Drinnick Dryers

[Stoker]

Hello all,

 

I am seeking information on and photographs of the Drinnick dryers site, south of Nanpean wharf. The site was unique in that due to the restrictions at the wharf, only short trains were able to serve the sidings. This resulted in several separate drying units being constructed for different grades of clay, to be loaded in smaller quantities than other sites. The site has now been completely levelled, but was sat mothballed for quite some time.

 

Buildings included:

Buell dryer.

Buell store.

Rotary dryer and store (under one roof).

Drum dryer and store (same).

Seperate mill building.

A tall, concrete building marked only as a "bag store" on maps.

Some disused coal fired kilns.

 

Principally I'd like to find out whether anyone knows anything about this "bag store", and if anyone knows anything about the inner layout and workings of the drum and rotary dryer buildings. Photographs would be a huge help too, as currently I only have some limited shots in books which document the trains rather than the site.

 

Thanks.

Regards,

Scott.

[Stubby47]

Scott,

You could contact Ivor Bowditch (email link), at Imerys. He's the PR man, and was for ECC before they were bought out.

HTH

Stu

[Pugsley]

Whilst not specifically of Drinnick mill, these interior shots of burngullow dries may be of use:

http://www.urbexforums.co.uk/showthread.php/7988-Burngullow-Clay-Dryers-April-2010

 

More here:

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=52509&highlight=china+clay (Par)

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=54870&highlight=china+clay (Wenfordbridge)

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=38696&highlight=china+clay (Lee Mill?)

 

HTH

[Stoker]

Thanks for the links but I've already visited those sites in person. Drinnick was the only site I didn't get a chance to explore, because it got demolished before I could reach it. This is a real shame because it was all left totally intact when it was disused. Imagine the interior shots that I could've gotten! 3 totally abandoned drying units! I still kick myself to this day.

 

As for Mr Bowditch, I've pestered this man long enough I fear, and these days prefer to leave him to spend his time with more legitimate persuits. His job role really isn't intended to provide prototype information for model railways! He's a true credit to the company though, being one of it's longest serving employees and often finding himself in the unenviable position of having to recover company reputation after serious blunders have been made!

 

I'm on friendly terms with Maurice Dart, many of whose books I own and have had signed... but as a former ECLP chemist, I try not to bother him too much with mechanical questions, purely because he has no interest in model railways (although he volunteers in the Bodmin and Wenford railway model shop, would you believe!), and also because the physical construction of the drying complexes was never really within his remit.

 

I'm aiming to get in contact with Charles Thurlow, and the China Clay society, to see if they have any information or archive shots. Mr Thurlow was, I believe, Mines Manager for ECLP, and has written books on the entire clay extraction process.