Pictures: Demolition of Leamington Ford foundry

Buy photos» Coming down. The former Ford foundry. 49.011.010.leam.jm11 (www.buyphotos247.com)

08 December. Updated: 08 December 09:00

AFTER more than a century dominating a section of the Leamington skyline, the former Ford foundry site is now being demolished.
A total of 126 years of manufacturing at the Old Warwick Road foundry came to a close in July 2007 after the site lost a major contract to Eastern European competitors.
Since then the dormant site has declined rapidly. On our last visit in early 2010 it was eerily silent for a place once bustling with hundreds of workers every day. Walls had crumbled, doors rotted, and pools of rain water were prominent. An abandoned workman's glove here, black soot everywhere, were among the reminders of a proud manufacturing past.
Demolition, along with decontamination, has now started and is expected to be completed by April.
New life will then be breathed into the 19 acre site with a scheme for a new Morrison supermarket, a hotel, a mix of offices and homes, car parking spaces, woodland and about 1.5km of new cycle routes and public footpaths, a masterplan which could ultimately provide up to 1,200 new jobs.
Observer chief photographer Jon Mullis, whose own grandfather worked at the foundry for 40 years, directed his lens at the start of the demolition work.

Buy photos» Despite the mechanised side of the demolition a lot of work is still carries out by hand using oxygen and acetylene gas torches. Picture by Jon Mullis 49.011.010.leam.jm4 (www.buyphotos247.com)

Buy photos» Site manager Clive Nicholls is in charge of the demolition on the old Ford Foundry site. Picture by Jon Mullis 49.011.010.leam.jm3 (www.buyphotos247.com)

Buy photos» Thick black toxic dust from extraction ductings fills the air as the huge steel cutting machine moves in. 49.011.010.leam.jm8

Buy photos» The old foundry site is just a mass of tangled stantions and steel scrap as the demolition work continues at pace. 49.011.010.leam.jm6

Buy photos» Despite the huge tonnage of steel scrap created there are also hundreds of tons of crushed concrete waste to be dealt with. This will be leveled off, compacted and left on site as foundation for the future development. 49.011.010.leam.jm1 (www.buyphotos247.com)

Buy photos» Once cut into manageable lengths, the steel scrap is loaded into trucks to be taken away and melted down and re-cycled. 49.011.010.leam.jm10

Buy photos» Workers have to wear protective clothes and breathing aparatus to protect themselves from the dust. 49.011.010.leam.jm2

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