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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This stained-glass window in Byrness, Northumberland shows workers building the nearby Catcleugh Reservoir. This was the first window in England funded by subscriptions raised by a workforce and remembers 64 people who died during its construction. Note the steam locomotive #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

There are still modern day Fred Dibnahs - here's someone starting a day's work on a power station chimney in McDonald Road, Edinburgh #industrialarchaeology #chimneys

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This is the former factory building for Spirella in Letchworth, built in the Arts and Crafts style. Spirella produced corsets and other undergarments using an innovative spiral wound spring construction. Customers included Mae West and Marilyn Monroe #industrialarchaeology #MarilynMonroe

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

It's hard to imagine it now, but this area in Kendal was the head of the Lancaster Canal (now filled in at its northern end). The little building sticking out on the right was a ticket office for packet boats #industrialarchaeology #canals

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The unusual lattice work on this building in Kendal is actually part of a street widening scheme ordered by the Board of Health in 1851. They were cast by local iron founder, John Winder #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This Sanskrit 'svastika' at Upminster Bridge Station was installed as part of the original 1934 design to welcome customers to the station. Even though just a few years later it had a more ominous association, it has survived to this day #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Ealing Film Studios is probably the oldest continuously working film studio in the world. The site was chosen in the early 1900s because it had the most smog-free environment close to London. #industrialarchaeology #film

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This fairly recent relief on a building in East Ham is a nod to the building next door which used to be a tram depot. And next door to that is the old electricity works! #industrialarchaeology #trams

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

Is there a finer mill in the country than Manningham Mills in Bradford? It dominates the city from its elevated position and 'Lister's Pride', the Italianate style chimney, is a real showpiece. #industrialarchaeology #mill #bradford

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Can you see the head with a bowler hat on the side of this mill chimney in Keighley? It is said to be a memorial to a worker who died during its construction #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Burtons the Tailors disappeared from the high street a few years ago but many of their Art Deco stores remain and are worth checking out. This one in Newark still has some nice original details on the facade #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

There are not many of these fluted pillar boxes left. The vertical posting aperture was too small and it was superseded by more practical designs. You can find this one in Gravesend #industrialarchaeology @postboxmap.bsky.social

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

This bottle kiln, near Putney Bridge, is the last remaining fragment of the Fulham Pottery, first established in 1671. #industrialarchaeology #pottery

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The tile frieze which reads 'Nourish and Flourish' is a clue that this was once a baby food factory. It was home to the Frame Food Factory in Wandsworth #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

This is the world's first plastics factory which, in the 1860s, produced 'parkesine', named after its inventor Alexander Parke. Located in Hackney Wick it is now an architect's office #industrialarchaeology #plastic

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

These cast-iron bollards in Ensign Street, east London bear the monogram RBT, standing for Royal Brunswick Theatre. The theatre collapsed three days after opening in 1828, killing about 15 people. The theatre was never rebuilt #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

This entrance wing at 75 Upper Street, Islington is probably the earliest surviving portion of a cinema in London. It belonged to the Electric Theatre dating from 1909. #industrialarcheology #cinema

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

The new Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration at New River Head, Islington has much to interest those interested in #industrialarchaeology . Look out for small details like the old rail tracks and the windmill base

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Described by one commentator as one of the 'most remarkable examples of architectural brickwork in Sussex, if not in England', this cistern in Rye was built in 1735 and had a capacity of approximately 20,000 gallons #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

The Union Mill in Cranbrook is the tallest working smock windmill in England. It is also the first listed windmill. When the windmill is worked flour is produced which can be bought in the Mill Shop. #industrialarchaeology #windmill

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

The Causey Arch describes itself as 'the oldest surviving railway bridge in the world'. Built in 1727 it supported a wooden track for horse-drawn wagons to transport coal from the Tanfield coal mines to the River Tyne #industrialarchaeology #bridge

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Old bricks often have the makers' name in the 'frog', but this is hidden when they are used in construction. However, here at Beamish Museum they make a nice display when set on their sides #industrialarchaeology #beamishmuseum

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Northumberlandia (the 'Lady of the North') is possibly the largest land sculpture of a woman in the world. It is made of 1.5 million tonnes of overburden from the neighbouring Shotton Surface Mine, and is over 100 feet high and 1,300 feet long. This is the view from the head #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Wiiliam Armstrong's Cragside home in Northumberland justifiably styles itself as the world's first smart home. Here, on the left, is the pumphouse which fed the house's hydraulic systems while on the right is a modern Archimedes screw for electrical supply #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

