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Report - - Wood Treatment Ltd. Offices, Bosley March 2025 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Wood Treatment Ltd. Offices, Bosley March 2025

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mookster

I am friends with the smooth Mars Bar man
Regular User
Another from a recent jaunt.

History...

The mills on the River Dane at Bosley have been around since the mid-18th century, originally built to refine the copper and brass produced at a nearby smelting plant. Situated roughly 600 metres apart and known as the Higher and Lower works. In the early 19th century the mills were sold and converted to instead produce silk and cotton products, before changing operations again into a corn mill in the 1860s. The corn milling carried on into the 1930s when it was again taken over and converted for a different use, this time by a company called Wood Treatment Ltd. who produced fine sawdust, wood flour, wood shavings and before long both mica and coconut shell products too. In 2008 the firm was taken over by the Boden Group and still continues operations to this day.

The explosion...

At approximately 9:10am on July 17th 2015 an explosion occurred inside an area of the mill, followed by an enormous secondary explosion and followed by a third subsequent explosion. The three explosions in quick succession completely destroyed much of the Higher mill building and seriously damaged many more structures around the site. The cause was deemed to be a dust explosion, which itself stirred up a vast quantity of further accumulated dust and set off the even larger secondary explosion.

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The subsequent fires around the site burned for three days before being brought under full control., By that point, much of the mill complex lay in ruins, and rescuers moved more than 800 tonnes of rubble in their search for survivors. Fire fighters remained on site for over a month. After the search and rescue mission was completed, officials counted four injured persons and four deceased. Those tragically killed in the blasts were named as Derek Moore, 62, Dorothy Bailey, 62, William Barks, 51 and Jason Shingler, 38, whose body was never found. It was one of the worst industrial incidents in the country in recent memory.

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Once the investigation into the explosions began, it quickly became apparent that concerns over the dust buildup inside the wood flour mill had been raised for a long time previously and nothing had been done to remedy the situation, leaving in some areas mounds of accumulated sawdust over a metre high. In addition to that, there were other issues including a lack of maintenance on machinery as machines weren't permitted to stop, damaged or faulty machinery wasn't fixed until it was completely unusable and when it was fixed it was bodged with second hand parts on the cheap, there was a reluctance to use outside contractors for repairs, and the cleaning team had been cut down to one lady, who died in the blast. The mill did have a spark detection system installed in 2012 but it was faulty and not working properly at the time. In an incident that occurred previously which should have resulted in changes, few weeks before the explosions a motor buried under a pile of sawdust had caught fire.

After an extensive investigation that last over four years, in November 2019 the company was charged with corporate manslaughter. The company director, George Boden, was charged with four counts of gross negligence manslaughter, and two mill managers were charged with offences under the HSE Act but pleaded not guilty. During the trial, various experts and workers told the courts about the poor condition of much of the machinery - including motors buried in dust and with vibrations far exceeding industry standards, a rooftop dust collector which had already suffered but contained an explosion that bent the door, a fan which had to be chained to the floor to stop it moving. Various ex-workers told tales of how high the dust accumulations could get, how various parts of the mill were so thick with dust you couldn't breathe, and how the workers were fighting a losing battle trying to keep the dust down and the mill working.

On April 29th, the judge instructed the jury to find the two mill managers not guilty, and the manslaughter charges against the company and Boden were also dropped. But both he and the company plead guilty to an offence under the HSE Act, and on June 18th Boden was sentenced to a nine month prison sentence suspended for 18 months plus a fine of £12,000, and the company itself was fined £75,000.

Much of the above info comes from an excellent article here which is well worth a read - A Dark Day in Cheshire: Bosley Mill Explosion - Dust Safety Science

A plaque located on a small bridge next to where the mill once stood was erected as a mark of remembrance for the four individuals who lost their lives that day.

The explore...

The offices were located across the road from the site of the explosion. A single storey structure built in the 1950s, it housed the admin and office space for the mills. After the explosion happened, the company used it to store items salvaged from the rubble of the mill, and was used to store evidence during the police investigation. The two rooms nearest the epicentre of the explosion have some amazing natural decay, I would imagine the force of the blasts compromised that area of roof. The rest of the building is a bit of a mess of office stuff and laboratory equipment.

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Thanks for looking :)
 

Mikeymutt

28DL Regular User
Regular User
That's weird, I had never heard of this and I was talking to a mate a couple of days ago about my weekend explores and he mentioned this place. It looked like quite a few buildings on maps.
 

mookster

I am friends with the smooth Mars Bar man
Regular User
That's weird, I had never heard of this and I was talking to a mate a couple of days ago about my weekend explores and he mentioned this place. It looked like quite a few buildings on maps.

There are the offices, and the row of old workers cottages next to it that are also derelict but entirely meh. The rest of the Higher mill site where the explosion occurred is all still in use by the company and other smaller companies, there are loads of logs stored around where the explosion happened now.

There are some derelict bits in the Lower mill which have been covered on here before and I didn't realise until afterwards, and a large derelict house a short walk away too. So a little bit in the area.
 

JaffaTB

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
I did this a few months back well the houses and whats left of the factory, didn't know about the offices bit until i got back so will have to revisit

Good photos i'm definitely going to go back to see it
 

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Calamity Jane

i see beauty in the unloved, places & things
Regular User
What a horrific story. No jail time for 4 lives. That is horrendous.
Uncaring owners, dire conditions, I hope the families took out private cases, or CICA at least paid out, though no amount of money can replace people.

On the up side, what a nice explore around what is left.
 

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