Introduction
Another mill me and @JakeV50 visited on our recent trip to the Manchester area. We didn’t know what to expect with this one, as we pinned it years ago and decided to visit it as we were only around 10 minutes away. We were pleasantly surprised by its remaining features despite being a ruin.
Information & History
Bailey Mill is located in Delph, in the Oldham area. It was one of many Woollen Textile Mills in the area. The Mill was built in three stages, the first stage was constructed in 1863, and the other parts were built in 1865 and 1871. The Mill was owned by brothers David and Henry Mallalieu, they founded the Mallalieus business in 1856. The Mill was constructed near a railway line which was known as the ‘Delph Donkey’, the line was later extended to the village in 1851 so wool and coal could have been brought in easily.
In the 1890s, the company gained a positive reputation for creating good quality woollen cloths, the firm began creating shirts but later expanded into making flannelling for men’s trousers and women’s dresses. The firm also produced material for hats and supplied hatmakers in nearby Stockport, and Luton in Bedfordshire. Like many textile mills, Mallalieus manufactured fabrics for uniforms during the two World Wars.
In 1996 the Gledhills, another family of textile specialists in the area, bought the company and the production was moved to a nearby facility known as Valley Mill. The site closed around the same time and has sat derelict ever since. The site suffered a large-scale fire in 2016 which was a result of arson. The site remains in a ruined state today with the main part which caught alight, demolished.
An old photo of the mill featuring the main building before the fire (taken in 2008 by The Lone Ranger)
The Explore
This was a nice easy one, there is a public footpath which runs past the front of the site, and there were various gaps in the Heras fencing, most buildings on the site were easy to access, but with some proving to be a bit more cumbersome than others. We spent a couple of hours here, but it began to get dark quickly, we could’ve easily spent another hour or so there.
Photos
Starting with a few externals:
We entered this nice little workshop first which was in fairly decent nick all things considered:
Next a look at a very decayed building, which appeared to be offices at some point:
The boiler house was lovely:
I enjoyed this little dilapidated room which houses a water tank and a pump setup. I almost missed this bit until Jake mentioned it to me while we were there:
Next, we made our way through some of the larger, open areas, although trashed and heavily stripped, they were still quite photogenic:
This final section we visited wasn’t exactly pleasing to the eye, but the view out the window made for a couple of decent shots:
It was getting pretty dark at this point, so a final portrait shot to get the whole chimney in from the window view, then it was time to make the four-hour journey back to Norfolk, as this was our last pin from the trip.
Thanks for looking!
Another mill me and @JakeV50 visited on our recent trip to the Manchester area. We didn’t know what to expect with this one, as we pinned it years ago and decided to visit it as we were only around 10 minutes away. We were pleasantly surprised by its remaining features despite being a ruin.
Information & History
Bailey Mill is located in Delph, in the Oldham area. It was one of many Woollen Textile Mills in the area. The Mill was built in three stages, the first stage was constructed in 1863, and the other parts were built in 1865 and 1871. The Mill was owned by brothers David and Henry Mallalieu, they founded the Mallalieus business in 1856. The Mill was constructed near a railway line which was known as the ‘Delph Donkey’, the line was later extended to the village in 1851 so wool and coal could have been brought in easily.
In the 1890s, the company gained a positive reputation for creating good quality woollen cloths, the firm began creating shirts but later expanded into making flannelling for men’s trousers and women’s dresses. The firm also produced material for hats and supplied hatmakers in nearby Stockport, and Luton in Bedfordshire. Like many textile mills, Mallalieus manufactured fabrics for uniforms during the two World Wars.
In 1996 the Gledhills, another family of textile specialists in the area, bought the company and the production was moved to a nearby facility known as Valley Mill. The site closed around the same time and has sat derelict ever since. The site suffered a large-scale fire in 2016 which was a result of arson. The site remains in a ruined state today with the main part which caught alight, demolished.
An old photo of the mill featuring the main building before the fire (taken in 2008 by The Lone Ranger)
The Explore
This was a nice easy one, there is a public footpath which runs past the front of the site, and there were various gaps in the Heras fencing, most buildings on the site were easy to access, but with some proving to be a bit more cumbersome than others. We spent a couple of hours here, but it began to get dark quickly, we could’ve easily spent another hour or so there.
Photos
Starting with a few externals:
We entered this nice little workshop first which was in fairly decent nick all things considered:
Next a look at a very decayed building, which appeared to be offices at some point:
The boiler house was lovely:
I enjoyed this little dilapidated room which houses a water tank and a pump setup. I almost missed this bit until Jake mentioned it to me while we were there:
Next, we made our way through some of the larger, open areas, although trashed and heavily stripped, they were still quite photogenic:
This final section we visited wasn’t exactly pleasing to the eye, but the view out the window made for a couple of decent shots:
It was getting pretty dark at this point, so a final portrait shot to get the whole chimney in from the window view, then it was time to make the four-hour journey back to Norfolk, as this was our last pin from the trip.
Thanks for looking!
Last edited:
