Nature Reclaims History: Finding Remains of the 1916 Barnbow Munitions Factory, Leeds - Part 2 скачать в хорошем качестве

Nature Reclaims History: Finding Remains of the 1916 Barnbow Munitions Factory, Leeds - Part 2

Welcome back to our series exploring the rapidly changing Barnbow area on the eastern edge of Leeds! In Part 2, we leave the historic Lazencroft Farm behind and delve into the heart of one of Britain's most significant World War I sites. Join me as we cross the new Leeds Outer Ring Road and venture onto the former grounds of the Barnbow No. 1 National Filling Factory. This extensive site, largely allowed to return to nature, offers a unique, if overgrown, opportunity to search for physical remains and echoes of its incredible past. In this video, we'll explore: The quiet, often hidden corners of the former factory site. Any surviving earthworks, foundations, or structures that hint at the colossal scale of the munitions factory. How nature has reclaimed this land, providing a stark contrast to its bustling industrial past. History Focus: The Barnbow No. 1 National Filling Factory The Barnbow No. 1 National Filling Factory was a colossal and vital site during the First World War: Urgent Need: Established in 1915, it was the first purpose-built munitions factory in the UK, a direct response to the "Shell Crisis" of 1915 when a severe shortage of artillery shells impacted the war effort. Scale and Scope: Covering over 400 acres, the factory complex was immense. It included numerous workshops, filling rooms, storage magazines, a power station, and an internal railway system with 25 miles of track. Its sheer size and output were staggering. The Barnbow Lasses: The vast majority of the workforce were women, known as the "Barnbow Lasses" or "Barnbow Canaries" (a reference to their skin turning yellow from exposure to picric acid, a component in TNT). At its peak, the factory employed around 16,000 people, with approximately 93% being women. These brave women filled shells with explosives, a dangerous and vital job. Tragedy of 1916: On the night of December 5th, 1916, a devastating explosion occurred in "Filling Room 6." The exact cause was never definitively determined, but 35 women were killed instantly, and many more were injured. This remains one of the worst civilian disasters on the British home front during WWI. Due to wartime censorship, the full details of the explosion were not widely known at the time, and the victims were buried in a mass grave with limited public acknowledgment. Legacy: The factory produced millions of shells, making a critical contribution to the Allied war effort. After the war, the factory was largely dismantled, and the land gradually returned to agricultural use or left to nature, leaving behind the overgrown landscape we explore today. The memory of the Barnbow Lasses, their sacrifice, and their vital work remains a powerful part of Leeds' heritage. Join me as we respectfully explore this historically significant ground, reflecting on the lives lived and lost, and the vital work carried out here over a century ago. Note: This was not intended as most of my videos are filmed and thought up fairly randomly. It has though just occurred to me that the publication date of this video, Friday 5th December is the anniversary of the accident that killed 35 women at the site. It happened at 10.00pm on Tuesday 5th December 1916, 109 years ago tonight. This video was actually filmed along with the other two in this series around lunchtime on Monday 1st December 2025 #BarnbowFactory#WW1History#LeedsHistory#BarnbowLasses#MunitionsFactory#LeedsUK:#AbandonedPlaces#OvergrownHistory#UrbanExploration #HistoryDiscovery#LostHistory#WW1Remains #1916Explosion#WomensHistory#HomeFrontWW1#IndustrialHeritage#YorkshireHistory