Topsham Quay, Topsham, Devon

An ancient port used by the Romans, and possibly before then, it was once one of the busiest ports in Britain extending up to the city of Exeter. That was put paid to by two people; the Countess Isabella de Fortibus, who had a weir built across the river in 1284, at what is now known as Countess Wear above Topsham in Exeter, in order to run her mills on either side of the river; and Hugh de Courtenay who blocked the river in 1311 to prevent boats sailing up to the city. The latter stopped the tidal movement which meant that boat owners had to unload at Topsham.

Many foreign imports came from Holland during the 18th century, some examples of which can be seen in Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum. Ballast from their ships included bricks and tiles, which were used in old buildings in Exeter as well as Topsham.  Some of the Dutch captains retired here during 1700 to 1730 and they built homes in the Dutch style.
 

On a personal note, my visit in 2009 was a very unhappy one. Thinking it would be easy to get off the bus from Seaton to Exeter at Countess Wear and walk to Topsham, I missed a couple of stops and had to walk back to the roundabout...but that was the least of my problems! A very busy three-lane roundabout meant walking over a pedestrian bridge. I'm horrendously acrophobic, and although I manage to climb and walk steep cliff paths, this one really put the willies up me. By the time I shakily got to the other side I was in a full-blown panic attack. Never had one before and didn't realise how ill you feel. Then I walked the two miles to Topsham feeling worse by the minute as traffic rushed by...all I wanted to do was curl up in a hedge and hope that someone would just transport me home, lol.
 

It took me two or three days to get over it and unfortunately it's now really difficult for me to walk across any bridge at all. But at least I got there!
 

Getting to the quay was pure bliss after my ordeal; enjoying the quiet and taking photos of the boats and riverside. I'd actually gone to Topsham to look for something else - a military building - which is no longer there as it happens, but I was in no state to care about that.

This was a nice find...the Ros-Ailither berthed at the quay.
 

Some of my photos came out really badly, and I thought it was because I wasn't feeling well. However, a year later I bought a negative scanner and discovered that the printer had made a total hash of developing my films. The prints were garish, due to over-compensating at the printing stage. Some of them came out okay, but scanning the negs I found that some of them were totally blue! A happy chance that they fit nicely with the location.

I caught a bus back to Exeter, and whilst waiting for my connection back to Seaton I met a lady from the Netherlands. We talked about Topsham and the architecture, and she told me that the Dutch-style houses aren't actually very Dutch at all!
 

Some of the other quayside houses, above, and an interesting one in the town itself, below.

A trying day...but glad I went, and will go back again in hopefully better circumstances. And next time I'll make sure I go by bus all the way! :)

Water Treatment Plant & Research Establishment, Exeter, Devon

Just over ten years ago on June 21st 2009, and the longest day of the year - almost to the day - a visiting friend and myself had a drive along the coast; just for the fun of it, stopping at various places and enjoying a day out doing nothing in particular. We stopped on the quayside at Topsham briefly, and I wondered if it was possible to explore the other side of the River Exe, where derelict boats and a building left to decay could be seen. So, crossing the bridge further up the river, we turned to the left and what we believed to be the other side. As it happened, and not realising until later on, we were on a spit of land which juts out between the canal and the river and not on the other side at all. However, we did find this.

Now, I've got a 'thing' for water treatment plants...don't know why, but there's something about them and I find the tanks and treatment beds fascinating to explore. Although the above title was on the gate, I've recently discovered that it's known as Countess Wear / South West Water, but I retained the original title that I had on my website* article to avoid confusion.

*As it happens, my website is no more now, but I'll still leave the title as it is. 

The gates were locked and there was no access, but some of the buildings and tanks could be seen from the path. Not only that, but it was such a lovely place to have a meander, and quite magical during the long, slow dusk of the evening of the Summer solstice.

Walking along the right side of the plant to take photos of the tanks, the idea was to walk to the end and come back along the other side if possible.

The first tank seen from the path and another building, below.

Two more tanks seen from the path.

There were quite a few people fishing on the opposite bank of the canal, taking advantage of the late summer light.

As it happened, the end was nowhere in sight, and because it was already 9 pm we decided to walk back the way we came. Which worked out well as we had time to end the day sitting in a pub garden with a couple of pints in Colyford on the way back home. Magic!

And on the walk back along the river we spotted this humungous fungus, below.
 

And a belated happy Midsummer to you all. :)

Silverdale ROC Post, Staffordshire

The fifth location visited on the 2007 Urbex Meet-Up in Stoke-on-Trent is this ROC Post (please see the previous four posts for the others). Just a very short article, as I've only got a few photos, but some more information about the weekend tacked onto the end.

A little background information: Royal Observer Corps Monitor Posts were part of the cold war defence system in Britain between 1955 and 1991.  

