real time web analytics
Report - - Brock/Leyland Mill - Wigan - 2019 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Brock/Leyland Mill - Wigan - 2019

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

Paradox

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
The Wiganese Derp Hunt part 2 - This is my first report under my "Exploring with Unicorns and Robot Dinosaurs" pseudonym :coat

We had originally planned a stop off at the ever popular Winstanley Hall but we got well busted by an angry man with a dog so made our excuses and sloped off with our tails between our legs and headed over to Brock Mill instead.

Once again my epic shortness nearly resulted in some intimate lady piercings on the way in but the god of barbed wire took pity on me and only snagged my shorts. A little wiggle (well imagine a fat monkey standing on one leg waving its other leg around in the air and you get the picture - it wasn't pretty or elegant!) but I was free and in.

Is it worth a visit? Well it is pretty (very) derpy now and the latest fire hasn't helped any, but it was a nice little bimble with @Bigjobs, @jaynelouise and the nameless one. I didnt go into the burned out part as the floor was a little too sketchy for my liking and I'd already nearly put a foot through the floor as it was! Anyway, we had a laugh, got some boob stickers and took a few photos.

History (absolutely 100% shamelessly stolen from Estoeric Eric's report - sorry not sorry!)

Brock Mill first began operations around the mid-1700s and was further expanded when The Earl of Balcarres bought the mill and built a furnace at Haigh Foundry, which was half a mile downstream. The iron smelting business didn't thrive and furnaces at Haigh were given up as well as work at the forge at Brock Mill. However, the two sites began to prosper and build fire engines. At this time Robert Daglish was appointed as chief engineer in 1804. From 1812 to 1835 Daglish helped build the first locomotive for Lancashire (1812) and the foundry became skilled at casting large steam cylinders as the forge wrought the parts which couldn't be cast. In 1835 The Earl leased the business for 21 years to Messrs Evans & Ryley, soon to be joined by a Mr Burrows. They re-entered the locomotives business and built around 110-120 locomotives. However, locomotives were only part of the business. Haigh Foundry was producing swing iron bridges and dock ironwork for Liverpool and Hull and large steam engines for coal and metal mines. The even attempted iron architectural work. After the 21-year lease had run out, the three men were getting old and didn't renew the lease. Instead, Messrs Birley & Thompson saw the opportunity at hand and took another 21-year lease. Within this time, Haigh Foundry was concentrating on winding engines but had also expanded into brick and tile making and continued to build locomotives that tendered for the Festiniog Railway’s ‘Prince’ class. By the late 1870s, the market was less buoyant and the depression of the early 1880s hit Haigh hard. The lease was given up and the works closed in January 1885.

More recently, the remaining buildings were used for producing herbal medicine with evidence showing so, scattered throughout the building. There is no date to be found as to when medicine production stopped here but from what we found inside it seemed to be around 2006/7. Next to the site of Brock Mill is an operational iron foundry, (J.T. & E Castings) which has been working since 2010.

I would like to point out that no boobs or bits were harmed in the making of this report.

Anyway, here is a few pics taken on phone and cameras :) before we sailed off into the sunset in our new boat.

48016178557_66cce413f4_b.jpg


48016178187_f50f417551_b.jpg


48016084546_186b7c04bb_b.jpg


48016084451_03e7bd7757_b.jpg


48016101573_cf2b865781_b.jpg


48016089941_4f66364459_b.jpg


48016101883_7eed2cea9d_b.jpg


48016176762_723fa8d144_b.jpg


48016177067_ca5555e467_b.jpg


48016089626_d828767e97_b.jpg


48016089366_f2bc320978_b.jpg


48016100633_f172a26922_b.jpg


48016089096_0bfe1ce68a_b.jpg


48016176077_fd7bc3965b_b.jpg


48016176212_8fbed40ccf_b.jpg


48016088081_c58da3a85e_b.jpg


48016175207_6430985d23_b.jpg


48016173122_679b931f99_b.jpg


48016096978_59ab44c42e_b.jpg


48016172822_d0dfc60868_b.jpg


48016085096_0b651d241d_b.jpg


48016085281_3dcf37826e_b.jpg


48016172202_5c00b0ee00_b.jpg


48016098548_b3e92662d7_b.jpg


48016176597_ac6184ab65_b.jpg


48016177997_4d370cba01_b.jpg


48016091541_3d2ca3e7a5_b.jpg



Pic courtesy of @jaynelouise
48016097643_5c3984042c_b.jpg


Pic courtesy of @jaynelouise
48016086251_f299bf36e4_b.jpg
 
Last edited:

Who has read this thread (Total: 215) View details

Top