As the year is drawing to an end and winter has swept in numbing my motivation to actually be out there doing things i have been taking the chance to have a look back at some of the years explores i never got around to writing about over the last 12 months.
Stanley Mills is easily in the top 10 places ive been this year. We had only just got over the amazingness that was the Tone/Tonedale mill combo that we visited in January when Clebby let me know about plans to convert this place. I knew of the mill already as my work has taken me down this neck of the woods several times in the past but back then i had always largely ignored it as it is essentially an English Heritage museum rather then an abandoned mill worthy of an explore! However when he said he knew of a sneaky trick to have a free/better look around we didnt hesitate and bombed down there to try our luck..
In reality you can divide this report in two three main areas.
1. The English Heritage floor
2. The workshop that is unbelievably still live and in use.
3. The other derelict areas or areas used for storage.
The EH area is indeed amazing and pretty well preserved. Most people would say its the main attraction but for me id say it was 'the expected' where as the rest of the place was 'a surprise' and appealed alot more to my inquisitive nature. Im not going to pretend to be an expert on the equipment other then to say it cards and spins wool and as far as the spinning side of things goes is easily the most complete installation ive ever seen. The carding equipment was similar to that on the ground floor of Bailey Mill in Delph just a whole lot easier to photograph!
The workshop was something else. It took a bit of fiddling to get inside and we must have been in there 10 mins totally under the impression that it was disused. It just seemed way too old for anything else to be true.. Then after a while we stared to realise there were half drunk cups of coffee dotted around the place.. the kind of thing that would have evaporated away in a mater of days. Eventually we realised all the machines could be fired up and even the radio came on at a flick of a switch.. Verdict... Stunning but almost certainly still used by someone!
The rest of the mill was a mix of dereliction and storage for the carpet factory next door (and probably some other people) we tried to see as much as possible but the place is pretty well locked in some areas..
more soon!
Stanley Mills is easily in the top 10 places ive been this year. We had only just got over the amazingness that was the Tone/Tonedale mill combo that we visited in January when Clebby let me know about plans to convert this place. I knew of the mill already as my work has taken me down this neck of the woods several times in the past but back then i had always largely ignored it as it is essentially an English Heritage museum rather then an abandoned mill worthy of an explore! However when he said he knew of a sneaky trick to have a free/better look around we didnt hesitate and bombed down there to try our luck..
In reality you can divide this report in two three main areas.
1. The English Heritage floor
2. The workshop that is unbelievably still live and in use.
3. The other derelict areas or areas used for storage.
The EH area is indeed amazing and pretty well preserved. Most people would say its the main attraction but for me id say it was 'the expected' where as the rest of the place was 'a surprise' and appealed alot more to my inquisitive nature. Im not going to pretend to be an expert on the equipment other then to say it cards and spins wool and as far as the spinning side of things goes is easily the most complete installation ive ever seen. The carding equipment was similar to that on the ground floor of Bailey Mill in Delph just a whole lot easier to photograph!
The workshop was something else. It took a bit of fiddling to get inside and we must have been in there 10 mins totally under the impression that it was disused. It just seemed way too old for anything else to be true.. Then after a while we stared to realise there were half drunk cups of coffee dotted around the place.. the kind of thing that would have evaporated away in a mater of days. Eventually we realised all the machines could be fired up and even the radio came on at a flick of a switch.. Verdict... Stunning but almost certainly still used by someone!
The rest of the mill was a mix of dereliction and storage for the carpet factory next door (and probably some other people) we tried to see as much as possible but the place is pretty well locked in some areas..
more soon!
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