Big Mill - Leek - Jan 14
After a morning dodging security at Derby Royal, Noodle and myself thought we'd take a look at an old faithful.
Very big and admittedly very empty it's still worth a wander, if only for the nice rooftop views.
History bit
The Big Mill Leek or Wardle & Davenport Ltd is in Staffordshire Built in 1857 by the famous Victorian architect
William sugden, originally built for Lovatt and Goulding but later became Wardle and Davenport.The firm Wardle
and Davenport was formed in 1867
with the partnership between Henry wardle and George davenport over many years they ran many successful
business's employing up to 2500 people by the 1960's the company was suffering great losses and by 1970
they went into receivership, they also pioneered the way forward in artificial silk stockings.
The building is currently in a rare old state, with the owners unsure it's future.
On our way out, we ran into two senior bods from Staffordshire County Council who seemed fairly keen to secure
the building to make sure no pesky explorers hurt themselves in future...nice chaps tbf
The scale of the building is impressive, the walkway leads over to the furnace and a new development of offfice blocks
Nice stairwells and a rather dangerous lift shaft are two of the main features here
Big empty open floors with very big holes in them...and little else
apart from this one which was full of all sorts of junk
Lift machinery in the attic, covered in poop from a million and one pigeons
Nice view, but rather precarious rooftop
The old flagpole from back in the Mills halcion days, now home to the entire pigeon population of staffordshire
No more than a 20 minute explore, but well worth a look if your passing...cheers for looking
After a morning dodging security at Derby Royal, Noodle and myself thought we'd take a look at an old faithful.
Very big and admittedly very empty it's still worth a wander, if only for the nice rooftop views.
History bit
The Big Mill Leek or Wardle & Davenport Ltd is in Staffordshire Built in 1857 by the famous Victorian architect
William sugden, originally built for Lovatt and Goulding but later became Wardle and Davenport.The firm Wardle
and Davenport was formed in 1867
with the partnership between Henry wardle and George davenport over many years they ran many successful
business's employing up to 2500 people by the 1960's the company was suffering great losses and by 1970
they went into receivership, they also pioneered the way forward in artificial silk stockings.
The building is currently in a rare old state, with the owners unsure it's future.
On our way out, we ran into two senior bods from Staffordshire County Council who seemed fairly keen to secure
the building to make sure no pesky explorers hurt themselves in future...nice chaps tbf
The scale of the building is impressive, the walkway leads over to the furnace and a new development of offfice blocks
Nice stairwells and a rather dangerous lift shaft are two of the main features here
Big empty open floors with very big holes in them...and little else
apart from this one which was full of all sorts of junk
Lift machinery in the attic, covered in poop from a million and one pigeons
Nice view, but rather precarious rooftop
The old flagpole from back in the Mills halcion days, now home to the entire pigeon population of staffordshire
No more than a 20 minute explore, but well worth a look if your passing...cheers for looking
