Fairly local one for me, and can't pass up such a large site, especially when it's a walk on! Been covered countless times, but it's still clinging on to life. If you're into your Graff, it's more like an art gallery these days. I believe planning permission was obtained for demolition in July 21, but nothing has happened, other than lots of fires...
Also did the building adjacent to the site, but really struggling to work out what it was, doesn't appear on side by side maps at all, so is more modern than the 70s. Not sure if it was an addition during the final rebuild of the site. Basement was a hellpit of False Widows though.
Going to separate the explore into sections, so it's easier to locate things
1( Torridge Vale Dairy Production Complex
2( Torridge Vale Dairy Reception building
3( Warehouses
4( Storage Rooms/Laboratory/Workshop
5( The Unknown Building (out of shot)
(Photo Heavy, there's a lot of buildings to cover)
The History -
The Torridge Vale Dairy (TVD) was founded by Robert Sandford in 1874 on the site of the former Rolle Canal Stores near Taddiport Bridge on the banks of the River Torridge. He decided to build here in order to capitalise on the recent extension of the nearby LSWR Branch line between Barnstaple and Bideford into Torrington. The area around Torrington had an abundance of milk, and the rail connection allowed for this to be exported rapidly, with milk loaded on the morning train able to reach London the same day.
The Dairy started out small, but soon began to grow with the advancement of steam powered milk separation techniques and production methods. Due to its commanding location in rural Devon, it was able to grow into one of the most technologically advanced dairies in the South West.
By 1931, TVD was receiving milk from 50 local farms, with a peak of 1,850 gallons per day. They managed to secure a lucrative partnership with Cow & Gate, which saw this peak steadily grow through the 30s, reaching 10,500 gallons by 1939.
The site underwent significant expansion in 1948-52 due to demand outstripping the original sites capacity. Most of this work was completed by 1950, and the reconstruction would appear to have been planned in two separate stages, being designed to the architectural norms of their respective times.
The building located on the northern side looks to have been planned during the 1930s growth, as it is distinctly Art Deco in design, similar to that of many cinemas from the late 30s. The stand out feature is the spiral staircase next to the main road, encased within glass bricks. This building was used for the bulk delivery and storage of unprocessed milk.
In contrast, the Reception Building follows a more functional approach typical of post war Britain. The buildings were linked both physically and aesthetically by the bridge between them, along with further sections of glass bricks.
The new factory building was equipped with state of the art dairy machinery, with far more powerful engines, and five huge steam boilers to produce the necessary quantities of steam for the separation process. It also had one of the largest milk drying process machines in the world, and a 175ft reinforced concrete chimney, which was the first to be constructed entirely of concrete in the entire country.
After completion of the expansion, the dairy could comfortably handle 60,000 gallons of milk per day, TVD underwent further growth during the 50s and 60s.
Ownership of the dairy would change in 1959 when the United Dairies merged with Cow & Gate to form Unigate Ltd and, by 1969, the trading name was Unigate Foods Ltd. In August 1979, ownership would change again when the Milk Marketing Board purchased a large share of Unigate's interests, including the TVD. They changed the name to Dairy Crest Foods, Torrington, and it was under this name that the dairy would fall from grace.
The last traditional milk churns were used at this time, with all future deliveries being via bulk tanker. Another rebuilding scheme was undertaken, at a cost of £5.3m. A new separating and butter making area was added, along with cold storage, and a fully enclosed continuous production line under computer control. This scheme allowed it to remain one of the most modern dairies in the country. At this time, the Dairy produced butter, milk based desserts and skimmed milk powder.
All was not well in the dairy industry however. During the 1970s milk production was beginning to exceed consumption, so to combat this, milk quotas were introduced by the European Economic Community in April 1984.
This proved disastrous for the UK dairy industry, because the production cap forced a drop in the wholesale price of milk. This in turn forced many dairy farmers out of business, as milk was only ever remotely profitable for farmers at large scale. With a dwindling supply of milk, many larger dairies shut down for good, because their profit margins were effectively wiped out.
