BAe Chadderton being demolished

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Prestwich_Blue

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Got a shock when driving to South Manchester on the M60 earlier when I passed the former BAe site at Chadderton and saw it was in the process of being demolished. Spent three happy years there in the mid-1980's and was union secretary for the ASTMS union there.

The Lancaster & Vulcan bombers were the most famous planes produced there, along with thr former Queen's Flight Andovers and the ATP, which was the last civilian aircraft produced solely in the UK. I know there's a few others on here who worked there or had family who did.

Sad to see a great piece of British industrial history disappear like that.
 
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Must have been an amazing place at full throttle.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Got a shock when driving to South Manchester on the M60 earlier when I passed the former BAe site at Chadderton and saw it was in the process of being demolished. Spent three happy years there in the mid-1980's and was union secretary for the ASTMS union there.

The Lancaster & Vulcan bombers were the most famous planes produced there, along with thr former Queen's Flight Andovers and the ATP, which was the last civilian aircraft produced solely in the UK. I know there's a few others on here who worked there or had family who did.

Sad to see a great piece of British industrial history disappear like that.
Click to expand...
When me and the wife were first married in 1981,we bought our first terraced house on Moston Road, which was about 200 yards away from BAe on Greengate. The traffic at teatime on Greengate was horrendous, particularly at the T - junction opposite Lees Brewery.
I also did day release at Oldham Technical College from 1974 - 77,and a few of the other students were from BAe.
It's sad to see such a well known institution meet such a sad ending.
 
everything changes. Its valuable land I suppose and we need it to be repurposed. So much industrial land has gone through the same - a lot of automotive factories are now being re-used and lets face it Maine Road is now a housing estate. What would you do with it? Its aviation past is already celebrated elsewhere and nobody would come and just walk around an empty factory. My Dads retirement comes from BAE Chadd - first job he had with a pension and as we were all fleeing the next he piled voluntary contributions into the pension scheme which is why he lives a good life in retirement. He wanted that for himself and my mum but sadly she died just before he could retire so on a personal note thats the sadness about it for me.
 
I know what you mean. Drove past the site last week and felt gutted. My uncle worked there for decades and always told stories about the craftsmanship that went into the Vulcans. It really is the end of an era for British engineering.
 
Left school in 78 and went straight to the Chadd Apprentice Training School. Although we probably didn't appreciate it at the time, looking back we got a brilliant grounding there. Lived just off Greengate so could virtually fall out of bed into the factory but somehow I was always on the minutes :D

Worked on the last 748's, the first sets of ATP and the Queens flight 146's. Interesting times during the Falklands War.

So many characters worked there and there was pretty much nothing you couldn't get done there or even buy there.

Although I left in 86 I always feel part of the Chadd family, especially with the lads who started in the Training school with me.

So sad to see it gone.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Got a shock when driving to South Manchester on the M60 earlier when I passed the former BAe site at Chadderton and saw it was in the process of being demolished. Spent three happy years there in the mid-1980's and was union secretary for the ASTMS union there.

The Lancaster & Vulcan bombers were the most famous planes produced there, along with thr former Queen's Flight Andovers and the ATP, which was the last civilian aircraft produced solely in the UK. I know there's a few others on here who worked there or had family who did.

Sad to see a great piece of British industrial history disappear like that.
Click to expand...
Did Ferranti once own it? If they did my Dad worked there in the 60's. I remember visiting it as a kid and being fascinated by what looked like mortar bombs.
 
Anyone remember my brother in law - John Taylor. He ended up as Chief Officer - engineering. Retired about 30 years ago.
 
Growing up in the 50s in South Manchester, we regularly saw the Vulcan on its test flights. A magnificent sight.
 
Prestwich_Blue said:
Got a shock when driving to South Manchester on the M60 earlier when I passed the former BAe site at Chadderton and saw it was in the process of being demolished. Spent three happy years there in the mid-1980's and was union secretary for the ASTMS union there.

The Lancaster & Vulcan bombers were the most famous planes produced there, along with thr former Queen's Flight Andovers and the ATP, which was the last civilian aircraft produced solely in the UK. I know there's a few others on here who worked there or had family who did.

Sad to see a great piece of British industrial history disappear like that.
Click to expand...
I presume it’s the half of the factory nearest the motorway that’s being knocked down. It was sold by BAE to a sports goods company about 20 years ago and was used as a warehouse. I think they moved out a couple of years ago to more modern premises so it was probably uneconomic to repurpose for someone else.
The other half was sold to Mono Pumps when BAE moved out in 2012 and I’m fairly sure they’re still there, so that half of the factory is probably still standing, although the northern end of it was knocked down in the mid 2000s while BAE were still there.
There’s probably about a third of the original factory left.
 
west didsblue said:
I presume it’s the half of the factory nearest the motorway that’s being knocked down. It was sold by BAE to a sports goods company about 20 years ago and was used as a warehouse. I think they moved out a couple of years ago to more modern premises so it was probably uneconomic to repurpose for someone else.
The other half was sold to Mono Pumps when BAE moved out in 2012 and I’m fairly sure they’re still there, so that half of the factory is probably still standing, although the northern end of it was knocked down in the mid 2000s while BAE were still there.
There’s probably about a third of the original factory left.
Click to expand...
Isn't it Kitbag who do City's stuff?
 
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