The Turner Brothers Asbestos factory in Rochdale closed more than 20 years ago – but locals have shared their fears that kids are using the crumbling site as a playground putting themselves at risk
Locals living by the world’s largest asbestos factory, which has been dubbed Britain’s Chernobyl, have shared their fears that the crumbling building has become a dangerous playground for kids who swim in a potentially contaminated river nearby.
The Turner Brothers Asbestos factory in Rochdale is the largest of its kind in the world, but it is seen to pose a serious health risk to the public with locals calling it a blight on the landscape. Though there have been numerous promises to protect the town from any harmful consequences of living with the factory on their doorstep, progress is said to have been incredibly slow.
And next to the 72-acre site a weir on the River Spod has been nicknamed ‘Paradise’ by schoolchildren and locals, but there are fears that asbestos from the decrepit factory have not only contaminated the area, but the waters the kids swim in too.
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Once widely used in construction, asbestos has been linked to a range of serious, and potentially deadly, health problems including cancer and mesothelioma. Diseases caused by inhaling the fibres can take 20 to 60 years to show up. An investigation launched by the council in Rochdale 10 years ago found that there were no fibres above the detection limit of 0.01f/ml.
But even still, the site’s owners have issued a plea to the public to avoid entering the site due to the potential risk of asbestos exposure. Mick Coats, 76, is a retired health and safety expert who has lived beside the factory for 32 years has been part of the campaign for better safety measures to protest residents and children.
“I don’t mind walking through the site, but I am fully aware of the potential dangers,” he said. “Kids are swimming in that River Spod. They are putting themselves at serious risk of harm. If they had unexploded bombs on the site, or exposed chemicals, the council would have to act.”
Mick suggested that the buildings on the land should be cleared with clay laid down to pad in any potential asbestos, with the opportunity to then turn the area into a country park. Twenty years on from the Rochdale plant’s closure, locals are still campaigning to further secure the factory which once employed 4,000 people.
Any Mason, 47, an IT consultant, and his partner Vickie, 44, have four children between the ages of three and 10. They live next door to the factory with their home overlooking the rundown lab testing blocks. Andy said: “Looking at the trees down the Dll is beautiful, but for me this is the equivalent of a modern-day Chernobyl. We need to take ownership and put it right – we can’t just pass on an environmental disaster from generation to generation.”
The Turner Brothers Asbestos site began producing asbestos in the 1870s, running until the late 1990s. For residents, the impacts of working at the site are still being felt to this day, with some saying they know people who ‘struggle to breathe’ and who “can only walk about five years without gasping for air.”
“Generations of people went into that factory as teenagers and came out crippled with diseases down to their jobs. They all ended up coughing and spluttering,” said 30-year-old Conor Hart, who lives near the main factory gate. Others are shocked that the site is “so accessible” after learning the history of the site and the dangers it poses, particularly to children.
“I was talking to a young lad who had been in the factory and he told me that they found a room full of asbestos products – rolls, sheets and tiles. These kids have no idea of the dangers inside – to them it’s like a big adventure playground,” said retired chief caretaker Graham Hobson, 73.
“The wellbeing and safety of our residents is our most important priority,” said a council spokesperson. The council added that they cannot convert the site without approval from the current owners, Spodden Park Ltd, but said they would work closely withthe company to make sure the land gets a new lease of life.
Spodden Park Ltd claims to have taken action to secure the perimeter and carry out weekly site visits to monitor any new breaches in an ‘ongoing’ battle with trespassers in recent months. The owners previously pleaded with the public to not enter the site due to the risks. In November, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail: “We have recently met with the council and their community safety team.
“During the meeting, we discussed the challenges of securing the site against determined trespassers. We have informed the council that the fence is being regularly damaged and that we have had incidents where CCTV cameras have been destroyed. Several options for how we could work with the council to address these issues were raised, and we hope that these will help to keep the site secure. We want to remind everyone that asbestos is only dangerous if it is disturbed. By entering the site, these trespassers risk disturbing the material and put themselves at risk.”
The plant was also the site of the first recorded victim of occupational asbestosis – a chronic and progressive lung disease which is caused by inhaling asbestos fibres at work, which leads to irreversible scarring of the lungs. It usually appears around 20 to 30 years after heavy exposure, and while there are treamtents to manage symptoms and prevent further damage, the disease is incurable.
Nellie Kershaw, the first recorded victim, was just 33 years old when she died in March 1924. She was a textile worker at Turner Brothers Asbestos, working to spin raw asbestos fibres into yarn. This caused her to breathe in large amounts of asbestos dust, which caused health issues years later.
She was diagnosed with asbestos poisoning, a generic term which meant she was not eligible for national insurance sickness benefits. Turner Brothers Asbestos also refused to accept responsibility for her sickness or death meaning Nellie, and her family, were never paid any compensation. She died leaving behind a husband and daughter in poverty but years later, an inquiry was launched into the impact of asbestos dust and how workers should be protected.
