@dweeb has done some excellent threads lately covering some of our 'projects' over the years. Here's one that we more or less worked on together.
I explored my first brewery at Tolly Cobbold at the end of 2006, im still of the opinion that the place was the best of its kind we've seen in this country, if not the world! It sparked an interest in the history of beer and breweries that has never quite gone away. By 2010 we had realised that these buildings were going fast and we had indeed already missed at least two crackers at Ruddles in Langham and Morlands in Abingdon so we made a point of making sure we never missed another! (as it happens i think we missed Hydes in Manchester but meh
)
Tolly Cobbold - Ipswich - 2006 to 2011
As i've mentioned this is where it all started for me. I wont go into too much detail on its history as it really deserves another thread of its own at a later date but its discovery came about after someone gave me a tip off about a 'Ridleys Brewery' in Ipswich.. The problem was Ridleys did not appear to have a brewery in Ipswich, theirs was down in a sleepy village near Chelmsford (more on them later!). After a while of searching i went back to the guy and asked him exactly where it was and to my surprise he gave me the location of a building i knew well, i just had no idea at the time what it was!
....
The amazing gothic style 'Cliffe Brewery' sits on the banks of the river Orwell close to an entrance to Ipswich port. It's a typical example of what is known as a 'Tower Brewery'. Breweries back in the Victorian era were all built to a similar design and designed more like a machine than a building in order to utilize gravity to move the beer around its various processes. Back in 2006 is didn't recognize this design at first and when i first checked the place out i assumed naively it was just a mill or granary (and a live one at that, the lights were still on!)
....
Once i eventually worked out what was what and got inside i was greeted with an amazingly intact brewery. It had closed back in 2002 at which point it had been run for a number of years as a brewery museum. The great thing was they had just shut the doors and left it. Virtually nothing had been removed on our first few trips so not only did we get to see all of the buildings amazing features such as the infamous 'Blue Room' and the cracking set of copper mashing vessels but we also got to see a whole host of smaller artifacts that wouldnt usually still be in a modern brewery when it closed let alone left there once it was derelict.
The thing that really made Tollys (and brewery exploring in general tbh) stand out from the crowd was its ability to keep giving. We assumed after the first couple of visits that we had seen it all but as the site matured new finds just kept cropping up. This could be anything from finding a nice old beer label under the floor to finding whole floors of buildings that we had not realised existed in the rabbit warren of a design..
T.D. Ridley and Sons - Hertford End - 2007 to 2011
After my success at Tollys this was the natural place to head. Ridleys had taken over Tolly in 2002 and shut the brewery down. Fast forward 4 years to 2006 and guess what, Ridley's was bought out by the infamous Greene King (more from them later too!) and got thier brewery closed as well! Karma anyone?
Now Ridleys was a nice building but after exploring Tollys it was a total let down. I went once in 2007 but went home quite disappointed. It on the face of it the building seemed pretty empty and certainly not the sprawling site crammed with epic had hoped for.
In 2010 i returned to the brewery. In the three years away id been to a number of others and had learnt a few tricks as far as finding stuff in these places goes! The site was by now also a lot more derelict and that had opened up a few bits that had been closed before. By the end of that trip it had somewhat redeemed itself and i went away having found all of what i expected, old crates, enamel signs and old bottles of beer!
McMullen and Sons - Hertford - 2009 to 2011
McMullens came along in 2009. Its one of those buildings you just can't believe they closed. Such an epic looking place! Nowadays it's a supermarket i think but back then it was quite freshly closed and not so easy to get inside.
As with Ridleys my initial walk around didn't exactly leave me foaming at the mouth. Although it was a larger and more architecturally embellished building than Hartford End it had a similar feel of being stripped of all it's interesting odds and ends. I think a contributing factor here was that the main site next door where all the maintenance shops and what not were situated had been retained for the company to continue brewing through a modern 'micro brewery'
After my first 2009 trip i returned with @Radog and @Rookinella to show them but we found the building alarmed and the copper vessels gone. When i again attempted to show Dweeb in 2011 work on the supermarket conversion had started, alarms had gone and some new parts had opened up. This was perfect for us as we delved that little bit deeper and came up with the goods yet again finding some really cool stuff such as the branding irons used to brand the company's beer barrels and a pair of flags that would once have flown from the towers flag pole (that had been discarded in one of the water tanks and left to rot.)
William Butlers - Wolverhampton - 2009
I include the Springfield Brewery more for posterity than because we found a lot there. Its one of those places that i wish i had spent more time at earlier, although it is still standing its best days are definitely past it and i wish i'd gone a bit earlier!
