Welgar

When I was young, I used to enjoy eating Shredded Wheat cereal, which was then sold under the brand name "Welgar".  Reading the package, I learned that the cereal was manufactured in a town called Welwyn Garden City.  I had no idea where the town was or what a garden city was, but it sounded quite wonderful.

Now I live very close to Welwyn Garden City, and I frequently drive past the building which once housed the Shredded Wheat factory.  The factory closed in 2008, and all UK production is now in Staverton, Wiltshire.

I think the original plan was to demolish the factory buildings and redevelop the site, like the surrounding area.  However, I read on Wikipedia that the grain silos are listed, so that may be why the buildings remain standing, although they now look very uncared for, and the site is overgrown.

Although the Shredded Wheat brand (both UK and US) was sold to Nabisco in 1926, the UK version retained the "Welgar" branding until at least 1988, when the site was sold to Rank Hovis MacDougall, and subsequently (in 1990) to Cereal Parners, part of the Nestle group.  Cereal partners still have a presence in a modern office building opposite the old factory.

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