Tales of the Urban Explorer: Crimble Mill

in #urbex5 years ago (edited)

I am getting short of mills to visit in the Rochdale area, so after this one and the next, it will be off to a new area.

There have been no recent reports of Crimble Mill, the last being 2017 and so we arrived (@goblinknackers and me) expecting to only perhaps gain entry.

IMG_7471.jpg

I always try to find some history and there a little attached to this one.

The original cotton mill was built in 1829 for Charles Stott. The land was owned by the Kenyon family in 1761 who owned a water-powered fulling mill on the site. Charles Stott built the present mill for cotton spinning and in the 1850s it was converted to the latest invention, steam power. In 1859 the Kenyon's bought the mill back.

IMG_7473.jpg

I also found this story, how much of it is true I don’t know.

On Monday night the 22nd December 1845 about 8 o'clock, as Nancy Wood of Crimble near Heywood, was returning from her works at the Crimble Mill she missed her way and fell into the River Roch and was taken downstream, although every exertion has been made she has never been seen since……..

15 yrs old light brown hair dressed in a blue printed dress, brown holland pinafore and CLOGS, any person with any info please contact the parents or the local police office and they will receive a reward for their trouble… of £3.

…that was a poster which was posted around Heywood on Jan 17th, 1846…

The river is next to the mill but swept away? It's hardly rapids down there; in fact, I could probably wade my way across it!

IMG_7470.jpg

While we could see the mill, it was a case of how do get to it. We parked at the top of a very dodgy road purposely designed to bugger up your car (does this sound familiar?), and asked a local dude who appeared to be around 22 years of age but living in a big house how to get down there.

Was he the local Drug Baron? This could well be but he obliged us by pointing down the hill and saying, ‘Just take a right, you can drive down’.

Yes, of course, you can if you want a wreck of a car when reaching the bottom'

Ignoring Drug Barons’ advice, we walked down a road full of nasty potholes, some of which could incapacitate the unwary walker and reached Crimble Mill.

IMG_7479.jpg


'Beware of the dog?'. Who feeds this man-eating hound, or is it's sole source of nourishment the likes of us??!!

I noticed a nasty spiky metal fence to the left and many boarded-up windows and doors at the bottom of the hill.

IMG_7472.jpg

The Mill looked quite impressive and large, so large I had to almost back into a river to get it all in, and even that did not cut it. A couple of trucks came down the opposite hill and made for the Mill at the far end.

IMG_7476.jpg

Was it still in use? This was not what the information I had read about on the Urbex sites. We could see barbed wire, electronic gates, and these truck dudes entering and leaving.

IMG_7478.jpg

Let’s ask them about the Mill’, I motioned to @goblinknackers, who agreed. This has worked in the past, why not again?

Approaching one of the vans, Mr Knackers hailed the driver and asked about the entrance to the old Mill.

You can’t go in there’, said a lined skinny ropey looking bloke with a big nose in a negative tone, 'It’s dangerous’.

No fucking shit it’s dangerous, aren’t they all?

The owner wouldn’t want anyone going in’, continued big nose, and then drove through the gates into the far side of the Mill.

So that was it, or was it?

Disappointed we started back up the roadside and then noticed the spiky fence ended with a more yielding fence that had been bent back.

This is our way in’, I proclaimed, except it wasn’t quite that easy.

After scrambling through the fence, we were faced with a huge drop down a slippery slope.

Grab hold of these big branches’. I said to @goblinknackers, not realising he was already part way down.

IMG_7480.jpg

To get down wasn’t too bad, but how to get back? The slope was far too steep to navigate going uphill, it was more cliff than slope.

IMG_7510.jpg

Whatever! We were down in the jungle now and headed for one corner of the mill. The foliage and vegetation was navigable but it was like the land that time had forgotten.

IMG_7481.jpg

After a few goes at getting closer and being stopped by dense vegetation we spotted a hole in the side of the Mill. An entry point!

IMG_7483.jpg

The other side presented a three-foot drop but it was dry. We dropped down keeping quiet. Big nose and his crew would not be impressed after telling us to nicely fuck off earlier.

It was dark in there and I was glad for the big light on this occasion.

IMG_7482.jpg

IMG_7488.jpg

The large room we saw was full of crap as usual but presented a few personal items. This letter was typed in 1984 and had been left on the floor. Whoever worked here was related to Pensions.

IMG_7485.jpg

IMG_7487.jpg

IMG_7490.jpg

Besides some pipes and vales as well as some old pulleys there was little else in the large room and so we exited as there appeared to be no way into the main part of the mill from here.

How to get into the big Mill?

IMG_7491.jpg

IMG_7495.jpg

Neither of us fancied crossing the swampy ground so we made our way around the ‘swamp’ in an attempt to get to the far side.

IMG_7492.jpg

Getting there was tedious and reminded me of plowing through dense woods when I was a boy.

IMG_7499.jpg

IMG_7500.jpg

This part of the mill appeared to be where the big nose and the boys were working, and there were goods in this building even though the roof was missing.

IMG_7494.jpg

This is not where we wanted to be, and so we continued around this trash heap of a tin mess in an attempt to get to what looked like another hole in the Mill.

IMG_7502.jpg

After fifteen minutes of arsing about, trying to avoid stinging nettles, thorn branches and avoid falling we got to the ‘hole' only to find it was not a hole.

IMG_7505.jpg

I suppose Crimble Mill was a failure for the most part. After farting around to get to the non-existent hole it was a matter of backtracking the way we came and then finding a way back up that monstrous cliff we both foolishly scrambled down.

