Re visited Fletchers the other weekend to check up on the demo and I thought I’d bang a report up of various bits from over the years. I know I’m not the first, it’s nothing like that ,there’s nothing here I don’t think any of us have seen, but I’ve just tried to cover most of the site as it’s somewhere I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the years.
So the end is nigh, or so it seems. Although I can’t find any information out about the demolition, it’s not in the local rags, there’s no planning permission but they’re clearly making a rough start at ripping it down. I’ve heard that someone has spoken to security who say the lot is going. Who know’s. We’ll have to wait and see.
Anyway. Fletchers is one of the first explores I did after finding out urban exploring was even a thing. I’d been to a few places, just by chance passing. Took a few photo’s and someone told me about 28. I signed up and I was hooked, for a while at least until I took a bit of a break due to work, relationships and all that sort of stuff that gets in the way. (Mainly a dickhead of an ex)
I’m not sure on the number of times I’ve visited over the years, it’s always been there, it’s always been epic. The only thing that changed really was how arsey the security could get.
Back in the early days (for me) it was a walk in, there were plenty of ways in, security were slack and I must have visited 10 or so times in the space of a week back in 2008. One time getting a pretty fun chase across the dried up pond? where I ended up stuck in the mud near enough upto my knees. At this time though you could park at the end of the footbridge (or at least I did because I’m a knob) and just about managed to make it to my car and get off. I’ve barely any photo’s from this period as I had a hard drive failure, and going off the quality, or lack thereof shall I say. It’s probably a good thing.
I remember one baltic winters evening taking a non exploring mate there, maybe around 2014 ish. It was pretty well sealed and we spent way too much time looking for ways in and lost light. Alas we carried on to just “find” a way in to return the next day. Whilst we set about the task at hand security came around the corner, two of them, with these mega bright torches and lit the place up. We bolted to the nearest bit of shrubbery we could find. I couldn’t make it too far and ended up face down in some long grass. Freezing my bollocks off, getting piss wet through I lay there shivering like fuck whilst security stood just few feet away beaming their torch right over me, oblivious to my presence. How? I don’t know because I’m a right mouth breather so they should’ve herd me at the least. They soon buggered off, but it turned out my mate had other ideas and had done one too, completely off the premises back to the car. So that left me on my own to do the dirty work. To which I did, and we returned the next day and got to see most of what I saw back in 2008.
This sort of thing continued over the years, sometimes it was easy, others not so much, but yeah we all know the score so I won’t go on too much more.
Fletchers has been an absolute babe, and it will be a shame to see it gone for good.
History
Not that it’s needed but a brief bit of history:
The history of Robert Fletcher & sons paper mill dates back to the industrial revolution. The company was once owned by Ralph Crompton and Nephews, producers and bleachers of paper. Their first mill was located in Stoneclough, Manchester. The death of the Crompton brothers left the mill ownerless and the succession was offered to Robert Fletcher, the mill’s manager at the time. Fletcher had risen through the ranks, to first become the manager of the bleaching department and later the whole mill. Following Fletcher’s death on 17th May 1865, his sons John and James took over. They in turn passed down the mill to their sons, also named John and James. In 1897 the mill was incorporated as a limited company. In 1921 a second mill opened, located at Greenfield, near Oldham. The mill specialised in the production of cigarette paper and at its height employed 1000 people to run seven paper machines. These machines produced only a fraction of the paper the later, much larger machines could produce. Upon closure the mill had three machines – two very similar lines from 19XX and a huge modern 1996 addition. By 1986 the company was making a loss and was purchased by the Melton Medes Conglomerate who turned the company around and started to make a profit once again. However by 2001 the company was once again failing and the decision was made to close the Stoneclough Mill. Some people were transferred to the Greenfield mill, but the company could not sustain the increasing loses and was forced into receivership. The mill was closed down overnight. The mill at Stoneclough has been demolished. To this day the mill at Greenfield still remains how it was the day it closed. Streams of paper remain inside the machines, connected to the rolls of finished product at the end of the production lines – a time capsule from a bygone era.
