Turnleee Mill, Charlstown, Glossop
Turnlee mill was one of the only mills in Glossop to not supply the cotton trade, Paper was a trade booming in Glossop back in the day with over a 1000 jobs in the town (1 in 12 of the Glossop working population) The mill was bought by Edward Partington with his partner William Olive (hence the business name Olive & Partington's) in 1874 from Thomas Hamer Ibbotson. He bought the mill to try out a modern method of paper manufacture using the sulphite process. This paper mill rapidly expanded and could not cope with orders and customers deadlines so more mills were bought in Salford and Barrow in Furness.
The mill had logs brought into town via the railway to Glossop station where then a steam engine (also known as Tiger tractors) transported them across the town to Turnlee mill
This Tiger Tractor is transporting the sulphite
Guinness, Cadburys & Women Magazine are just a few from the extensive list of companies that used the paper produced in Glossop. The mill provided over 1,000 jobs and offered “All the year round vacanciesâ€- a slogan of the bygone era.
Disaster struck on 25th June 1943 as one of the spherical boiling pans, weighing six tons and spanning twelve feet in diameter, exploded killing four men. There were numerous other injuries including burns from the boiling sulphur solution. The steam Tiger traction engines were used to clear the debris. The appalling stench of the sulphur gases were reported all over the town.
Very little exists of the Olive and Partington Paper manufacturers at Turnlee Mills as many of the buildings have been demolished. You can still see some of the grand architecture such as the main gate stones and walls that still survive.
In the last couple of years on the site, there are many small businesses flourishing from the ashes of what was one of Glossop’s greatest assets. It is yet another gem of Glossopdale that should never be forgotten.
The last company to use the mill was Kingspan Insulation’s pipe. Kingspan moved to a new location near the Tesco in Glossop (Claremont Fabrics old site) when the company became Kingspan Tarec, this was because Kingspan Insulation’s pipe, Tarec Insulation and Slabstock insulation business joined forces in 2006.
Turnlee mill was one of the only mills in Glossop to not supply the cotton trade, Paper was a trade booming in Glossop back in the day with over a 1000 jobs in the town (1 in 12 of the Glossop working population) The mill was bought by Edward Partington with his partner William Olive (hence the business name Olive & Partington's) in 1874 from Thomas Hamer Ibbotson. He bought the mill to try out a modern method of paper manufacture using the sulphite process. This paper mill rapidly expanded and could not cope with orders and customers deadlines so more mills were bought in Salford and Barrow in Furness.
The mill had logs brought into town via the railway to Glossop station where then a steam engine (also known as Tiger tractors) transported them across the town to Turnlee mill
This Tiger Tractor is transporting the sulphite
Guinness, Cadburys & Women Magazine are just a few from the extensive list of companies that used the paper produced in Glossop. The mill provided over 1,000 jobs and offered “All the year round vacanciesâ€- a slogan of the bygone era.
Disaster struck on 25th June 1943 as one of the spherical boiling pans, weighing six tons and spanning twelve feet in diameter, exploded killing four men. There were numerous other injuries including burns from the boiling sulphur solution. The steam Tiger traction engines were used to clear the debris. The appalling stench of the sulphur gases were reported all over the town.
Very little exists of the Olive and Partington Paper manufacturers at Turnlee Mills as many of the buildings have been demolished. You can still see some of the grand architecture such as the main gate stones and walls that still survive.
In the last couple of years on the site, there are many small businesses flourishing from the ashes of what was one of Glossop’s greatest assets. It is yet another gem of Glossopdale that should never be forgotten.
The last company to use the mill was Kingspan Insulation’s pipe. Kingspan moved to a new location near the Tesco in Glossop (Claremont Fabrics old site) when the company became Kingspan Tarec, this was because Kingspan Insulation’s pipe, Tarec Insulation and Slabstock insulation business joined forces in 2006.
I knew the place well but still a new explore, photos are in the best order from what I saw first
The place is all open to rain and water so lots of puddles but give a good reflect
Visited with top secret men who knew what they was doing (hiding from police)
Went to E.P bray first but not as good as this place!
First report so enjoy!
1)
2)
3) Sorry about the edit but I wanted to lighten the picture so you can see the mirror like water
4) The place had graffiti everywhere, some good and some need to go back to art class!
5)
6) I think 2 floors at one stage but now open plan (probably collapsed over the years of rain)
7)
8) Another shop warehouse/shop floor area
9) “GOOD MORNING CAMPERSâ€
10)
11) Could smell this room a mile away!
12)
13) Of to another area, with so many warehouses and storage space it was hard to cover most of the site in good time
14) Walking up to the top end of the building to find this hole in the wall over one of the warehouses
15) Home sweet home, well...
16) On the top floors it was hard to get a good picture but I came across this work of art, might not look much to you but it really did stand out to me!
17) Looking out the top floor window, the road on the right is what the Tiger tractor use to come up to deliver the wood from the Glossop station
18) Was a strong smell of burning plastic up here; Local chavs, manufacturing smells or even burning wires? Who knows??
19) RC climbing the rickety ladder to the top roof
20) After having enough of the warehouses we decided to venture over to the main reception building
21) Past the reception behind closed door we came to a canteen/kitchen area. There was a strong smell of rotting flesh, like the smell of a dead cow on a farm. Didn’t go further in the room because of this smell and mainly because that freezer had so much mould it was knocking me sick!
22) Back down the corridor past reception and on the other side of the reception building we came across the first aid room. We found old documents and files of past injuries but me being a respectful person I didn’t take any photos of that
23) Back out the reception building to the departure/deliveries reception building
24) The lonesome chair picture
25) Like I said deliveries and departures must have come in/out of the roller door, me loving to climb I had to get a picture of the old portable stairs
26) Work safe, Enjoy life!
27)
28) After a long day starting at E.P Bray then some other new unexplored top secret places, we decided to call it a day so we wasn’t walking home in the dark with our cameras and equipment.
Need to complete this site and continue this report but for now, that’s all you are having!
Adiós mi amigo
Adiós mi amigo
Last edited by a moderator:
