During the 1800s the Loxley Valley became an important producer of refractory bricks for the expanding Sheffield steel industry. The bricks were used to line the furnaces and were made from ganister, a sort of sandstone which was prevalent in the Loxley area. Many ganister mines existed in the area supplying the local firms of Thomas Wragg, Siddons Bros., Hepworths and Thomas Marshall which sprang up in the district and produced the bricks. Refractory production ceased in the area in the 1990s. Source
Setting off on another walk through the Loxley valley we had our sights on our target, the Brickworks at Loxley...We had already reccied this place and noticed a possible entry point on our previous explore to the Bradfield Water Works the week before. My friend did a little research and gained some valuable information about dummy cameras and real motion sensors which we should not touch, these are a new concept to me this being my 4th real explore.
Formulating a plan we set of on a glorious sunny day, wasn't long before we reached our destination in good time and set about looking for our previously noted access point. To our dismay this point had be sealed and we almost turned back to find another venture, but with a little further exploring we found a suitable access point.
Weary of the warning of motion sensors we skulked around the abandoned industrial works with grim determination, cautiously casting trepid glances at where we would expect motion sensors to be. We spent a good hour and a half exploring the gigantic place, only uncovering an estimated third of its potential. I entered a dark room with some old soap dispensers on my right hand side in a small anteroom that had a neutered blue coat of paint, suddenly I heard a voice followed by the alacritous barking of dogs. Busted!...in a fleeting moment of naivety I thought about hiding in this dark room but came to my senses when I heard my comrades explaining themselves to the sentinel that caught us within his vigil.
Walking out of the site followed by the burly guard and his very large, and presumably hungry! guard dogs, I recollected the past 5 minutes and how this security guard was professional and courteous in his request of us to leave the premises. We did not see what triggered the alarm but upon a small amount of research into the security company we surmised it was some high-tech infra-red fence technology we saw no evidence of.
Curiously the site was littered with Airsoft balls, I would have thought that such a play would be unsafe for Airsoft games...
urbx002 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx004 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx005 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx007 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx011 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
cogredone by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx016 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
urbx018 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
Motion sensor?
DSC_0780 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr
Urbex067 by Wyrdsight, on Flickr