Report - Healings Flour Mill - Tewkesbury, Glos - Sep 2016

[Lord Oort]

Healings Flour Mill

Did this a while back but have been busy so finally putting pics up.

History

Stolen from Bertie who in turn stole in from Clebby, Sorry had a look around the net and didn't find anything particularly useful or interesting to add so here it is.

"Tewkesbury has a history of flour milling spanning many centuries. Monks from Tewkesbury Abbey used to produce flour at a watermill on the Avon, but by far the most substantial mill was just upstream from here at the massive Healings Mill complex, built for Samuel Healing in 1865. It did not start out that big, but bits were added here and there over the years and it grew into a sprawling tangle of different aged buildings. Luckily, the handsome 1865 buildings survive today.

When built, it was considered to be the largest and most modern flour mill in the world, producing 25 sacks of flour an hour in 1892. It has had, in the course of it's history, three means of transport in and out of it. It had road access via a handsome cast-iron bridge, rail access via the Tewkesbury to Upton-upon-Severn railway line, and canal / river barge access via the Avon. Barges were used right up until 1998, as the mill had two barges named Chaceley and Tirley which transported grain to the mill from Avonmouth and Sharpness.

The mill was purchased by Allied Mills in the 1970s, and was completely refurbished and fitted out with brand new machinery. It was in turn taken over by ADM Milling, but in 2006 they announced the closure of the mill and the loss of around 40 jobs. It milled flour for the last time on October 20th, 2006, ending 140 years of milling on that site."

The Visit

Had a stab at this last year sometime but it was locked up rather well, things went a bit differently this time as a lot of the place has been demolished as access was a tad easier.

Visited with @Bertie Bollockbrains on a rather dull day, but once we got inside it was all worth it, had access to both buildings and while a LOT of the equipment has been removed there is still a fair bit to see and is worth a good few hours to see it all.

Unfortunately we could not get onto the grain silos as the bridge had been well and truly back filled with a ton of rubbish.

Pics

Out Front

Inside

Out back

Thanks for looking
​

 

[wellingtonian]

Looking a bit fooked now eh?

 

[ultravox]

Excellent report Nice to see some fresh pics of this place!..My last visit was early 2011...It's changed a bit since then but nice to see it's still standing!...I did hear the council had some plans for it maybe that's why there is a different security company name on the gates?

 

[HughieD]

That really is a stunning set.

 

[Lord Oort]

Looking a bit fooked now eh?

Yup! Still one of my more enjoyable topside mooches though.

Excellent report Nice to see some fresh pics of this place!..My last visit was early 2011...It's changed a bit since then but nice to see it's still standing!...I did hear the council had some plans for it maybe that's why there is a different security company name on the gates?

Looks like they're doing sweet FA with it, Secca were nowhere to be seen and all the cameras have been ripped down.

That really is a stunning set.

Thanks! Ended up with over 100 decent pics so was a bit of a pain choosing. I posted the entire set on 28FB but thats probably been lost on the feed now, if anyone is interested the full set is here.

 

[Fishbeard]

Sad to see it in this state. I remember how proud the chief engineer was of the tidiness and cleanliness of the place. A lot of the conveying machinery (now evidently removed) was manufactured by Redler Conveyors at Stroud.

 

[Salmon]

Sad to see it in this state. I remember how proud the chief engineer was of the tidiness and cleanliness of the place. A lot of the conveying machinery (now evidently removed) was manufactured by Redler Conveyors at Stroud.

This was Redler Conveyors in February this year.

 

[Fishbeard]

Yeah, I know. Equally sad for me, having worked there for 50 odd years.