Report - Healings Flour Mill - Tewkesbury - June 2011

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Healing Flour Mill - Tewks. Glos. - June 2011

Visited with Host & Oldskool

Another 3.30am start in the urban mobile, you've got to get there early, the worm and all. A nice mill with lots of original features left behind the highlight being the ground floor where those 'machines' were, they still had the smell of oil lingering and a fantastic control panel to boot... (Not literally I hasten to add)...

Healing's Mill is an imposing Victorian steam-powered mill on the banks of the River Avon. This river once brought barges loaded with corn here from the docks at Avonmouth. Most of the original barges, which were named after local villages, have been sold, but other larger barges were used as recently as the 1990s to bring European wheat from the coast at Sharpness. The mill was built for Samuel Healing in 1865 by W H James, but the massive South wing was added in 1889.

It was closed in November 2006 and its future remains uncertain with large structural issues affecting the silo building...

Cheers ​

 

[joe88moore]

After speaking to my grandparents who've lived in Tewkesbury like... Forever, I've found out loads of interesting stuff about the mill. I'll put it into my report when I get round to getting in there properly as havenonly done half of it. Anyway, one useful bit of information (feel free to delete this post if it violates the t+c's of this site, but i thnk it's useful and interesting rather than detrimental) is that the 'compound' as to put it is actually supposed to be public. It's supposed to be another public way onto - what is known as - The Ham (the huge field next to the mill) so in theory no one is breaking any laws / trespassing by going through the gates.
Apparently this was passed back in the 30's or something (I'll have to find out exact date, not sure when it was) for farmers etc to get vehicles onto the ham as the only other access is 2 small footbridges. Obviously vehicles for transporting animals and to cut crops etc.
So yeah, just a bit of info to add onto your report, I hope this was useful and interesting informations

 

[Styru]

Yep, I know the owners went to court in March to try and change this - not sure any outcome has been forthcoming as yet:

THIS is the BBC article about it.

 

[Kevin]

Hi, I am new on here and nicely suprised on my very first visit to see your mention of the Healeys barges as I have owned one since 2005, the 'Apperley'. I have it moored at East of the Water, Bideford.