Old Bank Workshops - Slaithwaite - October 2012
History
As will all before I have found no real history on this site, only real lead on the site is that it was last used as some sort of cabinet makers / joinery workshop. The building is a typical stone built structure which are common in the Pennine valleys.
My Visit
This was my first full day to myself for a couple of weeks and decided to have a saunter around Slaithwaite. There were 3 main objectives, so arrived keen to see what could be done?
1st on the list was Colne Mill, having seen some great reports recently I thought I’d have a look. The building is stunning and had looked at it in the past. Luck was not on my side, a couple of trucks were having tires changed outside and generally too much going on in the area.
The Sprinkler Stop Valve may have been inside, but alas I wasn’t!
Time for second place on my list, Old Bank Workshops - There has been a few reports on here over this year, it looks my sort of place for a mooch. I had managed to find an address so headed there keen to get something done. Trouble was the address was wrong and after half an hour wandering I decided to head to option 3. Surely I’d have more luck with a ROC post sat high on the moors above the town?
Again I had a rough idea where it was, my map had long disappeared from the car ! 30 minutes driving along small lanes, some cobbled I ended up at the lay-by near the ROC post. The last time I had seen a report for here was in 2001, there was access issues so I came equipped with rope harness and ascending gear.
A report from 2001
“OPEN All surface features are in place apart from the BPI pipe, which is probably buried under a pile of soil. The hatch, ladder and ventilation louvres are missing. The FSM pipe is bent over and its top is missing. There is some damage to the ventilation shaft adjacent to the access shaft. Access was gained using an electron caving ladder. The shaft has been partially filled with domestic garbage but it is just possible to gain access to the monitoring room, which is flooded to a depth of 15 inches. Only a single bed remains piled with bricks. Much of the rubbish has spilled into the room.â€
Wellies on; I wandered up to find this!
Domestic garbage had now filled the access shaft; the day was not going well.
After all that excitement my tummy was rumbling so thought I may as well head back into Slaithwaite and have a pie, parking was crap and ended up just out of town turning the car around when, hey-presto Old Bank Workshops sprung into view. After topped up on 2 pies I headed in, and after having blonde 5 minutes working out how to get to the interesting bits all went well.
Due to a few reports I though I’d just included B &W images in the report.
Well that’s it, a great wee venue and I’m sure I’ll be back in Slaithwaite soon.
Cheers
TLR