The TVD did their utmost to soldier on under the Dairy Crest brand, weathering the storm better than other dairies due to its central location in a large milk field. They also tried out production of Added Value products to try and keep the dairy profitable. They tried a UHT cream dessert first, then switched to a partnership with Clover Butter. This proved very successful, but with Torrington being so
far from the main markets, Clover production ended up being moved to the Midlands. This, coupled with Dairy Crest needing to make savings in order to survive, caused the closure of the dairy on 30th March 1993.
A local group of 50 farmers set up a new company under the name of Torridge Vale Ltd, to produce their own milk products and keep more of the profit. They set up in part of the building in 1998 and launched the 'Definitely Devon' brand, which proved very successful. Can't find any information on whether they used the dairy for any production, and when they vacated the building. The Definitely Devon brand was bought by Wiseman's in 2006. The company itself was dissolved in 2020 apparently.
Sources -
Milk & Modernism – The Rise and Fall of the Torrington Creamery
What is that Derelict Factory down in the river valley below Torrington? - Great Torrington Town Council/
The Explore -
Section 1
We chose to enter the site somewhat subtly, but it is a walk on, you can just wonder down the access road if you wish.
Started in the remains of the factory buildings, in the tall building, which would have originally contained 3 massive tanks, along with the rest of the production processes. You can see where the tanks used to be from the cutouts in the walkway at the top of the tallest section.
I hauled my arse to the top of the stairs even though I'm not that keen on heights, my companions waited at the bottom. Would have been nice to go on the roof at this point, but I'm not brave enough to walk on the rusty shitshow that is the remains of the walkways to reach the door.
Proceeded further into the factory complex, found the remains of a machine and a tank here, and the start of what would turn out to be a lot of decent Graff.
The Tank-
The same tank from the floor above -
The Machine -
Found a staircase, so we decided to work down then up, so we headed to the lower ground floor, and ended up in a large basement area with the rusting remains of a goods lift, some tanks and a machine that looks to have last been inspected in 1984!
Lots of peeling paint on the stairs -
Inside the lift -
The Machine -
One of the tanks -
Followed the room around and back up a different staircase and came across a room with only the frame for the floor remaining... somebody has braved the void, as there's some half decent Graff on the opposite wall.
Headed down and continued following the complex around, ending up in another large room that was in shit state. The inner security fence was down outside this part of the building, so we made our way across the road to a warehouse building.
*June Visit of this section ends here*
We managed to find our way to the upper floors via the bridge from the reception building. We were greeted with more machinery remains dotted about, and some large open rooms.
Roof of the bridge -
The glass bricks on the spiral staircase -
Found the remains of some control panels and some machinery on the ground floor, so I was able to get my gauges fix!
Came full circle at the main staircase, so headed up to get the last couple of floors. Not much to be seen, other than empty rooms, and some Graff.
These stairs go all the way to the roof, so myself and one of my companions ended up negotiating the series of ladders up to one of the towers. Perfect spot to send the drone up.
Section 2
There wasn't all that much to be seen in here, so report worthy photos are lacking. This is the Reception Building and is linked to the main production building via a bridge. Was able to get on the roof here, by walking over the roof of the bridge from the production side. Probably best to avoid the skylights, because it's a big drop
Section 3
This is a pair of large warehouse type buildings, with the bigger of the two having a couple of loading docks. There's wall to wall Graff in both, and some fuse boxes, nothing much else to see here.
There was a path down to the River Torridge to the left of here, which was where the obligatory burnt out car was located, (an old Nissan Micra in this case) rusting away in the elements.
Section 4
Entered a 2 storey building next, looks to have been an admin area at the warehouse end, possibly used by another company after closure of the dairy. Found a couple of dated documents lying around supporting this, and a load of new windows in storage.
Binder full of statements -
I'd hazard a guess this one has something to do with the Definitely Devon brand -
Returned to the ground floor and carried on through, where we found multiple store rooms with huge doors. Possibly the cold stores added in the early 80s? Found a refrigeration control panel in a roof section above them.
There's been a few fires in them of course. There's the remains of windows etc in one of them, including a couple packaged up ready for delivery.
