Cyril Norris

For too many years the former Cyril Norris engineering buildings had stood vacant and looked very forlorn in Wellingborough road, Rushden.

The company was renowned for its work making plant and machinery for the leather tanning industry up and down the country. They would also send engineers to the tanneries to carry out the installation and maintenance of the machinery.

On a personal note: I was working for Marriott the builders small works department in 1973, and myself and Nigel Daley painted the blank area on the front of the building, in readiness for it to have the name 'Norris' sign written on it; at the time of writing this article in 2016, it was never completed! You can see the painted area in question in one of the shots.

So at the start of springtime 2016 the site got a final spring clean as the demolition machinery went about its termination of yet another part of Rushden's leather industry. Fortunately the weather was kind, and the work pushed along with the temperatures in the mid 20's C.

The demolition work appeared to move along with fits and starts, with plant and some vehicles sporting the former "Deejak" livery. Five years ago, in 2011 "Deejak" builders went through a bad patch, and 80 workers lost their jobs.

By mid August 2016 the site was left with a pile of bricks heaped up against the wall of the adjoining buildings.