Really let myself slip with posting reports these days so I have a bit of a backlog, think it's about time I posted some!
A friend of mine had been to have a look at this place one day and bumped into a few old gents whilst wandering around the grounds.
Once of them jokingly asked her if she's interested in buying it (as it's up for sale), she told them about her interest in urbex and old buildings etc
and as it turns out one of the gents was the mill owner.
He promptly gave her his details and told her if she wanted to explore it with a few people to contact him first and arrange a day.
So myself, her and a friend of ours over from Germany organised a trip.
We met him at a working mill that he owns not far away and told us to follow him through, once there he gave us a full guided tour and a told us a litte bit about the place.
Unfortunately my memory is like a sponge.. not the "brain like a sponge it soaks up "knowledge" more of an "its soft, mushy and promptly leaks everywhere when used".
Thanks to the internet i have managed to dig up a bit of history.
The main building was built in 1863, owned and run as a cotton mill by the Mallalieu family, it later moved on to wool. 2 other buildings where added in 1865 and 1871.
The mill was used up until 2000 then completely shut down with production being moved to another mill not so far away.
The owner did tell us that it has been used since, by the police force for airsoft tournaments. He also let a local college
use it for a fashion show. Other than that it's sat sadly rotting.
He told us a little about how the would make woolen top hats there and how the tops were spun in mercury to flatten and smooth them. The workers who were constantly
working with mercury would eventually end up with mercury poisoning and start going mad... Which, boys and girls, is where the term "mad as a hatter" comes from... I did not
know this till then, i felt truly educated (and a little stupid at the same time).
After which he passed us the keys and just said crack on, be careful, lock up behind you and drop the keys off on the way back. Legend.
I did this report solely on 35mm, fancied doing something a bit different. Shooting some expired Fuji Velvia 100 and Fuji Superia 400 on my Canon eos5.
I've been back since this report, but i thought i'd share my 35mm photos instead of the digital ones from the explore after.
1-9 were on Velvia and 10-12 on Superia.
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5.
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12.
A friend of mine had been to have a look at this place one day and bumped into a few old gents whilst wandering around the grounds.
Once of them jokingly asked her if she's interested in buying it (as it's up for sale), she told them about her interest in urbex and old buildings etc
and as it turns out one of the gents was the mill owner.
He promptly gave her his details and told her if she wanted to explore it with a few people to contact him first and arrange a day.
So myself, her and a friend of ours over from Germany organised a trip.
We met him at a working mill that he owns not far away and told us to follow him through, once there he gave us a full guided tour and a told us a litte bit about the place.
Unfortunately my memory is like a sponge.. not the "brain like a sponge it soaks up "knowledge" more of an "its soft, mushy and promptly leaks everywhere when used".
Thanks to the internet i have managed to dig up a bit of history.
The main building was built in 1863, owned and run as a cotton mill by the Mallalieu family, it later moved on to wool. 2 other buildings where added in 1865 and 1871.
The mill was used up until 2000 then completely shut down with production being moved to another mill not so far away.
The owner did tell us that it has been used since, by the police force for airsoft tournaments. He also let a local college
use it for a fashion show. Other than that it's sat sadly rotting.
He told us a little about how the would make woolen top hats there and how the tops were spun in mercury to flatten and smooth them. The workers who were constantly
working with mercury would eventually end up with mercury poisoning and start going mad... Which, boys and girls, is where the term "mad as a hatter" comes from... I did not
know this till then, i felt truly educated (and a little stupid at the same time).
After which he passed us the keys and just said crack on, be careful, lock up behind you and drop the keys off on the way back. Legend.
I did this report solely on 35mm, fancied doing something a bit different. Shooting some expired Fuji Velvia 100 and Fuji Superia 400 on my Canon eos5.
I've been back since this report, but i thought i'd share my 35mm photos instead of the digital ones from the explore after.
1-9 were on Velvia and 10-12 on Superia.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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