Millennium mills
The Millennium Mills were one of the largest flour mills in London during the early half of the 20th century. The building was largely destroyed by bombing during the second world war but was then rebuilt in 1945-1950 before eventually closing with the decline of the royal docks in 1981.
We started planning the trip in late November/early December. There's not to many easy sites around London nearby to us so this seemed like the best bet and so after weeks of saying we'd start planning we finally did a scout in January, spurred by reports of development starting on the site. We had a list of possible entrances to check based on google earth and previous reports but didn't hang around too long due to what seemed like a guard in his range rover roaming the south of the site.
When it came to the nigh of the trip we were well prepared enough to feel confident, despite knowing that it was a very dangerous building inside and heavily protected. We took the night tube across London at 2am, had a beer, faces covered, then headed to the site. As a group of three we knew we needed to get in as soon as possible and so had a well rehearsed plan for routes to try. The first one failed, most likely down to skipping gym too often and too many maccies but having prepared for this we went to plan b and took a "spikier" route.
A few cuts later we were in the compound and after emerging from some bushes we were greeted by this majestic view of the mills:
We then proceeded to circle the site to find a way in but with each corner we were greeted by yet more padlocks, concreted windows and smooth surfaces. Eventually we resorted one again to another spiky route to access the east section of the building which was considerably older than the larger concrete section. From looking at some photos that larger section seemed mostly empty anyways so we weren't to bothered save for the view from the roof. Much of the base of the building was littered with machinery taken from the mill, most likely to protect it:
Upon entering this section we quickly realized how dangerous it was. The crooked skeleton of the structure poked its way through creaking, rotted planks. The floors were peppered with gaping holes that seemed to stretch down through as any as five or six stories in some areas. Each step we took was a gamble, half expecting to plummet into the abyss below. In hindsight it must've been quite comical to see us inching our way along the floors, trying out best to keep close to the beams.
Here's some views from the interior:
By far one of the funniest moments of the trip was when my friends dropped to the floor in panic and the disturbance of a flock of pigeons (which I was expecting after reading other reports).
The view out the doorway facing the London city airport on the top floor was also an astonishing sight and made sure to take many photos:
Unfortunately the roof was partly burnt down and so we deemed it safer to head back down. After chilling by the dockside for a bit with our last beer we started making our way out snapping these in the process:
View over the docks (north)
Supporting structure (with anti climb paint fyi)
facing west
As we were walking a figure caught my eye and quickly signaled to my friends to hide. Two of our other friends were meant to meet us on the sight if they felt sober enough so we simply assumed that this was them. This was probably poor judgement as we were all quite tired, injured and cold and thus ended up turning the corner to meet a security guard who gave us a good shouting and eventually made us leave the site.
This of course did sour the mood of the trip and left us quite shook up but in hindsight it was rewarding knowing we saw the building before it is set to be redeveloped into a £3.5 billion project.
)
