1954 – Sunbeam Wolsey Nylon Spinning, Blackpool, Cork

Now largely unrecognisable, this is one of the last remnants of the vast Sunbeam Wolsey work in Blackpool, once Cork city’s largest employment base. Sited alongside the River Bride from which it originally took its power and water supply. A large portion of the plant was destroyed by fire in 2003 including the original five storey mill building.

Quite a large building, the scale of which is difficult to get from this photo, the former Nylon Spinning plant is now a light industrial estate containing many businesses. Some of the porthole windows still exist. At the opposite end to the three-storey water-tower (right hand side of illustration) is the office accommodation with a curving glazed corner addressing what was the main entrance into the complex.