IMG_7508.jpg

IMG_7511.jpg

Deepest swamp awaited the unwary!

IMG_7512.jpg

IMG_7514.jpg

Going back the same route was simply not an option so we made our way around the base of the cliff eventually finding this bridge and a public footpath.

IMG_7515.jpg

At this point the ‘cliff’ was climbable, and what do we find at the top? Barbed wire fencing that had been broken down. It seems like we were on a familiar path of where others had once trodden.

A jaunt across a farmer’s field ended with me being stung by those blasted nettles on the very last fence.

IMG_7516.jpg

Not the best place we have visited. I’m sure the next will be more entertaining.


DivindingLine.JPG

SteemEnginer.gif

  • Earn FREE Stellar Lumens from Coinbase by taking partaking in a simple quiz here
  • Earn Passive Manna by simply signing up for it here. Mannabase is a Universal Basic Income Cryptocurrency
  • Earn STEEM and digital cards while playing STEEM Monsters, the best game on the STEEM Blockchain here.
  • Earn JSECoin buy simply creating an account and Mine while you browse here

line.jpg

Drooling Maniac.JPG

If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.

Sort:  

What you did get to was interesting to me. I wonder why somebody went to the effort of unbolting the shut off valve and then leaving it.

And I'd have a couple of questions about dear old Nancy. Why did it take 26 days to get the poster up? How do they know she went in the river? Was she the only young woman 'never seen since'?

Thanks for another wonderful urbex. Even if it were mostly a bust.

I wonder why somebody went to the effort of unbolting the shut off valve and then leaving it.

No idea, I know it's a valve.. and then my knowledge in this area kind of finishes :)

As for Nancy, I don't know. 150 year old question... there's nobody around to answer it now, The river must have been an assumption, but it's hardly fast flowing now.

That's too bad it was a bust. Maybe your next one will turn out better. It looks like there would have been plenty to explore had you been able to get in!

I scouted out this weeks visit, last week. We can get in this time at least. @goblinknackers has been away and there's no way I'm going in this one alone.

wuss... :)

Ugh! That basement looks grimy. I can imagine that the upper floors would be interesting - but very dangerous!
That poor girl. A 15-year-old walking home in December at 8pm! She'd probably just done a 12-hour shift. The river might have been in spate after rain or snowfall, and if it was deep she may have died of cold as soon as she fell in.

I love that the building appears to have actual plants, shrubs and small trees growing out of the side -- sort of like these vertical garden dealies you see every so often. But not the original intent of the place ... I'm guessing.

You would be right, they were not planted by the owners :)

That's nature reclaiming back it's land. Happens all the time in these places, inside and out.

Not sure what you could have said to Big Nose had they found you. Wonder what they might have done? Hate to end up in the swamp like the poor lass.

It's just some embarrassment really and that's all. We are not teens anymore and two middle aged blokes may have looked suspicious. They could have called the cops but they cant hold you.

One touch on the body constitutes assault in the UK. You have to be careful what you do here.

‘It’s dangerous’.
‘No fucking shit it’s dangerous, aren’t they all?’

This was entertaining, if only for the exchanges between you, big nose and your inner conscience

That's why I call them 'Tales'.. there's a story as well as the experience and everytime something seems to happen.

You are very adventurous @slobberchops but I bet the place inside will surely fall apart when somebody would try to wander around it.
RIP to the owner who feel into the river, it is like my grandfather who fell too and his body was never recovered.

bet the place inside will surely fall apart when somebody would try to wander around it.

The upper floors yes.. you are risking your life going up the stairs but you get a feel after a while on where to go and where to avoid.

This adventure was not a bust...you got my heart rate up and I'm sure yours was up most of the time while exploring all the unknowns and having big nose to possibly contend with if caught. I'm kind of getting why you do this.

He wouldn't have been happy but would have just turfed us off to be honest. It does get your heart acting at times though, all this subterfuge.

holy moly this was really interesting! i would have pissed myself in an abandoned mills. so creepy looking haha

and the swamp....i think i watch too many horror movies, i have so many things to say, but mostly RUUUUUNNN lol

i would have pissed myself in an abandoned mills. so creepy looking haha

I wont go in them alone, they are way too creepy. Take someone with you and it's a lot different. You grow an extra set of balls.

It was swampy around there, and we both did well to come out of it with dry feet.

I got a gander at that "extra set of balls" you mention here -- the other day. You really go first class in that department. Or the goblin-man does. One or the other.

BTW ... the first time I saw the name @goblinknackers ... I thought it meant something like "Little Ghost Killer" ... goblinknackers = GhostBusters, etc. Isn't the knacker-yards what you people call a slaughterhouse or the rendering plant? (Where they reduce animal carcasses down into ... well, other stuff. ) You seem to have odd names for many things. Kind of like the French in that way.

I got a gander at that "extra set of balls" you mention here -- the other day. You really go first class in that department. Or the goblin-man does. One or the other.

Having 2 people makes all the difference. Neither of us would go to these places solo, though I did a few of the earlier ones alone.

Hiya, lizanomadsoul here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made into our Honorable Mentions in Daily Travel Digest 537.

Your post has been manually curated by the @steemitworldmap team. If you like what we're doing, please drop by to check out all the rest of today's great posts and consider upvoting and supporting us.
Learn More

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.35
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70541.68
ETH 3582.21
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.74