Also found an old EPPT in a sorry state, probably works better than the ones we have in work though
Found the remains of a workshop -
And a small laboratory -
Oddities from this area -
There was another loading bay with a ton of dumped hand sanitiser, looks to have been set on fire repeatedly, it's a right mess. And a teddy bear that was unharmed
Also did the building adjacent to the site, but really struggling to work out what it was, doesn't appear on side by side maps at all, so is more modern than the 70s. Not sure if it was an addition during the final rebuild of the site. Basement was a hellpit of False Widows though.
Going to separate the explore into sections, so it's easier to locate things
1( Torridge Vale Dairy Production Complex
2( Torridge Vale Dairy Reception building
3( Warehouses
4( Storage Rooms/Laboratory/Workshop
5( The Unknown Building (out of shot)
(Photo Heavy, there's a lot of buildings to cover)
The History -
The Torridge Vale Dairy (TVD) was founded by Robert Sandford in 1874 on the site of the former Rolle Canal Stores near Taddiport Bridge on the banks of the River Torridge. He decided to build here in order to capitalise on the recent extension of the nearby LSWR Branch line between Barnstaple and Bideford into Torrington. The area around Torrington had an abundance of milk, and the rail connection allowed for this to be exported rapidly, with milk loaded on the morning train able to reach London the same day.
The Dairy started out small, but soon began to grow with the advancement of steam powered milk separation techniques and production methods. Due to its commanding location in rural Devon, it was able to grow into one of the most technologically advanced dairies in the South West.
By 1931, TVD was receiving milk from 50 local farms, with a peak of 1,850 gallons per day. They managed to secure a lucrative partnership with Cow & Gate, which saw this peak steadily grow through the 30s, reaching 10,500 gallons by 1939.
The site underwent significant expansion in 1948-52 due to demand outstripping the original sites capacity. Most of this work was completed by 1950, and the reconstruction would appear to have been planned in two separate stages, being designed to the architectural norms of their respective times.
The building located on the northern side looks to have been planned during the 1930s growth, as it is distinctly Art Deco in design, similar to that of many cinemas from the late 30s. The stand out feature is the spiral staircase next to the main road, encased within glass bricks. This building was used for the bulk delivery and storage of unprocessed milk.
In contrast, the Reception Building follows a more functional approach typical of post war Britain. The buildings were linked both physically and aesthetically by the bridge between them, along with further sections of glass bricks.
The new factory building was equipped with state of the art dairy machinery, with far more powerful engines, and five huge steam boilers to produce the necessary quantities of steam for the separation process. It also had one of the largest milk drying process machines in the world, and a 175ft reinforced concrete chimney, which was the first to be constructed entirely of concrete in the entire country.
After completion of the expansion, the dairy could comfortably handle 60,000 gallons of milk per day, TVD underwent further growth during the 50s and 60s.
Ownership of the dairy would change in 1959 when the United Dairies merged with Cow & Gate to form Unigate Ltd and, by 1969, the trading name was Unigate Foods Ltd. In August 1979, ownership would change again when the Milk Marketing Board purchased a large share of Unigate's interests, including the TVD. They changed the name to Dairy Crest Foods, Torrington, and it was under this name that the dairy would fall from grace.
The last traditional milk churns were used at this time, with all future deliveries being via bulk tanker. Another rebuilding scheme was undertaken, at a cost of £5.3m. A new separating and butter making area was added, along with cold storage, and a fully enclosed continuous production line under computer control. This scheme allowed it to remain one of the most modern dairies in the country. At this time, the Dairy produced butter, milk based desserts and skimmed milk powder.
All was not well in the dairy industry however. During the 1970s milk production was beginning to exceed consumption, so to combat this, milk quotas were introduced by the European Economic Community in April 1984.
This proved disastrous for the UK dairy industry, because the production cap forced a drop in the wholesale price of milk. This in turn forced many dairy farmers out of business, as milk was only ever remotely profitable for farmers at large scale. With a dwindling supply of milk, many larger dairies shut down for good, because their profit margins were effectively wiped out.
The TVD did their utmost to soldier on under the Dairy Crest brand, weathering the storm better than other dairies due to its central location in a large milk field. They also tried out production of Added Value products to try and keep the dairy profitable. They tried a UHT cream dessert first, then switched to a partnership with Clover Butter. This proved very successful, but with Torrington being so
far from the main markets, Clover production ended up being moved to the Midlands. This, coupled with Dairy Crest needing to make savings in order to survive, caused the closure of the dairy on 30th March 1993.
