Hanson’s Padeswood cement works near Mold, Flintshire, is celebrating its 70th birthday with an open day for the community on Saturday June 29.
The free event, which starts at 10.30am, offers a host of activities including dodgems, archery, face painting, a classic car and bike show, a visit from North Wales Owl Sanctuary and music from Northop Silver Band.
Members of the public are encouraged to come along and help raise money for The Wales Air Ambulance as well as Action for Children, North Wales, which is Padeswood works’ chosen charity for 2019.
Tours of the site, which is part-way through a £24 million investment programme, will also be available by land train and tram. The first phase of the programme to enhance production capacity and efficiency and cut energy use was completed on schedule at the end of May.
“The upgrade includes installing a new grinding mill, which started life at a grinding plant in Spain that was forced to close in 2014 when the regional market collapsed,”
said works manager Murat Burakcin.
“It was in excellent condition so it was dismantled piece-by-piece by specialist contractors and shipped to the UK before being reassembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
“The mill can produce up to 650,000 tonnes of cement a year, and will reduce energy consumption for this part of the process by around a third. It is completely enclosed in a 34-metre high building, minimising noise.”
As part of the site improvements, three new cement silos have been installed alongside the existing railhead. This will allow up to three trains a week to be loaded for deliveries to Hanson depots in London, Bristol or Glasgow. The new silos will significantly reduce the transportation of cement produced at Padeswood to customers by road.
Padeswood works was opened in 1949 by the Tunnel Portland Cement Company. It now has 150 employees and provides jobs for up to 50 additional contractors. The investment, one of Hanson’s biggest in the UK business, will help secure the long-term future of the site.
For more information about the open day visit: https://www.hanson-communities.co.uk/en/open-day