Underground structures manned by volunteers, the majority of ROC Posts were built to a standard design comprising a toilet/store and a monitoring room and accessed by a 14-foot-deep access shaft and ladder.

Opened in 1962 and closed in 1991, this one at Silverdale was a Master Post. According to Subterranea Britannica some artefacts remained in 2006, including furniture, switch boxes, original papers, fire blanket box, BPI mount and several other things.

I wasn't able to manage the ladder to go in - which is a shame as this was my first and only ROC Post - and I don't remember if anyone mentioned what they saw, so I don't know what, or if, any of the artefacts remained.

The article on Sub Brit can be found here

Just a bit more information about our meet-up weekend. The meet was arranged on the Derelict Places forum that we all belonged to. Using our avatar names, we were Stafforshireranger (our resident host), SmileySal, World of Shadows, Reaperman, Braveheart and Foxylady (me!). World of Shadows and Reaperman just joined us for the first four locations then went off to do something else.

Braveheart and Staffordshireranger about to go inside.

Staffordshireranger going down the ladder.

The next photo shows the start of the last explore - Silverdale Tunnel. I couldn't manage the way down...or rather, I was half way down and realised that I'd have problems getting back up from the bottom of a very high and steep bank...so I gave up at that point, lol. Smiley Sal very kindly came back to see if she could help me down and after crying off I managed to get a photo of her going off to catch up with the blokes.

After the explores we all went back to our respective billets, then all six of us met up again in the evening for nosh and a few beers. I was so tired I kept nodding off into my pint. Doh!

There was a bit more exploring the next morning, of a mine, but as my coach back to Devon left mid-morning I didn't join in that one. A fantastic weekend, though, which I thoroughly enjoyed. :)

Royal Doulton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

The next port of call during the 2007 Urbex meet-up was Royal Doulton when it was still intact, although obviously abandoned and derelict. (The other places can be seen in the previous three posts).

My other friends ventured inside but due to a disability, and being exhausted in the afternoon after a very long journey the day before, I decided to give it a miss. I went back to the car of our host to have a rest and found the front of the factory nearby, so I just enjoyed a leisurely wander around the outside and took some exterior photos before having a much needed snooze.

The brick building (above and below) was probably the main office for callers; with a rather lovely Italianate front elevation.

Another of the many potteries that have closed due to cheap imports from overseas, Royal Doulton was a household name of distinction that produced ceramics and tableware for about 200 years. Although only 22 years old at the time, John Doulton invested his savings of £100 in a small pottery in the year of 1815, and began producing both practical and decorative stoneware. The business, which was started in Lambeth, London, was eventually relocated to Stoke-on-Trent by his son, Henry, 60 years later.

The three main ingredients for Royal Doulton wares included cornish stone, china clay and calcined bone ash. This resulted in translucent chinaware, with the added advantage of strength. More than 2000 different figures have been produced by Royal Doulton over the years.

Some of the ingredients, in lovely colourful tubs, above.

The 15 acre site closed completely in September 2005. The land was sold to property developers with the intention of building housing on the site.

I managed to get partway around to take the above photo, which shows some of the extent of the factory site.

Only a shortish one this time. Next up, and last one, which is even shorter - having only a few photos - Silverdale ROC Post. :)

Simpsons (Potters) Ltd, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

This was another of my favourite explores; the third one undertaken on the Urbex Meet-Up weekend in Stoke-on-Trent in 2007 (please see the previous two posts for the first ones). Sadly, the factory has since been demolished, presumably including all the stuff left behind. 

Stoke-on-Trent is famous for its potteries, known locally as Pot Banks, and was the main industry in the area. Unfortunately, due to cheap imports from China and elsewhere, many of them were closed down, left abandoned and derelict until being demolished. Even well-known brands, such as Royal Doulton, have suffered the same fate.

Interestingly though, unlike many abandoned places, these factories were largely left intact with hardly any vandalism inside. It always amazes me how much pottery remained stacked on pallets, very little of which has been broken.

The ascendants of the Simpsons have allegedly been pottery makers since the 16th century. As a firm however, they have operated since 1904, firstly under the name of Soho Pottery Ltd, then under the name of Simpsons itself. In 1918 they moved to these premises in Cobridge called The Elder Works, and continued there until 2004.
 

Above, a selection of moulds and several of the many pallets left remaining in the factory. Some are in pristine condition, still wrapped in plastic with all the crockery intact. Below, the factory floors, where rubbish has been strewn about, including broken pallets, which seems a bit odd when there are still piles of crockery left standing.

There were huge, walk-in kilns on this floor (below), but it was too dark in that part to get a decent picture of them.

 In the offices upstairs there were some samples of glazing and coloured pigments.

Some odd corners and another pallet...just for a change! ;)

And finally, a peep through a high window with a view of the factory roofs.

Such an amazing weekend comprising three of my all-time favourite explores. The fourth stop on our tour is another pottery - Royal Doulton - coming up in the next post.