This is the view across to Westbury Cement Works from about half way down the White Horse Hill.
The chimney is just short of the height of the spire at Salisbury Cathedral, which stands at 123m-high (404ft) above ground level.
Blue Circle opened the cement works in Westbury in 1962, as it was in close proximity to the necessary raw materials (clay, chalk etc), it had excellent road and rail access and there was a large and committed workforce nearby.
The works originally only had one kiln, but demand soon rose and a second one was added in 1965. By the early 1990s, the factory was very outdated, so Blue Circle spent approx.£21 million building a central control building (which is sadly sealed) and improving safety, efficiency and making the plant more environmentally friendly.
In January 2001, Blue Circle merged with French materials group Lafarge in a deal worth circa £3.1 billion.
The group became the largest cement manufacturer in the world. However, in September 2008 Lafarge axed 65 jobs at the Westbury works due to the increasing operational costs of the plant, and the downturn in the building market.
The plant made the news again in December that year, when it had to recall 2,500 tonnes of cement due to high levels of Chromium VI, which causes skin inflammation and has been linked to dermatitis.
On February 5th, 2009, Lafarge announced it was going to mothball the works and did so in April of the same year.
The site is still being used as a distribution centre, but the kilns have been shut down and quarrying operations suspended. An advantage of it being mothballed as opposed to outright closed is that it is utterly intact.
The lights are still on, some control panels are lit up and it looks like it could fire up at the push of a button.
However that is unlikely to happen as Lafarge announced in September 2015 that it was going to demolish the chimney and other non-operational parts of the site.
As yet we are awaiting a date when this will happen. I for one will be trying to get a view of it from this vantage point if it does go ahead.
And if it does it will be a spectacular sight to behold.
The rise and fall of a cement works plant. Very edifying story and very good photo, with a very well done composition (how much have you paid for the ponies?)
@dishaparekh176 Thank you, glad you enjoyed the view. The sun came out (although it was still quite cold) so it appears very sunny, but back to the grey day weather today (Tuesday)
@leggzy Thank you very much & glad you like the view. The cement works have blended into the background over the years, it wasn't so green around it when they were producing the cement though!
Another awesome landscape, interesting story about the cement works, a similar story could be told all around the world about any number of works that have flourished and then declined and eventually shut down.
