There are many areas of the country which traditionally were centres of industrial activity and now have been reduced to a fraction of what they were. In Lancashire, where the industrial revolution started, there was quite a strong industry with their cotton and wool mills, across to Tyneside they had coal mining and Sheffield who had the proud boast of steel made in Sheffield.
In the Midlands the industry created the area known as the Black Country due to the massive amount of smoke from the many thousands of iron working foundries and forges. The industry also involved the working of the shallow coal seams which were about 30 ft deep. During this time the industrial buildings in this area worked at full tilt during this period.
Cornwall was famous for its tin mines which was exported all over the world as well as china clay. Devon was famous for clotted cream and cider as well its stunning coastline – the Jurassic Coast, which is a world heritage site.
Nowadays most of the industrial areas have been transformed and where there was large factories you will now see lots of small light industrial factories which tend to be able to adapt to the changing industrial climate. These versatile commercial buildings are really the answer to the changing world of industry.
Dorset is a county which tends to get overlooked a little which is a shame – it does not really have any great industrial heritage and small industrial units are the norm. So a plan to build 29 new light industrial buildings in Blandform Forum was greeted with cheers recently. The district councillors in this North Dorset town approved the plans for these industrial buildings on the outskirts of the town.
In making this decision the council said that two thirds had to be light industrial units with the remainder expected to be storage sheds and light warehousing. Work was expected to start shortly after permission was given. Steve Hitchings, local councillor for Blandford said that he thought that this would be a very good development as the local plan was always to have a development of 
light industrial units. This has got to be good news for local employment opportunities. The managing director of the building firm developing this project said that there was a high demand for these small industrial buildings.
It was only recently that plans to develop a number of industrial buildings into homes was passed so it is good that some replacement factories and warehouses are being built. Whist it is good to have more homes you still need to have opportunities for people to work near to home.