A local group of 50 farmers set up a new company under the name of Torridge Vale Ltd, to produce their own milk products and keep more of the profit. They set up in part of the building in 1998 and launched the 'Definitely Devon' brand, which proved very successful. Can't find any information on whether they used the dairy for any production, and when they vacated the building. The Definitely Devon brand was bought by Wiseman's in 2006. The company itself was dissolved in 2020 apparently.
Sources -
Milk & Modernism – The Rise and Fall of the Torrington Creamery
What is that Derelict Factory down in the river valley below Torrington? - Great Torrington Town Council/
The Explore -
Section 1
We chose to enter the site somewhat subtly, but it is a walk on, you can just wonder down the access road if you wish.
Started in the remains of the factory buildings, in the tall building, which would have originally contained 3 massive tanks, along with the rest of the production processes. You can see where the tanks used to be from the cutouts in the walkway at the top of the tallest section.
I hauled my arse to the top of the stairs even though I'm not that keen on heights, my companions waited at the bottom. Would have been nice to go on the roof at this point, but I'm not brave enough to walk on the rusty shitshow that is the remains of the walkways to reach the door.
Proceeded further into the factory complex, found the remains of a machine and a tank here, and the start of what would turn out to be a lot of decent Graff.
The Tank-
The same tank from the floor above -
The Machine -
Found a staircase, so we decided to work down then up, so we headed to the lower ground floor, and ended up in a large basement area with the rusting remains of a goods lift, some tanks and a machine that looks to have last been inspected in 1984!
Lots of peeling paint on the stairs -
Inside the lift -
The Machine -
One of the tanks -
Followed the room around and back up a different staircase and came across a room with only the frame for the floor remaining... somebody has braved the void, as there's some half decent Graff on the opposite wall.
Headed down and continued following the complex around, ending up in another large room that was in shit state. The inner security fence was down outside this part of the building, so we made our way across the road to a warehouse building.
*June Visit of this section ends here*
We managed to find our way to the upper floors via the bridge from the reception building. We were greeted with more machinery remains dotted about, and some large open rooms.
Roof of the bridge -
The glass bricks on the spiral staircase -
Found the remains of some control panels and some machinery on the ground floor, so I was able to get my gauges fix!
Came full circle at the main staircase, so headed up to get the last couple of floors. Not much to be seen, other than empty rooms, and some Graff.
These stairs go all the way to the roof, so myself and one of my companions ended up negotiating the series of ladders up to one of the towers. Perfect spot to send the drone up.
Section 2
There wasn't all that much to be seen in here, so report worthy photos are lacking. This is the Reception Building and is linked to the main production building via a bridge. Was able to get on the roof here, by walking over the roof of the bridge from the production side. Probably best to avoid the skylights, because it's a big drop
Section 3
This is a pair of large warehouse type buildings, with the bigger of the two having a couple of loading docks. There's wall to wall Graff in both, and some fuse boxes, nothing much else to see here.
There was a path down to the River Torridge to the left of here, which was where the obligatory burnt out car was located, (an old Nissan Micra in this case) rusting away in the elements.
Section 4
Entered a 2 storey building next, looks to have been an admin area at the warehouse end, possibly used by another company after closure of the dairy. Found a couple of dated documents lying around supporting this, and a load of new windows in storage.
Binder full of statements -
I'd hazard a guess this one has something to do with the Definitely Devon brand -
Returned to the ground floor and carried on through, where we found multiple store rooms with huge doors. Possibly the cold stores added in the early 80s? Found a refrigeration control panel in a roof section above them.
There's been a few fires in them of course. There's the remains of windows etc in one of them, including a couple packaged up ready for delivery.
Also found an old EPPT in a sorry state, probably works better than the ones we have in work though
Found the remains of a workshop -
And a small laboratory -
Oddities from this area -
There was another loading bay with a ton of dumped hand sanitiser, looks to have been set on fire repeatedly, it's a right mess. And a teddy bear that was unharmed
was a struggle to cut the photo count down 
