A tyre factory in the West Midlands that in later years specialised in mixing rubber compounds and retreading of tyres.
Visited March 2017 Bushbury Lane, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, UK Closed, Decommissioning
The Goodyear site in Wolverhampton dates back to 1927, when the Ohio-based company started expanding into other countries. The first tyre was produced in December of that year, and just 18 months later had already produced one million tyres. At its height, over 4,000 workers were employed at the site.
In 1939 the factory switched to war-time production, specialising mainly in the manufacture of 5 foot aircraft tyres, weighing 355 pounds. Staff worked 20 on, and then got just one day off.
The factory saw a steady decline in production levels from the 1980s with many rounds of redundancies being made over the years. Demolition work commenced in 2007, in order to sell off some of the land taken up by disused buildings. The iconic blue and yellow chimney sporting the Goodyear logo was demolished the following year.
From 2012, after joining forces with Dunlop, the remaining buildings were used only for mixing and retreading of tyres. However, plans to close the site fully were announced in 2015, and production ceased in December of that year.
Starting off with the mixing plant – we found this mostly dismantled…
Let’s move into the Retread facility where a bit more remains…
A host of machines for various purposes were tucked at the end of line…
Moving further through the Retread plant, we find the machines that would have stripped back and prepared tyres ready to have new tread applied…
Next we head upstairs, starting where the conveyors from the production line below are elevated to this level
Heading further around this floor we find some ancillary equipment and support services…
Up to the next few floors…
Away from the production lines, we find offices, locker rooms and showers…
2 thoughts on Goodyear Mixing and Retread Plant, Wolverhampton
So sad to see the end of a part of Wolverhampton’s industrial heritage,where so many men and women gave their Lives to the Company,who just walked away and let them down…
So sad to see the end of a part of Wolverhampton’s industrial heritage,where so many men and women gave their Lives to the Company,who just walked away and let them down…
It is sad to see it all go, I always think about the workers when I visit places such as this.