Report - Shaw Lodge Mill (Chimney), Halifax - April 2012.

Ojay · Apr 29, 2012

Shaw Lodge Mill (Chimney)

Ojay/Stepping Lightly/Blinker

Some History

The chimney itself, built in 1855 became a listed building in April 2007 as an integral and essential part of the mill complex

Constructed entirely from stone stands at 219ft (including base)

The mills were founded in the 1820s by John Holdsworth and remained in the ownership of the same family until 2005, at their height employing 3,000 people

The main product woven at the complex was moquette, used for covering seats on trains and buses worldwide

It was a prestigious company and a world leader in its field

The last loom fell silent in September 2008

Also THIS

The project to develop the chimney at Shaw Lodge Mills into a training and educational facility for Active Heritage

This will provide sustainability and security as to the future of the Chimney

Shaw Lodge was identified in a survey of the best surviving examples of the Yorkshire textile industry, thus meriting a II* grade across several buildings

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I did recently say no more chimney climbs, but for some reason the lure almost seems impossible to resist

(That and I needed a 'high' fix AND a break from sewers)

This being no exception as Squirrell had spotted it a while back now, sadly the usual suspects were working away and I assumed it would have been de-laddered after so long..

Up popped an excellent report a good few weeks on, and I made my mind up I wanted to have a closer look

S.L was about so we met up and set about a plan to scale it one tea time

NOTHING is impossible, and for sure credits to Bigjobs & Co for some "outside the box thinking" on this one

After a carefully prepared stimulating drink, we packed some minimal kit and met up with our good friend Blinker as soon as the weather was favourable

The biggest surprise on this one was the sheer size of the base itself (None of them are ever laddered for obvious reasons)

With some minor modification to our equipment and some epic climbing from S.L we were on top of the base standing next to the ladders :Not Worthy

Now I have made comments in the past about how 'shoddy' steeple-jacks rigging can be, well I'm fully aware they tie the ropes off to stop them flapping about etc, but I mainly refer to the safety line

I mean has anyone ever just lashed it round some scaff and a rickety ladder and attempted a fall

SO staring up a 219ft chimney, a quick gulp and up we go

I decided some sort of a safety device would be favourable, but in the end it was more a faff, slowing the job down so to speak, so off it came!

The top section through onto the crow's nest was a bit of a squeeze with the rucksack, but other than that we were all up in no time really

Although the sky was fairly clear and there was minimal wind, the views were if I'm honest not that spectacular or inspiring

I also managed to break my tripod on the way up, so all the shots were taken by wedging what was left of it here and there in order to grab a few pics for posterity

20 mins of fannying about and we free climbed it back down

Hands, feet and a brain are more than enough to stay safe in these situations

Props to S.L for skills, a carefully prepared caffeine potion that kept me pissing into the next morning and Blinker for coming along and keeping us safe

From Dusk til Dawn...