Couldn't resist putting a few photos of this one up even if they are pretty much just a parrot of Eric's
Cant remember exactly who or how we first clocked onto it but it was a good while ago now. At first we were a little unsure if it was still being used for anything. (Not a mill but more like storage or growing things..) We regularly went up to Bradford to have a beer with @Squirrell 911 and the morning after would traipse around the usual tour of potentially derp mills that, over the years, gradually moved on from the likes of Illingworths and H.Hey to Heilds and this place! Annoyingly despite it looking very promising with its lovely loom shuttle windows nothing ever seemed to be doing. All the doors were locked tight, cellar hatch boarded over and bars on all the first two floors of windows. Then out of the blue maybe 6 months back Squirrel spotted an opening and of course we hopped in the car the next day and went and checked it out... erm nope... this is 2022 and everyone I know has far too much of a life to do that anymore so we thought 'oh we'll check that out next time were up that way'.
So.. the next time were were up that way we went drinking beer in Huddersfield instead and ended up getting chatting to Eric who kindly went and did it for us.. Yeh, kind of embarrassing but I guess that's what shit, semi retired, middle aged urbex life is like!
Turned out we were probably right on both counts as two floors turned out to be a weed grow and another one filled with random non-textile related junk! The rest however was fantastic! Just the right blend of fresh old derp with looms still strung up with yarn, dated offices full of history and forgotten store rooms dripping in treasure. All available for a casual weekend morning mooch just like the good old days!
Now. The building dates back to 1854 so has certainly had some history, exactly what it is is a mystery to me right now tho. The looms in the basement had clearly been running until 2003 by the paperwork still pinned on them which is later than I'd have thought looking at the state of the place but I have to keep reminding myself 2003 wasn't "a couple of years back" now. Ibatex themselves seemed to have been going until 2012 but clearly just as a trader rather than a manufacturer. Probably trading off past glory I guess! The mill was chock to the roof (literally in places) with samples of cloth and company records. It's a wonder they had any room to run a business in there! One room that was fairly clean and tidy was something of an inspection area with a strange area setup with paint spray guns as if they were spraying the fabric with something but now I think about it, it was probably much more likely they were just using the guns to provide a controlled air blast to blow off any dust dirt and lint than to actually paint something on there.. That's my engineering detectives view anyway. Whether that room was still use for the fabric they were trading I'm not sure but it looks likely.
The top floor was the usual pigeon shitty mess of discarded cardboard boxes and surprisingly looked like they had had phone masts up there at one point too. 2nd from top more of a packing department with dated scales, little lab and stack of the nicest pallets you've ever seen. Next down 2 or 3 floors of offices and junk storage, the inspection room and the start of a lot of unrelated crap before the looms and a boat load of rotting wool and rusty loom spares in the cellar.
Cheers to Scott and Squizz for their help getting in there. Check it out if you have even half a chance. Perfect blend of not too empty, not too new, not to risky, not too in use, not too mutton dressed as lamb etc. Proper old skool explore.
Cant remember exactly who or how we first clocked onto it but it was a good while ago now. At first we were a little unsure if it was still being used for anything. (Not a mill but more like storage or growing things..) We regularly went up to Bradford to have a beer with @Squirrell 911 and the morning after would traipse around the usual tour of potentially derp mills that, over the years, gradually moved on from the likes of Illingworths and H.Hey to Heilds and this place! Annoyingly despite it looking very promising with its lovely loom shuttle windows nothing ever seemed to be doing. All the doors were locked tight, cellar hatch boarded over and bars on all the first two floors of windows. Then out of the blue maybe 6 months back Squirrel spotted an opening and of course we hopped in the car the next day and went and checked it out... erm nope... this is 2022 and everyone I know has far too much of a life to do that anymore so we thought 'oh we'll check that out next time were up that way'.
So.. the next time were were up that way we went drinking beer in Huddersfield instead and ended up getting chatting to Eric who kindly went and did it for us.. Yeh, kind of embarrassing but I guess that's what shit, semi retired, middle aged urbex life is like!
Turned out we were probably right on both counts as two floors turned out to be a weed grow and another one filled with random non-textile related junk! The rest however was fantastic! Just the right blend of fresh old derp with looms still strung up with yarn, dated offices full of history and forgotten store rooms dripping in treasure. All available for a casual weekend morning mooch just like the good old days!
Now. The building dates back to 1854 so has certainly had some history, exactly what it is is a mystery to me right now tho. The looms in the basement had clearly been running until 2003 by the paperwork still pinned on them which is later than I'd have thought looking at the state of the place but I have to keep reminding myself 2003 wasn't "a couple of years back" now. Ibatex themselves seemed to have been going until 2012 but clearly just as a trader rather than a manufacturer. Probably trading off past glory I guess! The mill was chock to the roof (literally in places) with samples of cloth and company records. It's a wonder they had any room to run a business in there! One room that was fairly clean and tidy was something of an inspection area with a strange area setup with paint spray guns as if they were spraying the fabric with something but now I think about it, it was probably much more likely they were just using the guns to provide a controlled air blast to blow off any dust dirt and lint than to actually paint something on there.. That's my engineering detectives view anyway. Whether that room was still use for the fabric they were trading I'm not sure but it looks likely.
The top floor was the usual pigeon shitty mess of discarded cardboard boxes and surprisingly looked like they had had phone masts up there at one point too. 2nd from top more of a packing department with dated scales, little lab and stack of the nicest pallets you've ever seen. Next down 2 or 3 floors of offices and junk storage, the inspection room and the start of a lot of unrelated crap before the looms and a boat load of rotting wool and rusty loom spares in the cellar.
Cheers to Scott and Squizz for their help getting in there. Check it out if you have even half a chance. Perfect blend of not too empty, not too new, not to risky, not too in use, not too mutton dressed as lamb etc. Proper old skool explore.
