Ranks Dock Road - Scaffolding?

Raiser

I'm surprised and disappointed with you all - passed this yesterday morning at 8.51am and the Scaffolders were just getting started.

- Now its halfway up the building...... Please do not adjust your set - Image above is pre-scaffold taken randomly from web etc....

So whats going on?
Will it be worth 10 million to the City?
Where will Kess73 store his Gimp set now?
Will it result in more sirens on Childers Rd/By the Crescent/On the Dublin Rd.?
Will the Garda Helicopter be able to hover over this event/occurence?
Why isn't Ranks included in the "Limerick businesses closed" thread?
Won't the Zombies climb those scaffolds and dive-bomb traffic on the Dock Rd.?

P.S. Wouldn't you just love to climb those ladders leading to the mad front door at top left?

Berty

Raiser wrote: »

P.S. Wouldn't you just love to climb those ladders leading to the mad front door at top left?

I have been on the top of the landing at that door. I went up the inside of the building with my grandfather a long time ago. I didn't want to climb the outside stairs.

Remember the bridge crossing between the two buildings? That was badly decayed at the time so we didn't cross it.

That building is a strong visual memory for many people in Limerick. It would be weird if it was not there anymore but then again, would we miss it?

Raiser

Cool! What the inside like? Is it a big hollow like a massive storage Silo?

Insect Overlord

My grandfather worked there for years. I'd say it'd be strange for my parents' generation if the building was gone, as so many people would have known friends and relatives who'd worked there.

Chances are it's just being reinforced/renovated. I'll be in that way tonight so I'll see if I can find out any more just by looking.

Itsdacraic

It's being turned into a huge nightclub.

phog

You can go right to the top using an internal metal staircase. I've been to to the top a few times. I was up there once and a guy with me stood on the wall, fall outwards and he'd be mincemeat :eek:

RonMexico

That is where the zombies are hiding before the coming apocalypse :eek:

bazz26

Rumour has it M&S will be opening there shortly. Either that or another Cash for Gold shop.

db

This thread reminded me of the efforts to demolish the silo in 1989. Four attempts were made to bring the building down with explosives and every one of them failed. On one attempt, the silo jumped about 8 feet into the air and landed back in the same spot still intact.

Kess73

Raiser wrote: »

I'm surprised and disappointed with you all - passed this yesterday morning at 8.51am and the Scaffolders were just getting started.

- Now its halfway up the building...... Please do not adjust your set - Image above is pre-scaffold taken randomly from web etc....

So whats going on?
Will it be worth 10 million to the City?
Where will Kess73 store his Gimp set now?
Will it result in more sirens on Childers Rd/By the Crescent/On the Dublin Rd.?
Will the Garda Helicopter be able to hover over this event/occurence?
Why isn't Ranks included in the "Limerick businesses closed" thread?
Won't the Zombies climb those scaffolds and dive-bomb traffic on the Dock Rd.?

P.S. Wouldn't you just love to climb those ladders leading to the mad front door at top left?

I will just store the suit the same way I always do, by making you wear it.:p

Kess73

db wrote: »

This thread reminded me of the efforts to demolish the silo in 1989. Four attempts were made to bring the building down with explosives and every one of them failed. On one attempt, the silo jumped about 8 feet into the air and landed back in the same spot still intact.

Can remember that clearly. Was in Limerick at the time as a teenager and we went down to see it happen, well as close as you were allowed to go.

Was very anticlimatic as there would be a loud crack when they set off the charges and the building stood there with a big "eff you" type attitude.


Used to love coming to Limerick as a kid when both buildings were standing and they had the bridge thing between them. Loved being in the car driving between them.

Insect Overlord

Beer Baron wrote: »

I have been on the top of the landing at that door. I went up the inside of the building with my grandfather a long time ago. I didn't want to climb the outside stairs.

It's one of those few buildings in Limerick (St Mary's Cathedral and King John's Castle being some of the others) that I'd love to get an unrestricted look at. Just out of pure curiosity, it'd be interesting to see the old/unsafe parts that are usually closed off to the public. Could be a decent idea for a new thread, actually...

the drifter

db wrote: »

This thread reminded me of the efforts to demolish the silo in 1989. Four attempts were made to bring the building down with explosives and every one of them failed. On one attempt, the silo jumped about 8 feet into the air and landed back in the same spot still intact.

dam straight....my auld man was at the attempts...germans if i recall correctly...no way could they understand it...the thing should have been in bits after the amount of explosives they put into it..

