Picture perfect morning

A blip for Derelict Thursday.

While the north of England has been experiencing snow, down here in the South West the sun was shining this morning (although the weather man had promised rain).
 
This impressive building was once the Fry’s chocolate factory at Somerdale, near Keynsham.  When I first lived locally the factory was just called “Frys” and, when the wind was in the right direction, you could smell the chocolate being made.  It’s a smell that, even now, brings back memories of growing up.
 
Frys were taken over by Cadburys in the early 1970s and since then the factory was inevitably known locally as “Cadburys”.  Keynsham was, back in the day, a north Somerset Market town and the factory was the major employer locally.  The factory building and its illustrated neon “Cadburys” sign can be seen from miles around and is a local landmark.
 
Sadly, Cadburys were taken over by Kraft and despite promises about the future of the factory and the workforce, the factory has since been closed and has been sold. 
 

Currently the land around the factory is being developed for housing, and a very nice job of it they seem to be making.  The factory buildings themselves remain boarded against the weather and derelict.  Hopefully some beneficial use can be found for them, it would be a shame for them to disappear.