Report - Hollings Mill, Bradford. March 21

[Jane Doe]

Thats lovely ...beautifully captured

 

[UrbanDoll]

Very nice stuff. Very photogenic. the wheelchair shot is rather random but I like it.

Ha ha yes. Also confused me to why there was a wheelchair!

 

[HughieD]

Great place and lovely set of pix...

 

[Fudge]

Very nice that almost tempting me back to Bradford

Are the Bradfud lady boys not sploring bradfud anymore?

 

[wickedgen]

Went today and had a great tour round of what is still used including the top floor. Great to see machinery in action with personal demos. Sometimes a smile and genuine interest can do a lot when out exploring.

 

[host]

Went today and had a great tour round of what is still used including the top floor. Great to see machinery in action with personal demos. Sometimes a smile and genuine interest can do a lot when out exploring.

Is the sock factory part then ?? Any images

 

[wickedgen]

Some pics inside the active part of the mill taken by my friend Lisa on her mobile phone when the owner showed us around...

The first two pics are of the top floor which isn't used for much other than storage, but has been used for film making
View attachment 900862

This is the sock machine...

The owner was brilliant and demonstrated how they make socks...

 

[Exploringtheotherside]

History


Edward Hill & Co Ltd is a textile manufacturing company based in Bradford, England. The company has been in business since the 1980's and prides itself on being one of the last major manufacturing companies of handknitting yarns in the UK. The majority of the yarns are processed in the mill; either spun or balled and packed.

Hollings Mill has been a working mill since 1830 and is now owned by Mark Hill, Edward Hill's son. The company produces beautiful handknitting and craft yarns and still uses some of the original machinery.

Part of the mill is still in use and is run single-handedly. Mark Hill is the one-man band behind The Bradford Sock Company. Since launching four years ago, his sock production has been from a single machine in the premises of Edward Hill & Co Ltd, the knitting wool firm founded by his father in the 1980s, which he took on just over a decade ago.


The red areas highlighted below are the ones we gained access to. One part of the complex is still in use whereas other parts still lay empty. Some of the buildings are partially converted.
There was talk of them becoming student accommodation however this proposal was denied.

@Esoteric Eric and I had a lovely mooch about this local mill which was surprisingly nicer than we anticipated.

The Map

The building bottom left is occupied by the sock maker. The top left looked empty however there was no access. The top right buildings are partially converted.


Building 1 - workshops

Building 2 - Boiler house

Building 3 - Weaving sheds

Building 4 - Mill storage areas

All in all a lovely little mooch. Thanks for looking, UD.

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This looks great did you need permission to enter?

 

[wickedgen]

This looks great did you need permission to enter?

We were nosing around the yard and we spotted a guy working and realised we were in full view. So we decided the best thing was to be polite and say hello and ask about the building. He invited us inside and introduced us to the owner who took us on a full tour!