Ball and chain was the only job in the end..

seachto7

was in first year in clements in 89, we got let down to the back pitches to have a birds eye view of the explosions.........

bullets

My Grandfather also worked in Ranks.
Got to say it was the coolest Building in Limerick for years.

Fecking skyway across a road!!!! in little ol Limerick all those years ago.
The kind of thing you dont even see now in the 21st Century in Limerick.

I remember Ranks being on the RTE news with a compilation of several attempts to bring the building down with explosives only to resort to the wrecking ball.

When one side had eventually gone the riverside building hosted a few
businesses but for some reason they all had back luck and shut shop after
a while. I think at one point there was a Lamp Shade shop???

Would have loved to climb the ladders and crossed the bridge between the two buildings but
sadly never ever got the chance.

~B

Mc Love

seachto7 wrote: »

was in first year in clements in 89, we got let down to the back pitches to have a birds eye view of the explosions.........

You're old

pleuraXeraphim

There's a great photo of the old Rank's Silos here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45755268@N00/4380055889/

Used to love driving by them.

seachto7

Mc Love wrote: »

You're old

I'm old???:mad::mad::mad: I'm getting like David Brent. "I'm in my 30s"......

Mc Love

pleuraXeraphim wrote: »

There's a great photo of the old Rank's Silos here.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/45755268@N00/4380055889/

Used to love driving by them.

That looks cool, wish I could have remembered them. I probably did see them.

That skywalk is a lot more impressive than the one the Leader used to have

marienbad

I worked there for a few years , and my father worked there for decades, it was a fascinating place . I often wondered why they had to be knocked at all, they were just mafnicicent buildings with the most expensive maple floors. Why they could not be converted to other uses like all those textile mills I saw in New England I'll never know.


Great structures and great employers, the good old days where a job was for life (if you wanted it and passed the blood test )

Aidric

Insect Overlord wrote: »

I'd say it'd be strange for my parents' generation if the building was gone, as so many people would have known friends and relatives who'd worked there.

Who cares really? A lot of eyesores hold memories for people. Should we just preserve them all so as not to ruin their nostalgia buzz? Level the place imo, should have been done a long time ago.

marienbad

Aidric wrote: »

Who cares really? A lot of eyesores hold memories for people. Should we just preserve them all so as not to ruin their nostalgia buzz? Level the place imo, should have been done a long time ago.

I suppose that depends on you definition of ann eyesore, I always thought the original structure on each side of the dock road had a kind of grandeur and a lot more going for them that some of the more recent buildings in our fair city.

Aidric

marienbad wrote: »

I suppose that depends on you definition of ann eyesore,

Which Ann is that? Annie Fitz?

Insect Overlord

Aidric wrote: »

Who cares really? A lot of eyesores hold memories for people. Should we just preserve them all so as not to ruin their nostalgia buzz? Level the place imo, should have been done a long time ago.

Who pissed in your cornflakes?

You think the building is an eye-sore, fair enough. That's no reason to crap all over an honest post that obviously means something to me. I was not looking for some kind of self-centred "nostalgia buzz". I was remembering a place where my late grandfather worked for most of his life.

Going by your logic, every ruined castle, tower, church, cathedral and graveyard should be bull-dozed as some token of enlightened modernity. Why not try to learn from it as a piece of local history? Why not try to re-model the building as a new resource for the city? Why talk about razing the structure instead of thinking about some of the photos and paintings its featured in?

"Who cares really?" People posting in this thread do, obviously, to some extent at least.

BESman

What did Ranks do exactly? And why was the silo demolished?

Limerick appears to have one of the better preserved docks in Ireland. Preserved in italics as I'm not sure that its intentionally preserved or just hasn't been touched for years.

marienbad

BESman wrote: »

What did Ranks do exactly? And why was the silo demolished?

Limerick appears to have one of the better preserved docks in Ireland. Preserved in italics as I'm not sure that its intentionally preserved or just hasn't been touched for years.

They were the biggest flour producers in Britain and Ireland - full name was Ranks Hovis McDougal with factories all over ireland of which Limerick was the biggest.

