This place, although done to death, has always been somewhere on the to do list. After a somewhat failed attempt on a cold and miserable morning, only accessing a smaller previously unknown area to us, a month or so prior it was time for attempt 2.
History
As said, This place has been done to death so it's more than likely you've read this all before.
Exact dates are also hard to find, even though the company's details can still be found on the gov website and elsewhere, I couldn't find anything clear.
Robert Fletcher and sons:
The company can be dated back to around 1830 in which Robert Fletcher joined the Ralph Crompton and Nephews, papermakers of Stoneclough, the firm was later offered to Robert Fletcher following the death of the last Crompton bother. Now the manager of the Stoneclough paper mill Robert Fletcher operated the mill until his death, in may 1965, when the business was passed onto his sons James and John.
The sons continued operating the mill eventually registering the company as Robert Fletcher and Sons Limited, with the company employing anywhere from 200 to 1000 personnel. The sons John and James where later succeeded by their own sons also named John and James.
By 1921 the company took hold of the Greenfield papermill, near Oldham. This mill allowed the company to start specialising in Cigarette paper, along side previous products such as waxed paper and acid-free tissue at the other facility.
Up until the 1980's the company was making profits which then started to deteriorate due to operating and material costs. It was at this point the company was taken over by the Melton Medes group who turned the businesses around with profits again rising. This was short lived, unfortunately. By the 1990's the mills were struggling again with profits dropping from £16 Million to around £8 Million by the end of the decade mainly due again to high running cost. By 2001 the company was near bankrupt and the stoneclough mill was shut and shortly demolished, followed by the greenfield site in 2002.
The greenfield site has been left since closure, owned by a holdings company under the name of Purico, the buildings simply left with almost all the equipment inside. Outside the buildings are covered with an almost excessive amount of razor wire with the grounds kept fairly intact.
Unsurprisingly plans have been put forward for housing as of 2008 (and probably earlier) although there appears to have been little to no change or progression.
Closest I got to getting an external.
The Visit
Visited with:History
As said, This place has been done to death so it's more than likely you've read this all before.
Exact dates are also hard to find, even though the company's details can still be found on the gov website and elsewhere, I couldn't find anything clear.
Robert Fletcher and sons:
The company can be dated back to around 1830 in which Robert Fletcher joined the Ralph Crompton and Nephews, papermakers of Stoneclough, the firm was later offered to Robert Fletcher following the death of the last Crompton bother. Now the manager of the Stoneclough paper mill Robert Fletcher operated the mill until his death, in may 1965, when the business was passed onto his sons James and John.
The sons continued operating the mill eventually registering the company as Robert Fletcher and Sons Limited, with the company employing anywhere from 200 to 1000 personnel. The sons John and James where later succeeded by their own sons also named John and James.
By 1921 the company took hold of the Greenfield papermill, near Oldham. This mill allowed the company to start specialising in Cigarette paper, along side previous products such as waxed paper and acid-free tissue at the other facility.
Up until the 1980's the company was making profits which then started to deteriorate due to operating and material costs. It was at this point the company was taken over by the Melton Medes group who turned the businesses around with profits again rising. This was short lived, unfortunately. By the 1990's the mills were struggling again with profits dropping from £16 Million to around £8 Million by the end of the decade mainly due again to high running cost. By 2001 the company was near bankrupt and the stoneclough mill was shut and shortly demolished, followed by the greenfield site in 2002.
The greenfield site has been left since closure, owned by a holdings company under the name of Purico, the buildings simply left with almost all the equipment inside. Outside the buildings are covered with an almost excessive amount of razor wire with the grounds kept fairly intact.
Unsurprisingly plans have been put forward for housing as of 2008 (and probably earlier) although there appears to have been little to no change or progression.
Closest I got to getting an external.
The Visit
@jtza
and two Non-Members
As said, it was attempt 2. The nights prior I had been chatting trying to get an idea of how to tackle the site and eventually made the offer to Jtza to join along.
The plan for the day was to get the main mill done, as well as the area we accidentally found ourselves in last time, and go from there.
Arriving a fair amount of time later than we had hoped the walk through the fields began with battling off the sheep and peering eyes of the locals.
We quickly made our way to the mill itself, somehow avoiding the miles worth of coiled razor wire that security insist on putting literally everywhere.
Once we had passed our bags to one another we began to venture our way into the complex with the fist discovery being a water pipe, presumably for a fire system, spewing water everywhere which was unexpected. Moving on the explore took us into the well known areas of the mill as well as areas none of us had previously seen. Eventually around two and a half hours later we were packing up and squeezing our way back out to get ourselves breakfast.
Half hour or so later we were back, walking back across the fields. We were back to give the other buildings a go and after some waiting the coast was clear to come in.
Yet again, things went as well allowing us to cover another two buildings onsite. After another hour or so we were walking back to the cars when a shout came from behind us, secca was standing there at the fence so we waved at him and walked off.