....
I explored my first brewery at Tolly Cobbold at the end of 2006, im still of the opinion that the place was the best of its kind we've seen in this country, if not the world! It sparked an interest in the history of beer and breweries that has never quite gone away. By 2010 we had realised that these buildings were going fast and we had indeed already missed at least two crackers at Ruddles in Langham and Morlands in Abingdon so we made a point of making sure we never missed another! (as it happens i think we missed Hydes in Manchester but meh
)Tolly Cobbold - Ipswich - 2006 to 2011
As i've mentioned this is where it all started for me. I wont go into too much detail on its history as it really deserves another thread of its own at a later date but its discovery came about after someone gave me a tip off about a 'Ridleys Brewery' in Ipswich.. The problem was Ridleys did not appear to have a brewery in Ipswich, theirs was down in a sleepy village near Chelmsford (more on them later!). After a while of searching i went back to the guy and asked him exactly where it was and to my surprise he gave me the location of a building i knew well, i just had no idea at the time what it was!
The amazing gothic style 'Cliffe Brewery' sits on the banks of the river Orwell close to an entrance to Ipswich port. It's a typical example of what is known as a 'Tower Brewery'. Breweries back in the Victorian era were all built to a similar design and designed more like a machine than a building in order to utilize gravity to move the beer around its various processes. Back in 2006 is didn't recognize this design at first and when i first checked the place out i assumed naively it was just a mill or granary (and a live one at that, the lights were still on!)
Once i eventually worked out what was what and got inside i was greeted with an amazingly intact brewery. It had closed back in 2002 at which point it had been run for a number of years as a brewery museum. The great thing was they had just shut the doors and left it. Virtually nothing had been removed on our first few trips so not only did we get to see all of the buildings amazing features such as the infamous 'Blue Room' and the cracking set of copper mashing vessels but we also got to see a whole host of smaller artifacts that wouldnt usually still be in a modern brewery when it closed let alone left there once it was derelict.
The thing that really made Tollys (and brewery exploring in general tbh) stand out from the crowd was its ability to keep giving. We assumed after the first couple of visits that we had seen it all but as the site matured new finds just kept cropping up. This could be anything from finding a nice old beer label under the floor to finding whole floors of buildings that we had not realised existed in the rabbit warren of a design..
T.D. Ridley and Sons - Hertford End - 2007 to 2011
After my success at Tollys this was the natural place to head. Ridleys had taken over Tolly in 2002 and shut the brewery down. Fast forward 4 years to 2006 and guess what, Ridley's was bought out by the infamous Greene King (more from them later too!) and got thier brewery closed as well! Karma anyone?
Now Ridleys was a nice building but after exploring Tollys it was a total let down. I went once in 2007 but went home quite disappointed. It on the face of it the building seemed pretty empty and certainly not the sprawling site crammed with epic had hoped for.
In 2010 i returned to the brewery. In the three years away id been to a number of others and had learnt a few tricks as far as finding stuff in these places goes! The site was by now also a lot more derelict and that had opened up a few bits that had been closed before. By the end of that trip it had somewhat redeemed itself and i went away having found all of what i expected, old crates, enamel signs and old bottles of beer!
McMullen and Sons - Hertford - 2009 to 2011
McMullens came along in 2009. Its one of those buildings you just can't believe they closed. Such an epic looking place! Nowadays it's a supermarket i think but back then it was quite freshly closed and not so easy to get inside.
As with Ridleys my initial walk around didn't exactly leave me foaming at the mouth. Although it was a larger and more architecturally embellished building than Hartford End it had a similar feel of being stripped of all it's interesting odds and ends. I think a contributing factor here was that the main site next door where all the maintenance shops and what not were situated had been retained for the company to continue brewing through a modern 'micro brewery'
After my first 2009 trip i returned with @Radog and @Rookinella to show them but we found the building alarmed and the copper vessels gone. When i again attempted to show Dweeb in 2011 work on the supermarket conversion had started, alarms had gone and some new parts had opened up. This was perfect for us as we delved that little bit deeper and came up with the goods yet again finding some really cool stuff such as the branding irons used to brand the company's beer barrels and a pair of flags that would once have flown from the towers flag pole (that had been discarded in one of the water tanks and left to rot.)
William Butlers - Wolverhampton - 2009
I include the Springfield Brewery more for posterity than because we found a lot there. Its one of those places that i wish i had spent more time at earlier, although it is still standing its best days are definitely past it and i wish i'd gone a bit earlier!
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