Geograph - photograph every grid square

Ashton Brothers built Newton Bank Printworks in Hyde in the early 1800s. In 1899 F.W.Ashton became part of the Calico Printers association (CPA). In 1908 the first wax prints (production Batiks using handblock) were produced. In 1959, CPA purchased the Swiss trading company A.Brunnschweiler, and in 1970 that became the company name replacing F.W.Ashton.

A.Brunnschweiler & Co was soon abbreviated to ABC which later became the brand name of its wax prints in West Africa. ABC was purchased by the Cha group in 1992. In 2005, production of the standard ABC product was transferred to another group factory in Ghana called Akosombo Textiles Ltd (ATL)

All production ceased at Newton bank printworks in December 2007 and all the necessary machinery was transferred to ATL in Ghana. The site was then decommissioned and cleaned up prior to demolition in 2014.

A full record of the demolition with photos and videos can be found on Link a blog created by site manager David Bradley.