Brief History
The business was founded in 1871 in Rochdale as Turner Brothers by John, Robert and Samuel Turner to manufacture cotton-cloth-based mechanical packing.
In 1879 it became the first business in the United Kingdom to weave asbestos cloth with power-driven machinery, and the company changed its name to Turner Brothers Asbestos Company.
As part of their business, the company was one of the first to industrialise asbestos, and its eventual demise in 2001 became entangled with issues of asbestos litigation. Asbestos-related disease had itself become recognised due to a coroner's report into the death of Nellie Kershaw, a worker at their factory, in 1924, and various parliamentary inquiries and reports into asbestos-related disease thereafter. The company had directed their lawyers to strongly defend all such claims, due to the risk of litigation.
Following the demise of the business, which went into administration in October 2001 leaving a pension fund deficit estimated at £400 million, UK victims of the company's asbestos pollution were offered a fraction of the compensation to which they were entitled
In November 2004 Rochdale councillor Tom Stott, a former employee at Turner's, warned that any development of the site could be an environmental disaster, and that there could be so much asbestos waste in the ground that serious disturbance could lead to "Rochdale's Chernobyl."
Explore
I had seen this place posted somewhere but with no knowledge of any possible access or anything else I added it to my list to visits, I found myself free on a lovely sunny week day so I decided to take a trip to try and get it ticked off.
Arriving at the site I had already planned where I was going to park and the path I would take using Google maps and I was aware of security on the site, making my way to where I thought I could get in I was easily onto the land and having a wander around the outside of the buildings.
After having no luck getting in the first building I checked I continued my walk to the other side and spotted a door wide open! after a good mooch around this place lasting a good 3 hours (and hearing what I thought were footsteps while i was on the roof above a skylight) I eventually made my way back to my easy entry only to find the door now padlocked shut
it was a bit of a struggle finding my way back out 
Yes I knew the risks coming here and I did take precautions.
After the factory floor area I went up some stairs into the filter galleries
After that area I found some kind of record room
Then I went over a roof to the enticing tower
View from the top showing half the factory
couple more from on my way out
