Report - W H Shaw's / Diggle Pallet Works / Dobcross Loom Works - A Final Stroll - February 2020

[HughieD]

A fitting 'end' report on the place by someone who knows this place best of all. Thank you TLR.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

I do hope they invest in repairing the clock mechanism and dont just put some shit electric movement in it.

So do I, end of the day it's just 1 major cog which was bent, everything else remains intact including the cable mechanism to the hammer which strikes the bell, only problem being the bell was stolen recently. Some locals will no doubt be happy as there was complaints on another local clock tower chiming on the hour last year as it upset, more than likely new people to that village. Time will tell with this development, but going off the developer, they have not been too sympathetic to other sites in the area and prefer a nice clear brownfield site to develop without a listed building being there.

I forgot to put a photo of the bell end in the report, so here's one for completeness

 

[Scoobysrt]

When I went there was a ladder on the ground and an open window so didn't do the walk/crawl of death lol.

 

[Seffy]

Very extensive reportage mate - looks very nice that

 

[Session9]

Great report, that spiral staircase looks unusual.

 

[The Lone Ranger]

Just to cross the t's and dot the i's on this site.

D. Hughes Demolition took the site down quickly, 3 weeks for most to be at ground level. I did miss the chimney and water tower being demolished, which was a shame. They were good enough to let me know when the water tower was being demolished, just had something else to do at the time. They were good enough to let me on the site earlier, nice set of lads who are just doing their job. Rest of the photos were taken from afar so I wasn't bothering them and they did give a better overview of the site.

All photos were taken in March before the lockdown occurred.

I have many more photos as I always had a soft spot for this site. The Grade 2 listed office / admin block is all that remains on the site. Unfortunately even though it is a listed building Oldham Council and Wiggett Developments have cleaned their hands of it. Currently it has not been incorporated into the redevelopment plan for the new school and even though they do have a duty of care for the building, they are very keen at wiping their hand of any responsibility. That's Wiggetts and Oldham Council to a tea though, not sure who's in which ones back pocket?

May add one more photo of the cleared site if one of my daily exercises sees me walking along the canal adjacent to the site.

 

[dweeb]

FABULOUS photos...