D
Damon
Guest
Guest
Our final site of the day was Lob Lane Mill on the banks of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in Brierfield. Lob Lane Mill, known locally as Veveers Mill, was built in various stages between 1844 and 1879 as a steam powered weaving mill.
In recent years, the mill was home to a major employer in the area, Trojan Products, manufacturers of a wide variety of fibreglass products such as false cladding and dormers. Full size product samples and patterns still occupy a good amount of floor space. Trojan moved out in 2001 to relocate to Clayton le Moors and the mill remained empty. In 2004, planning permission was granted for the canal side buildings to be converted into apartments/penthouses, with the remaining areas being demolished for housing.
But that’s not all. Another company by the name of Glasdon Designs Ltd also occupied space in the mill. The Glasdon Group design and manufacture small modular buildings, such as shelters, temporary site buildings and kiosks (they designed the small one-manned London Transport Travel Information Kiosks). Because of the similarity in a lot of the products, it is possible that they worked in conjunction with Trojan at this site. A large amount of company paperwork, technical drawings and records remain. One file I looked through was the design schematics for an airlock for British Aerospace. The Glasdon Group is still going strong, however the Designs arm is no longer featured on the group websites.
The mill attracted local interest last October courtesy of some nasty orrible little scrotes smashing about 130 of the 270 windows on the canal side of the mill. Police patrols in the area were stepped up to keep the little sods away.
This was a cracking location, with some large empty spaces but also a helluva lot of stuff still in situ. Old school original workbenches with built in vices, original moulds for crests and coats of arms, tools and equipment. Oh, and did I mention the cellars with the vaulted ceiling and natural spring in the corner? Some good light painting to be had down here, but unfortunately my photography was abruptly cut short when my back-up batteries died, the rechargeables having run out of juice at the start of the day
Found it really hard to choose which pics to post, cos there's just so much to fit in. So here we are then.....
In recent years, the mill was home to a major employer in the area, Trojan Products, manufacturers of a wide variety of fibreglass products such as false cladding and dormers. Full size product samples and patterns still occupy a good amount of floor space. Trojan moved out in 2001 to relocate to Clayton le Moors and the mill remained empty. In 2004, planning permission was granted for the canal side buildings to be converted into apartments/penthouses, with the remaining areas being demolished for housing.
But that’s not all. Another company by the name of Glasdon Designs Ltd also occupied space in the mill. The Glasdon Group design and manufacture small modular buildings, such as shelters, temporary site buildings and kiosks (they designed the small one-manned London Transport Travel Information Kiosks). Because of the similarity in a lot of the products, it is possible that they worked in conjunction with Trojan at this site. A large amount of company paperwork, technical drawings and records remain. One file I looked through was the design schematics for an airlock for British Aerospace. The Glasdon Group is still going strong, however the Designs arm is no longer featured on the group websites.
The mill attracted local interest last October courtesy of some nasty orrible little scrotes smashing about 130 of the 270 windows on the canal side of the mill. Police patrols in the area were stepped up to keep the little sods away.
This was a cracking location, with some large empty spaces but also a helluva lot of stuff still in situ. Old school original workbenches with built in vices, original moulds for crests and coats of arms, tools and equipment. Oh, and did I mention the cellars with the vaulted ceiling and natural spring in the corner? Some good light painting to be had down here, but unfortunately my photography was abruptly cut short when my back-up batteries died, the rechargeables having run out of juice at the start of the day
Found it really hard to choose which pics to post, cos there's just so much to fit in. So here we are then.....
Loading Bay from the canal
Explorette and Gibbo survey the trashed records room
And blimey there's a lot to go through
Airlock drawings
London Transport Kiosk designs
Workshop vice
Crest mould and casting
Queen Mothers crest
Explorette and Gibbo survey the trashed records room
And blimey there's a lot to go through
Airlock drawings
London Transport Kiosk designs
Workshop vice
Crest mould and casting
Queen Mothers crest