Back in the mists of time they invested in the xerox machine which was just invented. Rank Xerox went on to prosper while the flour milling industry wilted away bit by bit over the years.

J Arthur Rank film studios - with your man banging that gong was another one of their ventures

phog

BESman wrote: »

What did Ranks do exactly? And why was the silo demolished?

Limerick appears to have one of the better preserved docks in Ireland. Preserved in italics as I'm not sure that its intentionally preserved or just hasn't been touched for years.

You mean you don't remember the ad "You no use Ranks, then how you hoping to win"

Liam Byrne

the drifter wrote: »

dam straight....my auld man was at the attempts...germans if i recall correctly...no way could they understand it...the thing should have been in bits after the amount of explosives they put into it..

Ball and chain was the only job in the end..

The gib of the ball and chain crane got bent trying to knock it......I have a photo somewhere that I'll upload later if I can find it.

Aidric

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Going by your logic, every ruined castle, tower, church, cathedral and graveyard should be bull-dozed as some token of enlightened modernity.

Hmm, quite a silly extension of logic. The building on the dock road has no features which might be expected on the buildings which you have listed above. It is an ugly slab of concrete, much in the same way as that eyesore on William St.

I wasn't attempting to downplay the regard the building holds for your grandfather. I was merely stating that for me it's an ugly building.

kilburn

Aidric wrote: »

Hmm, quite a silly extension of logic. The building on the dock road has no features which might be expected on the buildings which you have listed above. It is an ugly slab of concrete, much in the same way as that eyesore on William St.

I wasn't attempting to downplay the regard the building holds for your grandfather. I was merely stating that for me it's an ugly building.

It is 160 years old and one of the few buildings of historical significance left in the city as a reminder to its industrial past.

Liam Byrne

Sorry about the low quality, but you can still see the crane bent right over the top of the remains of the building

Callan57

marienbad wrote: »

They were the biggest flour producers in Britain and Ireland - full name was Ranks Hovis McDougal with factories all over ireland of which Limerick was the biggest.

Back in the mists of time they invested in the xerox machine which was just invented. Rank Xerox went on to prosper while the flour milling industry wilted away bit by bit over the years.

J Arthur Rank film studios - with your man banging that gong was another one of their ventures

Amazing ... I didn't realise that & I've worked in Limerick for 25+years

junkyarddog

Back in the late '60's early '70's my Dad worked for a firm in the UK,
going around doing maintenence/instillations on mills all around the Uk/northern Ireland.
The firm got a contract for a job in Ranks,
on a weekend off he want on a blind date in the
Oyster ballroom in Dromkeen,with the lady that was to become my Mam:)
So if it wasn't for that mill I wouldn't be here.
An Aunt of mine worked there too,in the office doing books/payroll.

Dad was upset at the time they were demolishing it,
but was highly amused by the trouble they had doing it:D

And yes as a kid I loved it when drove along under the tunnel joining the two buildings together;)

kenoconnell

so any word on the scaffolding???

Itsdacraic

kenoconnell wrote: »

so any word on the scaffolding???

Still there

kilburn

Looks like they put a mobile phone mast on the top of the silo

Twin-go

kilburn wrote: »

Looks like they put a mobile phone mast on the top of the silo

A Mobile phone mast!?!

That's Rank!!!:D

Raiser

Twin-go wrote: »

A Mobile phone mast!?!

That's Rank!!!:D

I mast go down and have a look later

- So nobody knows what going on?

Not condoning or suggesting such a stupid or dangerous course of action - But if anyone ever wanted to climb that thing nows your chance, not much effort has been made to deter lunatics from scaling the dizzy heights....... Would have thought in this day and age it would have been guarded better. Prob. a disclaimer sign there somewhere waiving responsibility.

Raiser

Raiser wrote: »

Not condoning or suggesting such a stupid or dangerous course of action - But if anyone ever wanted to climb that thing nows your chance, not much effort has been made to deter lunatics from scaling the dizzy heights....... Would have thought in this day and age it would have been guarded better. Prob. a disclaimer sign there somewhere waiving responsibility.

