woodworkforum/media/temple_zps5lzy0zft.jpg.html)

[L.S.Barker1970]

He's a wonderful man that Jack Forsberg, he has helped me out before many times.
He is one of the most passionate guys on Wadkin machines I know, well and all English machines for that matter.
I have had many years of posting along side him and enjoyed every bit !
Jack I'm sure will be sad to see the old Wadkin factory demolished, if we had money I would love to organize a posse of keen lads to go over to the UK and view the factory for one last time, I think it would be a great trip.

Melbourne Matty.

[camoz]

He's a wonderful man that Jack Forsberg, he has helped me out before many times.
He is one of the most passionate guys on Wadkin machines I know, well and all English machines for that matter.
I have had many years of posting along side him and enjoyed every bit !
Jack I'm sure will be sad to see the old Wadkin factory demolished, if we had money I would love to organize a posse of keen lads to go over to the UK and view the factory for one last time, I think it would be a great trip.

Melbourne Matty.

Jack has a Stenner BL, so he is alright in my books:D. No seriously I second what you say Matty, he has helped me a lot in the past also. Not sure we can make it to the factory before it's demise, but hopefully one day we can make it to Jack's Wadkin Temple.

Cheers,

Camo

[L.S.Barker1970]

Jack has a Stenner BL, so he is alright in my books:D. No seriously I second what you say Matty, he has helped me a lot in the past also. Not sure we can make it to the factory before it's demise, but hopefully one day we can make it to Jack's Wadkin Temple.

Cheers,

Camo

Count me in Cam, one day we'll fly to Jacks Rusty junky festival !!

Melbourne Matty.

[jgforsberg]

all though it is sad times for Green Lane works the good news is Wadkin has hit its 100th classic machine line build . I know of no others maker building on there past and or a market ready for quality again. Hats off the Dalton for being so brave as to believe in there product and see where the world is lacking.:2tsup:

Wadkin News
http://www.daltonswadkin.com/100-milestone-wadkin-manufacturing/

more
http://www.daltonswadkin.com/about/

BTW all down here he can call the temple home.


jack
English machines

[camoz]

all though it is sad times for Green Lane works the good news is Wadkin has hit its 100th classic machine line build . I know of no others maker building on there past and or a market ready for quality again. Hats off the Dalton for being so brave as to believe in there product and see where the world is lacking.:2tsup:

Wadkin News
http://www.daltonswadkin.com/100-milestone-wadkin-manufacturing/

more
http://www.daltonswadkin.com/about/

BTW all down here he can call the temple home.


jack
English machines

Jack,

Thanks for sharing that, I didn't realise they were doing this.

Cheers,


Camo

[jgforsberg]

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%20pics_zpsi1agotfj.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%20pics_zpsi1agotfj.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%203_zpslv5yua2g.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%203_zpslv5yua2g.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%205_zpsxqm5ivi0.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%205_zpsxqm5ivi0.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%201_zpsqwa8wcma.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%201_zpsqwa8wcma.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%204_zpszlmo4io2.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%204_zpszlmo4io2.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%207_zpsri5zno7f.jpg

(http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%207_zpsri5zno7f.jpg.html)http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2010_zpshkrcina1.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2010_zpshkrcina1.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%209_zps1nho20fo.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%209_zps1nho20fo.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2011_zpsyewk71fr.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2011_zpsyewk71fr.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2011_zpsyewk71fr.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2011_zpsyewk71fr.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2017_zpslkxnlny5.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2017_zpslkxnlny5.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2019_zpsd2inol8x.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2019_zpsd2inol8x.jpg.html)

[L.S.Barker1970]

Just Beautiful Jack !!
I think in the first Pic, "The board room meeting" it looks to be snowing out side !
What a wonderful era for manufacturing, some times I wish I had a time machine.
Thanks for showing Jack.

Melbourne Matty.

[jgforsberg]

Just Beautiful Jack !!
I think in the first Pic, "The board room meeting" it looks to be snowing out side !
What a wonderful era for manufacturing, some times I wish I had a time machine.
Thanks for showing Jack.

Melbourne Matty.

and who is this Goddard?

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin_zpsy1yqvjlz.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin_zpsy1yqvjlz.jpg.html)

a few more
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2012_zpswifwgxnr.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2012_zpswifwgxnr.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2016_zpslb9wuwim.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2016_zpslb9wuwim.jpg.html)
http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2014_zpsqlp5gna1.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2014_zpsqlp5gna1.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2021_zps3xbpuvi4.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2021_zps3xbpuvi4.jpg.html)

http://i927.photobucket.com/albums/ad111/tool613/wadkin/wadkin%2020_zpsey7koj5q.jpg (http://s927.photobucket.com/user/tool613/media/wadkin/wadkin%2020_zpsey7koj5q.jpg.html)

would them crates boards every make a cool tool cabinet.

[jcge]

There's a certain irony that their expertise was actually metal working.....
John

[Vann]

If I may take the liberty of adding more to this story, with material mostly half-inched from other websites...


...The factory is due to be knocked down soon I think...The Green Lane, Leicester, factory demolition was well underway when Wallace went back in January of this year.

407955 407956 407957

By February, parts of the site were looking like this...

407954 407953

...and the dozers were even hanging around the street frontage (I believe part of the facade is to saved on site - which is to be a housing estate).

407951

Cheers, Vann.

(more to come when I get the time)

[Vann]

The Green Lane site comprised a number of buildings...

408039408040 I'm not sure when these aerial photographs were taken.

Built up over a number of years from 1922 to 1955.

408036

Cheers, Vann,

[Vann]

If we take a step back and have another look at the factory floor...

408099 ...we see fresh earth.

Edit: someone on CWW suggested that was concrete, Mark (wallace) suggested bitumen. Whatever it is, it's recently been uncovered.

Until recently (before the bulldozers moved in) it looked like this (not necessarily the same part of the factory) - paved floor.

408100

Going back again to the recent photos of the factory floor, in the background is a pile of paving blocks.

408098

The floor of the Wadkin factory was paved in wooden blocks - each ~7" x ~3" x ~3 3/4" thick.

408101

How do I know that? Well when he heard the demolition was commencing Jack (jgforsberg) in Canada, organised for a couple of square feet of flooring blocks to be collected and sent to Canada for his "Wadkin Temple" (his mostly Wadkin workshop). They came from the 1936 extension. At the same time he arranged for some extra blocks to be sent to various "Waddies" (Wadkin nutcases) around the world. Mine arrived a month ago :B.

408105

They stink of creosote - after all these years (maybe they were treated regularly?).

So if you're visiting a mate's workshop and you smell creosote, look out for a 7" x 3" block of blackened wood. You could be in extreme danger - your mate could turn into a Wadkin Blockhead at the full moon.

My thanks to Jack for thinking of us, and to Richard Findley who did most of the legwork in Leicester. Also to the various people whose photographs I have half-inched from the web.

Wadkin Green Lane Works - Leicester, England - RIP.

Cheers, Vann.

[auscab]

Nice Vann Ive still got to collect my one from the Melbourne delivery .

Has there been any mention of what these were laid onto ? Id like to know how its done .

Rob

[Enfield Guy]

What a great story. Wonderful to see that there are some pieces of Wakinitis that have spread through the world. More power to you.

[Vann]

...Has there been any mention of what these were laid onto ? Id like to know how its done .Hi Rob. On the Canadian forum Mark says:

...The blocks are laid on bitumen but not like parquet which is quite thick, this looks like they were dipped in a runny bitumen when laid. The smell is really strong like the old creosote. But it would be good to confirm that.

Cheers, Vann.