IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Oakes Road, BURY ST. EDMUNDS, IP32 6PU

Beyond the AMOT rooftop the row of trees hides the railway and the A14 road. Beyond that the sun glints on the houses of the Howard Estate, built by the council in the 1960s largely to house workers moving from London as part of the overspill project. The large white building on the right is the Goods In facility of W Vinten, one of the pioneering companies that moved from London. Unusually, there are no aircraft in the sky - much of the time there will be a Hercules, some other transport aircraft, a radar equipped 707, or a KC135 tanker, descending from right to left as they approach the Mildenhall runway. This is a two photo panorama.

This building has been largely hidden from view by adjacent buildings for decades, firstly when it was a sweet factory and more recently as a office supplies warehouse etc. In the foreground a gang is completing the new pavement. The plans showed a new office block in this area but it looks as if that might not happen now.

Compare with the first stage of demolition Image and then the tower going Image No building now left, just rubble. ASDA store to be open in spring 2009. Apologies for the artefacts on the photo, resulting from close mesh fencing, even across the fence peephole supplied. Can anyone explain the narrow horizontal banding?

A sign on the AMOT office block in Western Way. The sign has special dispensation to be chrome - the corporate guide says it should be blue. For more details seeImage

AMOT (originally American Motors) was founded in Richmond, on the San Francisco bay, but set up the Bury St. Edmunds factory in 1964. This end is a slightly newer extension, housing Reception, conference room and engineering office. AMOT make thermostatic valves for very big diesel engines, in ships, power stations, and trains, as well as safety devices to detect overspeed or low oil pressure, and shut off the fuel and air. The Systems division creates big control panels for oil and gas pipelines, and amusement park rides. For the website see http://www.amot.com

Demolition of the Pioneer store and all the adjacent businesses has now become a task of generating a giant rubble pile. An Asda store is supposed to be built and open in Spring 2009. See previous photos to see stages of demolition.

A new sign advertising Vitec Group Videocom Division has been added to the front of the Camera Dynamics premises. Not sure exactly what Videocom do - their website is full of waffle.

Since I last photographed this 1960s office block it has gained a name from its founder and a large new sign, celebrating 100 years of the company. Strange that the sign boldly says Vinten when the company is now called Camera Dynamics - it must cause much confusion to visitors and deliveries.