In fairness you'd want to be a fecking ninja to get up all those ladders without being seen by passing traffic or anyone at the 24 hour petrol station across the way, even at night....:D:D:D



Anyway I reckon the scaffolding has something to do with maintaining the mast on top of the silo. I can't think of any other reason really.

mgbgt1978

And the Topaz opposite usually has more members of An Garda Siochana present than Henry st. Barracks.......;)

It looks like the real reason is a bit of maintenance to some crumbling concrete around the edge of the building.

phog

The aerials on top were belonged to the Harbour Commissioners and could be access from an internal staircase. I think at least one was for the pilot who met ships out the estuary and guided the ships in along.

Afaik the building itself was owned by the cement factory not sure if it still is.

Simon Adebisi

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

And the Topaz opposite usually has more members of An Garda Siochana present than Henry st. Barracks.......;)

It looks like the real reason is a bit of maintenance to some crumbling concrete around the edge of the building.

Its ridiculous after midnight or so. Usually at least 8 police knocking around suppin tae and demolishing sausage rolls. The shams who go in get fair timid.

jbkenn

Twin-go wrote: »

A Mobile phone mast!?!

That's Rank!!!:D

Would be quite fitting really, as the original owners of Ranks the Bannatyne family were among the first investors in the Marconi Wireless company

storysham

Deleted User wrote: »

In fairness you'd want to be a fecking ninja to get up all those ladders without being seen by passing traffic or anyone at the 24 hour petrol station across the way, even at night....:D:D:D

Hehehehehe
Done
Will upload photos if people want a few city-scape shots and one or two of the inside.

mgbgt1978

^^^^^ Some claim for a 1st post .....
......go on then, upload the photo's.

I'd recommend not posting them at all, if you still want to post them at least wait until the scaffolding comes down If they're seen I'm sure it will be secured/guarded better. For the official record it never happened

roast

Interesting read. I've only been living in Limerick since 2007 so I've not heard much about all of this. Seem to recall my dad talking about Ranks in Limerick though.

Just looking at this picture, it really is a sight to behold! Would love to have been a kid back then, standing on the bridge between the towers and feeling dizzy!

I might stroll down tonight for a look, perhaps take a few pics.

What is actually in the building now, or is it entirely vacant?
I'm assuming it's not structurally sound, it would be awesome to hold events/exhibitions in there...

marienbad

roast wrote: »

Interesting read. I've only been living in Limerick since 2007 so I've not heard much about all of this. Seem to recall my dad talking about Ranks in Limerick though.

Just looking at this picture, it really is a sight to behold! Would love to have been a kid back then, standing on the bridge between the towers and feeling dizzy!

I might stroll down tonight for a look, perhaps take a few pics.

What is actually in the building now, or is it entirely vacant?
I'm assuming it's not structurally sound, it would be awesome to hold events/exhibitions in there...

Some brilliant photos of Limerick in that link you gave. I worked in Ranks in the 70's as did my father brother uncles- a real family affair, but Limerick was like that in those days, same family members in the Post Office ESB Dockers etc . In those times I was all over those silos- quite a few men died there over the years- it was just a amazing place to work - real 19th century ethos where the bosses were bosses and the workers were... well workers. Had to know your place in those days. All swept away by the american multinationals just opening in Shannon and on balance a good thing (imo)

slinky2000

storysham wrote: »

Hehehehehe
Done
Will upload photos if people want a few city-scape shots and one or two of the inside.

get them up!

slinky2000

lots of news paper articles and pictures about ranks on this page:

http://www.limerickcity.ie/Library/LocalStudies/LocalStudiesFiles/M/MillsMilling/

Just search ranks on that page. Good picture here:

http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/mills%20&%20milling%2033.pdf

I'll PM you Slinky. If images (if they do exist:)) are posted here I can see a lazy article appearing next week in the Limerick Leader or the Limerick Post (with stolen images included of course.) Something along the lines of "crazy lunatics risk lives to scale dangerous building", "danger to themselves and others", "incredibly irresponsible" and other such drivel despite it being perfectly safe once you know what you're doing :rolleyes: I remember a front page story last year about graffiti artists scaling the "dangerous heights" of the stalled GPO development. So that's why putting the images up here probably isn't a good idea!

This is the sort of lazy article I'm talking about, same sort of thing except climbing that tower is 100 times more impressive! http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/local/adrenaline_junkies_in_blackpool_tower_shock_1_382669

I've seen enough of that sort of ****e in the English tabloids so due to that I'm keeping quiet