# Hardy and Hanson Brewery - Kimberley, Nottinghamshire - December 2012



## shatners (Dec 7, 2012)

Hello again... four explores in two weeks... I need to calm down a bit lol!

First off, big thanks to SkanyPants for messaging me some awesome pointers for navigating the building... everything was exactly as described... big cheers mate!

I really enjoyed my afternoon wandering around 'Hardy and Hansons' Brewery in Kimberley enjoying the evening sun.

The site is enormous and like most of these types of sites, the constant addition of new extensions to buildings as the business grew meant that once your in everything is interconnected and you just wander from one immense space to the next unhindered. I was on my own and the place is full of attention seeking pigeons so there were numerous 'shepherds pie running down the back of legs' incidents as I bumbled about in the dark but overall thoroughly enjoyed it. Also sorry for some of the photos being noisy, I don't take a tripod when I'm on my own so have to shoot 1600/3200 ISO.

Thanks for looking!

*History:*

The Kimberley Brewery was established and operated by the brewer Hardys & Hansons, and has a heritage dating from 1832. It was the oldest independent brewery in Nottinghamshire.

Samuel Robinson opened the first commercial brewery in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire, England in a rented bake-house using water from the Alley Spring in what is now called Hardy Street.

Stephen Hanson meanwhile built Hansons Limited on Brewery Street in 1847, also using water from the Alley Spring

William & Thomas Hardy were successful beer merchants from Heanor who bought Samuel Robinsons brewery in 1857. The current brewery is largely based on the buildings erected by them in 1861 when they moved out of the old bake-house.

Also in 1861, Stephen Hanson died and the business was carried on by his wife Mary and son Robert Hanson.

There was much friendly rivalry between the two brewing companies who proceeded to buy pubs throughout the area to supply with their own ales.

Both breweries began to run short of water. By agreement the water from the local Holly Well spring was shared between them. Having been attracted by the supply of excellent brewing water from the Holly Well, both breweries thrived independently until 1930, when under increasing pressure from larger brewing companies and lack of male successors to the Hardy's Brewery, the two companies combined.

In 2006, The Hardys & Hansons Kimberley Brewery and all of its public houses were sold in a multi-million pound deal to Greene King brewery, who decided to end the brewing tradition in Kimberley in "a cost effective move" and will sell the Kimberley site, moving its distribution centre to Eastwood. Brewing will switch to the main Greene King site at Bury St Edmunds.

In 2011 the brewery site was purchased by the Leicester based Alif Group.


























































































































Thanks for looking... Mat


----------



## skankypants (Dec 7, 2012)

Spot on...


----------



## Priority 7 (Dec 7, 2012)

Superb set this place is a great explore no pics of the well  probably my favourite UK explore of recent times...


----------



## UE-OMJ (Dec 8, 2012)

Really enjoyed this report... Cheers for sharing.


----------



## Sshhhh... (Dec 8, 2012)

Great pics, looks like an interesting splore. Thanks


----------



## shatners (Dec 8, 2012)

Thanks everyone... Im going to go back again with some headphones in turned up loud so the sound of pigeons flipping out in the dark don't make me run like a pansy lol!


----------



## flyboys90 (Dec 8, 2012)

Nice one,great pics.


----------



## Priority 7 (Dec 8, 2012)

Ahh pidgeons have a way of sounding human after a while


----------

