Until the French came along and ruined it, Derbyshire had three pretty decent foundries, producing pipes and in the case of Stanton and Staveley... manhole covers.

Today all three have been levelled, soon to be replaced by housing for folks who are happy to commute to Sheffield and Nottingham for work. Sadly I didn't get the chance to visit Staveley, and I've reported on Stanton previously. The other was Clay Cross.

Back in 1840, George Stephenson was building a railway tunnel to allow trains to run between Derby and Leeds and came across iron and coal deposits. He decided to exploit these resources and erected a Ironworks and Coal mine.

Coal mining later ceased, and brick making began on site. In more recent times Clay Cross Foundry was a successful pipe foundry part of Biwater, however was sold to Saint Gobain who controversially closed the site with 750 jobs lost in 2000. In its final derelict years it was used as an airsoft site before being demolished in late 2008.

The rivals, Stanton and Staveley, also owned by Saint Gobain were closed in 2000.

Clay Cross was a huge site, though largely bare of industrial goodies. That said it was worth a mooch