Building materials

The Ketton cement works was established by the Ketton Portland Cement Company in 1928. It is currently owned by Heidelberg and comprises two kilns (nos 7 & 8) which were completed in 1975 and the mid-1980's. Kiln 7 was mothballed in 2008.

Sculpture at the office entrance at the Hope Works of Hope Construction Materials.

The Ketton cement works was established by the Ketton Portland Cement Company in 1928. It is currently owned by Heidelberg and comprises two kilns (nos 7 & 8) which were completed in 1975 and the mid-1980's. Kiln 7 was mothballed in 2008.

Road vehicle loading silos at Hope cement works.

Level crossing at the raw materials end of the Hope Cement Works.

Hope Construction Materials has unveiled 48 state-of-the-art cement carrying wagons, developed in partnership with VTG Rail UK. The wagons were manufactured by German company Feldbinder and have an enhanced capacity of 80 tonnes - more than twice the standard payload of 36 tonnes. This will increase the capacity of each train to 1,850 tonnes of cement, 500 tonnes more than previously.

Loading railway wagons at Hope Construction Materials' cement works in Derbyshire.

Hope cement works is situated within the Peak District National Park. It is a major employer in the area and is only really noticeable when you get quite close.

Storage hoppers for cement at the Hope Construction Materials works at Hope, Derbyshire.

Bunkers at the Hanson (Heidelberg) cement works at Clitheroe.

Materials storage at the Hanson (Heidelberg) cement works at Clitheroe. I think that this is for cement clinker.

Disused rotary cement kiln in the limestone quarrying area around Ampsin near Liège in Belgium.

The Aberthaw and Bristol Channel Portland Cement Company was established in 1912 by the Beynon family. The works started in 1914 with two small wet process kilns with a production capacity of 120 tonnes per day each. A third wet kiln was added after the Second World War, and a fourth in 1957. This brought clinker capacity to 1200 tonnes per day. In 1967, Kiln 5, a much more efficient dry process kiln, was installed. The wet process kilns were decommissioned in 1974, and Kiln 6 - also a dry kiln was started in 1975. Kiln 6 remains in operation today. In 1919 the company took over the nearby Aberthaw and Rhoose Point Portland and Lime Company. Blue Circle bought the two sites at Aberthaw and Rhoose in 1983. In 1987 Rhoose Works closed. Lafarge Cement UK bought Blue Circle industries PLC in 2001, creating the largest cement maker in the world. Cement from the site is carried to destinations by Road and Rail (rail services being provided by Freightliner heavy haul and Colas Rail over the Vale of Glamorgan Line). Thanks to Wikipedia for the history.

Small industrial units are often ephemeral and ignored by photographers which I think is a great shame. This is the Cemex asphalt plant on Harewood Street in Tunstall.

The Dunbar or Oxwellmains cement works was originally built by Blue Circle in 1963 with three kilns. It was rebuilt with a preheater tower and a single kiln which went into production in 1986. It became part of Lafarge Cement UK in 2001 and passed to Tarmac in 2013. More details here: www.cementkilns.co.uk/cement_kiln_dunbar.html

Cement manufacture at Yaojie, Gansu Province, central China. The perpetual smog is typical of the conditions to be found in this area.

Cement plant under construction at Tunstead Quarry. This modern plant replaced life expired kilns on the site.

Located in the town of Alcalá de Guadaíra, Seville, this cement plant was opened in 1964. Production capacity is 4000 tonnes per day. A grab shot from a bus.