Moreland Match Factory: Gloucester, UK
(images via: BBC, Mat Hyde and CrossProcess/Gavin Smith)
“England’s Glory… a striking beauty”. Looking at a box of matches from the Moreland Match Factory in Gloucester, England, the lyrics from XTC‘s “Senses Working Overtime” suddenly make more, er, sense. The Moreland Match Factory (now Moreland’s Trading Estate) on Bristol Road closed in 1978 after producing uncounted quantities of England’s Glory matches featuring a stylized image of the battleship HMS Devastation on the lid.
(images via: Geograph and Michael Hochleitner)
A campaign is currently underway to refurbish the factory’s iconic England’s Glory illuminated sign, which hasn’t worked for many years. “It’s a part of Gloucester’s heritage,” said Dee Roberts, who runs a financial services business in the building, and “It would be nice to have the sign lit up again to give us a bit more notability.” As for England’s Glory matches, they’re still being made and look much the same… except for the “Made In Sweden” legend on the label.
Matchstick Factory: Bamako, Mali
(images via: Photomat)
In the autumn of 2011 Canadian photographer/traveler Matthew Claydon captured a wealth of truly exquisite images of an unnamed abandoned match factory in Bamako, Mali. Claydon snapped photos of the empty and crumbling factory buildings along with some of the local kids who played in and around the site. The scenes exude a timeless sense of quietude that contrasts with the violence that tore through this African nation in late 2012 and early 2013.
Diamond Match Factory: Chico, CA, USA
(images via: Jonathan Haeber and ChicoWiki)
The Diamond Match Company was a powerhouse of the industry in the closing decades of the 19th century, a veritable Standard Oil of the “smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em” set. Guided by the vision of company czar Ohio Columbus Barber, Diamond Match proceeded to buy up competitors and expand into new markets – the factory in Liverpool, Great Britain was enormous.
(image via: Jonathan Haeber)
Closer to home but still far from its Akron, Ohio roots, Diamond Match Company established the town of Barber in northern California around the turn of the century. A number of large buildings survive from the era though in recent years several have burned down as a result of neglect, arson or both.
