This was a pretty spur of the moment one which i should have done my research in first it was an interesting one to say the least. Apologies for only outdoor photos im planning a revisit due to unforeseen circumstances 
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History of the mill (from The view from the north, check his website for further info):
The exact date the company (Robert Fletcher and Son ltd) was formed is unknown, but it is probable that it was one of the first concerns which the industrial revolution brought to that part of Lancashire. It is known the firm was once owned by the Crompton family who traded under the name Ralph Crompton and Nephews, Bleachers and Papermakers, Stoneclough and Manchester. Paper was first made in 1829. Following the death of the last of the Crompton brothers, the principal trusteeship and the option of succession was offered to Robert Fletcher who had entered the firm in 1830 and whose ability had seen him rise through the ranks to manager of the bleaching department, and later the whole mill. Fletcher controlled the mill for many years and on his death on May 17th 1865 was succeeded by his sons John and James who were in turn followed by their sons, also named John and James.The company was bought in 1986 by the Melton Medes conglomerate who reportedly turned round a loss making business into a profitable one. However, it later appears that by 2001 / 2002 the business was bankrupt and a year after the Stoneclough mill near Bolton was shut, Greenfield was also closed. However, unlike the Stoneclough factory, which was quickly demolished and housed over to feed the insatiable demand for housing near Manchester, the Greenfield site has just been left to rot. Consequently, other than a few roof leaks, and the inevitable pigeons, the entire place is pretty much just as it was when the last shift finished.
Our visit:
It was a bit stupid of me, TechyTadpole and a non member to go and find this place without first reading other reports but that is exactly what happened. So anyway we knew it was located near Dovestones Reservoir so we trekked up being local residents and quickly found the bridged entrance which was covered with a large tree trunk and several metal fences. This clearly wasn't our entrance so we traveled round the bridal paths until we found a way where we could cut through the bottom of a Farmers field, hugging the tree line to try and stay out of view of the houses at the top. When we reached the fence we found a ridiculous amount of signs warning of Security and police dogs etc. but as any explorer does we entered the site seeing no evidence of CCTV or people (concerning the blocked main road entrance). Thinking there was no way anyone could catch us we got a bit over confident and explored the outside of the site circling the buildings looking for the easiest entrance. When we had completed the scout we decided to take some pictures of the epic sunset before entering. This was only to find that Mr Security had found us and was straight on the phone in which the initial reaction was to run to avoid any unneeded complications, looking back we didn't actually need to run as we were far enough away to probably just pace walked but anyway i go some lovely shots of the site and enjoyed the experience! When i returned on a walk the next day i found the tree trunk and gates etc. had been taken down to allow vehicle access to the site, whether this was our doing or not remains unknown.
Here are my unedited shots from the visit:
Edited shot:
Thanks for viewing
.History of the mill (from The view from the north, check his website for further info):
The exact date the company (Robert Fletcher and Son ltd) was formed is unknown, but it is probable that it was one of the first concerns which the industrial revolution brought to that part of Lancashire. It is known the firm was once owned by the Crompton family who traded under the name Ralph Crompton and Nephews, Bleachers and Papermakers, Stoneclough and Manchester. Paper was first made in 1829. Following the death of the last of the Crompton brothers, the principal trusteeship and the option of succession was offered to Robert Fletcher who had entered the firm in 1830 and whose ability had seen him rise through the ranks to manager of the bleaching department, and later the whole mill. Fletcher controlled the mill for many years and on his death on May 17th 1865 was succeeded by his sons John and James who were in turn followed by their sons, also named John and James.The company was bought in 1986 by the Melton Medes conglomerate who reportedly turned round a loss making business into a profitable one. However, it later appears that by 2001 / 2002 the business was bankrupt and a year after the Stoneclough mill near Bolton was shut, Greenfield was also closed. However, unlike the Stoneclough factory, which was quickly demolished and housed over to feed the insatiable demand for housing near Manchester, the Greenfield site has just been left to rot. Consequently, other than a few roof leaks, and the inevitable pigeons, the entire place is pretty much just as it was when the last shift finished.
Our visit:
It was a bit stupid of me, TechyTadpole and a non member to go and find this place without first reading other reports but that is exactly what happened. So anyway we knew it was located near Dovestones Reservoir so we trekked up being local residents and quickly found the bridged entrance which was covered with a large tree trunk and several metal fences. This clearly wasn't our entrance so we traveled round the bridal paths until we found a way where we could cut through the bottom of a Farmers field, hugging the tree line to try and stay out of view of the houses at the top. When we reached the fence we found a ridiculous amount of signs warning of Security and police dogs etc. but as any explorer does we entered the site seeing no evidence of CCTV or people (concerning the blocked main road entrance). Thinking there was no way anyone could catch us we got a bit over confident and explored the outside of the site circling the buildings looking for the easiest entrance. When we had completed the scout we decided to take some pictures of the epic sunset before entering. This was only to find that Mr Security had found us and was straight on the phone in which the initial reaction was to run to avoid any unneeded complications, looking back we didn't actually need to run as we were far enough away to probably just pace walked but anyway i go some lovely shots of the site and enjoyed the experience! When i returned on a walk the next day i found the tree trunk and gates etc. had been taken down to allow vehicle access to the site, whether this was our doing or not remains unknown.
Here are my unedited shots from the visit:
Edited shot:
Thanks for viewing