Mixture of old photo’s from various visits, camera, phone etc
A couple of old pictures overlooking the site
How it looks today
Engineering workshop, stores and Joinery shop.
So the end is nigh, or so it seems. Although I can’t find any information out about the demolition, it’s not in the local rags, there’s no planning permission but they’re clearly making a rough start at ripping it down. I’ve heard that someone has spoken to security who say the lot is going. Who know’s. We’ll have to wait and see.
Anyway. Fletchers is one of the first explores I did after finding out urban exploring was even a thing. I’d been to a few places, just by chance passing. Took a few photo’s and someone told me about 28. I signed up and I was hooked, for a while at least until I took a bit of a break due to work, relationships and all that sort of stuff that gets in the way. (Mainly a dickhead of an ex)
I’m not sure on the number of times I’ve visited over the years, it’s always been there, it’s always been epic. The only thing that changed really was how arsey the security could get.
Back in the early days (for me) it was a walk in, there were plenty of ways in, security were slack and I must have visited 10 or so times in the space of a week back in 2008. One time getting a pretty fun chase across the dried up pond? where I ended up stuck in the mud near enough upto my knees. At this time though you could park at the end of the footbridge (or at least I did because I’m a knob) and just about managed to make it to my car and get off. I’ve barely any photo’s from this period as I had a hard drive failure, and going off the quality, or lack thereof shall I say. It’s probably a good thing.
I remember one baltic winters evening taking a non exploring mate there, maybe around 2014 ish. It was pretty well sealed and we spent way too much time looking for ways in and lost light. Alas we carried on to just “find” a way in to return the next day. Whilst we set about the task at hand security came around the corner, two of them, with these mega bright torches and lit the place up. We bolted to the nearest bit of shrubbery we could find. I couldn’t make it too far and ended up face down in some long grass. Freezing my bollocks off, getting piss wet through I lay there shivering like fuck whilst security stood just few feet away beaming their torch right over me, oblivious to my presence. How? I don’t know because I’m a right mouth breather so they should’ve herd me at the least. They soon buggered off, but it turned out my mate had other ideas and had done one too, completely off the premises back to the car. So that left me on my own to do the dirty work. To which I did, and we returned the next day and got to see most of what I saw back in 2008.
This sort of thing continued over the years, sometimes it was easy, others not so much, but yeah we all know the score so I won’t go on too much more.
Fletchers has been an absolute babe, and it will be a shame to see it gone for good.
History
Not that it’s needed but a brief bit of history:
The history of Robert Fletcher & sons paper mill dates back to the industrial revolution. The company was once owned by Ralph Crompton and Nephews, producers and bleachers of paper. Their first mill was located in Stoneclough, Manchester. The death of the Crompton brothers left the mill ownerless and the succession was offered to Robert Fletcher, the mill’s manager at the time. Fletcher had risen through the ranks, to first become the manager of the bleaching department and later the whole mill. Following Fletcher’s death on 17th May 1865, his sons John and James took over. They in turn passed down the mill to their sons, also named John and James. In 1897 the mill was incorporated as a limited company. In 1921 a second mill opened, located at Greenfield, near Oldham. The mill specialised in the production of cigarette paper and at its height employed 1000 people to run seven paper machines. These machines produced only a fraction of the paper the later, much larger machines could produce. Upon closure the mill had three machines – two very similar lines from 19XX and a huge modern 1996 addition. By 1986 the company was making a loss and was purchased by the Melton Medes Conglomerate who turned the company around and started to make a profit once again. However by 2001 the company was once again failing and the decision was made to close the Stoneclough Mill. Some people were transferred to the Greenfield mill, but the company could not sustain the increasing loses and was forced into receivership. The mill was closed down overnight. The mill at Stoneclough has been demolished. To this day the mill at Greenfield still remains how it was the day it closed. Streams of paper remain inside the machines, connected to the rolls of finished product at the end of the production lines – a time capsule from a bygone era.
Mixture of old photo’s from various visits, camera, phone etc
A couple of old pictures overlooking the site
How it looks today
Engineering workshop, stores and Joinery shop.
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