The Images
Having not taken many images in a while a lot of these came out pretty badly.
I'll start in chronological order, with the main mill.
After getting inside, with a lot of hassle, the first thing was to start at the top.
Some yellow machinery and a moss carpet over the concrete.
One of the many small laboratories on the grounds with some recording and testing equipment.
An old fire door letting in the sunrise, in the distance.
Moving along the top floor was a rather open expanse with pipework littering the walls.
Facing backwards.
A series of chutes leading to the lower floors with a basket to the right.
Heading down a floor to where the water leak was spraying the floor.
Heading down another floor lead us into the area we found ourselves lost within on attempt 1.
A series of balls.
These are known as spherical wood pulp digesters. These would be filled with wood chips, hot water, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals.
Up on the walkways surrounding the digesters.
Some related machinery. Around 4 to 5 of these digesters where situated here.
A pool within the machines.
Open area with some electrical control equipment.
Moving on, we where in one of the more photogenic areas.
A central shot down the middle of the machinery, known as Bertram Beaters or Hollander Beaters.
Some machinery again, different angle.
Peaking through a doorway into a rather grey area.
A staff room next to the Bertram beaters
Moving downstairs again, to the ground floor, a small water soaked control room greeted us.
Moving into the darkened area, a set of modern paper making machinery greeted us.
Back up stairs and through the chalk covered graffitied doors from previous visitors the main paper makers are found.
These machines are, formed of a wet end at the start and a reel section at the end, used for forming the sheets and removing moisture under high pressure.
Numerous wooden walkways took us around the machines.
It was surprising how much material was left hanging into the rollers and how weak some of the rotten wood was becoming.
Moving further along we were in some sort of packaging hall for finishing off the material ready for export.
A noticeable roof collapse.
Some weighing scales.
Some smaller machinery.
Another office or laboratory.
Moving around we found ourselves in the canteen.
By this point we were almost finished with the main mill with a few extra areas to do before heading into any other structures.
To Be Continued...
The plan for the day was to get the main mill done, as well as the area we accidentally found ourselves in last time, and go from there.
Arriving a fair amount of time later than we had hoped the walk through the fields began with battling off the sheep and peering eyes of the locals.
We quickly made our way to the mill itself, somehow avoiding the miles worth of coiled razor wire that security insist on putting literally everywhere.
Once we had passed our bags to one another we began to venture our way into the complex with the fist discovery being a water pipe, presumably for a fire system, spewing water everywhere which was unexpected. Moving on the explore took us into the well known areas of the mill as well as areas none of us had previously seen. Eventually around two and a half hours later we were packing up and squeezing our way back out to get ourselves breakfast.
Half hour or so later we were back, walking back across the fields. We were back to give the other buildings a go and after some waiting the coast was clear to come in.
Yet again, things went as well allowing us to cover another two buildings onsite. After another hour or so we were walking back to the cars when a shout came from behind us, secca was standing there at the fence so we waved at him and walked off.
The Images
Having not taken many images in a while a lot of these came out pretty badly.
I'll start in chronological order, with the main mill.
After getting inside, with a lot of hassle, the first thing was to start at the top.
Some yellow machinery and a moss carpet over the concrete.
One of the many small laboratories on the grounds with some recording and testing equipment.
An old fire door letting in the sunrise, in the distance.
Moving along the top floor was a rather open expanse with pipework littering the walls.
Facing backwards.
A series of chutes leading to the lower floors with a basket to the right.
Heading down a floor to where the water leak was spraying the floor.
Heading down another floor lead us into the area we found ourselves lost within on attempt 1.
A series of balls.
These are known as spherical wood pulp digesters. These would be filled with wood chips, hot water, sodium hydroxide and other chemicals.
Up on the walkways surrounding the digesters.
Some related machinery. Around 4 to 5 of these digesters where situated here.
A pool within the machines.
Open area with some electrical control equipment.
Moving on, we where in one of the more photogenic areas.
A central shot down the middle of the machinery, known as Bertram Beaters or Hollander Beaters.
Some machinery again, different angle.
Peaking through a doorway into a rather grey area.
A staff room next to the Bertram beaters
Moving downstairs again, to the ground floor, a small water soaked control room greeted us.
Moving into the darkened area, a set of modern paper making machinery greeted us.
Back up stairs and through the chalk covered graffitied doors from previous visitors the main paper makers are found.
These machines are, formed of a wet end at the start and a reel section at the end, used for forming the sheets and removing moisture under high pressure.
Numerous wooden walkways took us around the machines.
It was surprising how much material was left hanging into the rollers and how weak some of the rotten wood was becoming.
Moving further along we were in some sort of packaging hall for finishing off the material ready for export.
A noticeable roof collapse.
Some weighing scales.
Some smaller machinery.
Another office or laboratory.
Moving around we found ourselves in the canteen.
By this point we were almost finished with the main mill with a few extra areas to do before heading into any other structures.
To Be Continued...
:
