Bowmans Flour - Hitchin
Introduction
It's probably best to set an expectation for this write up before going further. This visit was a very armature ordeal which, during a long and unplanned afternoon, helped kill some time. The photos have sat idle on the drives until the site was bought up by JST earlier.
That being said, there is a strange enjoyment of squelching through a dark and slightly trashed industrial plant whilst ankle deep in pigeon shit on a warm day. The knowledge that you will leave without any stress and call by the local corner shop for an overpriced coke to cool off is something I'd missed from the usual post-explore routine. It also gives a bit of freedom to wave the camera around with the ISO set to a million and quickly image anything and everything, without feeling guilty of not spending a few moments to correctly frame everything.
The visit overall was nothing extreme by any measure and consisted of clambering along rooftops and pipes to get into anything interesting.
History
There isn't a great deal online regarding the mill:
Ickleford mill (or Shillington Mill?) refers to the initial water-wheel powered flour mill situated on site since 1892. The site is situated along a tributary of the River Hiz, the River Oughton, which powered the mill.
The mill would be bought out by Bowman and Sons in 1914, later known as Bowmans Milling, who continued to operate and expand the site throughout. A lot of the structures standing today date back to the 1960s.
Closure of milling operations was announced in 2016 with plans to continue manufacturing and admin operations at the site. Sometime between 2016 and 2021, the site then fully shut down. Post closure the site has stood dormant with a lot of the production equipment sold off. As of 2023 demolition has been on the cards, with contamination from the mill leaking into the waterways during summer '23, it will soon dissolve into another cheap housing estate.
Images
The site is formed of around three main structures with the milling plant and modern extension being of the most interest. I'll start off with the modern sections and then work into the more interesting milling building.
The loading/unloading chutes were the first part we had a nose around. Numerous chutes leading down to align with trailers.
Despite being the usual affair for grain related derelictions, this first peak inside pretty much set the tone for the initial view inside the site
This may be the first time I've ever used the camera flash.
Moving upstairs, things got a little bit more interesting.
And then It went back to being meh.
Before contracting a pigeon-based illness, we moved into the more elderly structure of the site.
Having spent a good few minuets clambering around the roof I spotted a way in that wasn't a guaranteed hospital visit.
The wooden flooring was a nice touch along with the dated design elements.
Moving into the sections which hadn't had the roof removed.
This area started to appear in a generally good state with a few hints of decay to improve the scenes.
No idea what any of this is.
This electrical switch-panel was really well placed for a few photos. The holes in the floor mark where machinery once stood in the way.
From an image perspective, this was "the shot" here.
To finish up, this. What ever this is.
Anyway, that'll be all.
KP_
KP_
