Criticism has been levelled at a housebuilding firm after army bomb disposal teams were called to one of their new housing sites twice in a matter of days.
Countryside Properties are excavating a large area of land at the former Patricroft Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF) to build 142 new flats and houses.
It includes the demolition of brick factory walls fronting Green Lane/Canal Bank, a commuter cut-through route between Monton and Patricroft.
But the road was closed and workers had to evacuate the former munitions factory on Friday 6 November, and again on Tuesday 10 November after the discovery of mortar shells in the groundworks.
READ: Bomb alert on Green Lane Eccles: Former Patricroft ROF site evacuated after unexploded mortar found
READ: Green Lane in Eccles closed again after Patricroft ROF workers find EIGHT mortar shells
In Friday’s incident workers on the nearby James Naysmyth Industrial Estate were not allowed to leave until the army’s 521 Explosive Ordnance Device Squadron, part of the Royal Logisitics Corps at Dale Barracks in Chester, had finished sweeping the area.
A nearby pub, The Queen’s Arms, was also evacuated.
On Tuesday no such evacuation took place, despite eight similar mortar shells being uncovered.
Built on the site of 19th century engineer James Naysmth’s pioneering Foundry on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal, the ROF was classed as a ‘Medium Machine Shop’, employing 3,000 men and women throughout the Second World War.
Watch: A trip down the Bridgewater Canal to Patricroft for James Nasymth history
The munitions factory off Green Lane in Patricroft was part of a network of Royal Ordnance Factories set up by the Ministry of Supply – and later the Ministry of Defence.
In peacetime the factory stayed under the control of the Ministry of Defence before it was sold to British Aerospace (BAE Systems), manufacturing advanced Sea Wolf rocket motors and gun barrels for the Chieftan FV4201, the UK’s main battle tank until the 1980s.
But workers tell SalfordOnline.com that no ‘live’ bombs or shells were ever produced there, and what Countryside are likely finding are unactivated mortar casings with no explosives in them.
“Patricroft wasn’t a filling factory, it only made hollow shells,” said Thomas Chamley, who was employed at the ROF from 1976 to 1989 as a chargehand, or foreman, on a paint production line.
“If they find blue-coloured mortar shells they would be the ones filled with cement and used for test-firing only.
Mortar shells similar to those manufactured at Patricroft – © Watervliet Arsenal Museum
Shells sent to ROF Chorley, among others, for filling with explosives would be coloured green with a one-inch yellow band around the diameter, denoting ‘High Explosive’, says Thomas, who was in charge of 12 people painting tank shells.
“The ones found are possibly show pieces, or samples that inspection may have kept.”
The nearby Bridgewater Canal is thought to be a repository for dumped shells: whether this is apocryphal or not is not clear, but locals tell us if the engineer on the lathe making the shell casings wasn’t happy with the finished product, they would be discarded with scrap or even thrown in the nearby Bridgewater Canal.
In a statement a spokesperson for Countryside told SalfordOnline.com: “Planned land remediation forms an integral part of our new housing development off Green Lane to clear the site in preparation for the new homes.
“In light of the historic manufacturing of non-live ammunition at the former Royal Ordnance Factory, archaeologists are carrying out excavation work and as a precaution all objects unearthed are being treated with due care and attention.
“We are fully supportive of the subsequent investigations being carried out by the authorities and we will act on their recommendations accordingly.”
