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Another bit of information just surfaced - the Hooton sites main function was to make Anti-Aircraft Guns - there is also a possibility they made shell cases. This site did not deal with explosives of any kind.


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Nice Work DD.
Any Chance Of Finding Were The Explosives Were Made Then?


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Originally Posted by diggingdeeper
Originally Posted by bert1
Very good DD. At the beginning of the thread you mentioned the site was handed over to Williams & Williams for cleaning up. Do you know anything on that firm Williams & Williams, during WW2 my mother worked for that company making Jerry cans, apparently she gained welding skills. As far as i know it was in Chester.
Williams & Williams main business was making metal window frames, the Hooton site made standard sized frames for the building industry, the Chester site made Aluminium Curtain Walling. They took over the Hooton site on 21st April 1945.


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There was a large ordenance factory over in Liverpool, making grenades and shells, cant remember where tho!!


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Originally Posted by hoseman
There was a large ordenance factory over in Liverpool, making grenades and shells, cant remember where tho!!


http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/exhibitions/blitz/munitions.asp


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Thanks Bert.


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I work at roften galvanising which has moved from the original site in hooton years ago up on to north rd in ellesmere port .

I only found out where the name came from sometime last year

apparently roften stands for

(R)oyal (O)rdinance (F)actories TEN

I dont know if it meant there was ten factories there or not but it seems logical enough

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Here is a better picture of the Fireman's Watch Shelter, the second picture is confirming what Pinz said, there is a another shelter at the other end of the gantry, second picture is a pitch black (15 second ISO-1600) night-shot hence the poor quality - but spot the stars.

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IMG_0709s.JPG (31.27 KB, 261 downloads)
IMG_0789s.JPG (58.54 KB, 265 downloads)

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Visited here today with Pinz. Here's a couple more pics of the Consol shelter. Also, a scan of an advert for it from the book "Walls of War" by Mallory & Ottar: Pinz's book, thanks. We were also able to gain access to the inside of the building, thanks to a co-operative security guard. Of interest is the internal factory narrow gauge rail system. Shown in the pic is a crossover on the narrow gauge system, combined with the standard gauge line which would have connected with the main line at or near Hooton.

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P1010222.jpg (430.49 KB, 240 downloads)
P1010223.jpg (582.96 KB, 242 downloads)
2009-05-30 20-11-54_0026.jpg (270.09 KB, 239 downloads)
P1010224.jpg (553.11 KB, 248 downloads)
Last edited by chriskay; 30th May 2009 7:40pm.

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Well done lads, that place was very twitchy in the past so one place I never thought of asking.

I didn't spot the third rail on my own picture either - good one. Love the washing line in your picture, I guess the company has moved out, I haven't seen the shutters up at all in the last few weeks.


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yerrr the view would be good from there smile

pm me smile


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This is my first post in Wirral History - so hello everyone!!!

Just a thought on where the explosives were made - Capenhurst (before it was UKAEA / later BNFL) was a large ordnance factory in WW2 and just down the road from Hooton - my Nan worked there...

Cheers,
Bill.



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Billy - can you ask your Nan whether capenhurst was a "Filling Factory" (ie one that put the explosives into shells) or an "Explosives Factory" (ie one that made the chemical explosives) or even an "Engineering Factory" (ie one that made small arms or did other engineering work). I used to have this information but I have lost it, and all references to details of ROF Capenhurst (pre 1950) have seemed to have disapeared off the internet.

Cheers
dd


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Hooton is down as an engineering site, not a filling one, not sure about Capenhurst, the only other i know is filling in Speke


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Hi dd - I'm afraid my Nan passed away in 1972, but my Mum or Dad will probably know - I'll ask them and get back to you soon.

Cheers,
Billy.


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