This is the biggest crinkle-crankle wall I've seen - in Wheathampstead. The serpentine construction gives the 3m high walls strength without the need for buttresses #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

The Nine Wells watercress beds in Hertfordshire are a couple of hundred years old. They are so-called because there are nine bore holes, each around 250 foot deep, which provide water for the beds #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

I gave a presentation at the South East Region Industrial Archaeology Conference which was held at Stanley Halls, South Norwood, itself an interesting industrial archaeology place #industrialarchaeology #stanleyarts

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

In the 17th century this was the forerunner of the modern car wash. Instead of jet sprayers this 'carriage splash' was fed from a nearby water channel and was the right depth to submerge carriage wheels. You can find it in Barkway on the old London-Cambridge coaching route #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

In case you were wondering where to find the UK's largest collection of toothbrushes look no further than Hertford Museum! Addis used to have a factory in the town #industrialarchaeology #teeth

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Attached to Hertford Museum is this lovely ornate key, dated 1798. It used to belong to an ironmongery/locksmith business elsewhere in the town #industrialarchaeology #keys

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

The 0.0 marks the Datum Point at Ongar station from which all London Underground mileage measurements are calculated, even though this is no longer part of the Underground network #industrialarchaeology #railways

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

Good to see that the old water tower at Manningtree station has been cleared of all the ivy that hid it previously. Unlike most water towers for locomotives, this tower also supplied water for the station. #industrialarchaeology #railways

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

No, it's not a church but a watermill, built for irrigation and grinding corn on the Euston Estate in Suffolk #industrialarchaeology #watermill

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

The Charles Burrell Museum in Thetford is housed in the old paint shop of a foundry that produced traction engines and other agricultural equipment #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

The Quay Theatre at Sudbury began life in 1791 as the principal warehouse for The River Stour Navigation Company. #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This smock mill at Swaffham Prior near Cambridge has recently been adapted to produce electricity with a generating room in the top floor. The village is believed to be the only place in the UK with two working windmills (nearby Fosters Mill produces flour) #industrialarchaeology #windmill

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

St Albans was well known for making straw hats. This one - appropriately named The Old Hat Factory - was the last to close and converted to residential. Note the large windows, providing natural light for the workers #industrialarchaeology #stalbans

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

St Albans South signal box is a real treasure. Restored by volunteers, it gives a real insight into how signal boxes used to work. #industrialarchaeology #railways

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Tucked behind a new build housing development called Weighbridge Court in Saffron Walden is this former LNER weighbridge dating from 1930. It belonged to the former Saffron Walden Goods Yard #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

No better place to be on a frosty sunny morning than on Grassington Moor looking at the lead mining remains #industrialarchaeology #grassington

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

Halnaker Windmill in West Sussex has a great view from the South Downs to the sea. It last worked in 1905 #industrialarchaeology #windmill

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

The same spot 60 years apart on the approach into Bognor Regis (taken by me and my father). The 1938 Art Deco Southern Railways signal box is happily still there - despite not being listed #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

This milestone at Kirby Hill, Boroughbridge is the halfway point on the Great North Road between London and Edinburgh. The route has altered over the years, with origins in the Roman Ermine and Dere Streets and is now the modern A1 #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

This was formerly the tower brewery of Warwick's Anchor Brewery at Langthorpe, Boroughbridge. Different stages of the brewing process took place on different floors, with gravity aiding the process. Now converted to housing #industrialarchaeology #brewery #beer

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The Leeds-Liverpool Canal at Kildwick is surely one of the most picturesque stretches on the whole route. Here the canal is carried over Newby Road by an aqueduct which forms a tunnel 50m long. #industrialarchaeology #canal

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

Wellingore Garage, near Lincoln was built in 1933 in a consciously traditional style, designed to fit in with other buildings in the village. It is still doing what it was built for #industrialarchaeology

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

The medieval Monk's Granary in Faversham claims to be 'the oldest warehouse still in use in the country'. Faversham was a very important port from the mid-16th to mid-18th centuries #industrialarchaeology #faversham

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

You wouldn't expect to find evidence of coal mining right in the centre of Durham but here it is - a blocked-up entrance to Elvet Colliery and even an exposed seam of coal. You can find this close to Prebends bridge #industrialarchaeology #durham

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IA Adventures @ia-adventures.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

Walker's Pottery in Corbridge, which closed before the First World War, produced pipes, roofing tiles, bricks, sanitary ware and low grade pottery for agricultural use. #industrialarchaeology

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