The Old Textile Mill, Wales May 2016

This is a place me and Jon6D had on our list for a day out that I found difficult to get excited for..... that is until we got inside! The place was simply jaw dropping. Three floors crammed with equipment that has lay idle for so many years. I think only the fact that it is located in a small rural village has saved it from the usual vandals, scrap collectors, graffiti, etc. I just hope it's secluded location keeps it safe in future, or maybe many of the items are removed to museums where they will be looked after and survive. I won't pretend for a second that I know what most of the machinery and things in there were used for (apart from make wool "stuff"), but from a photographic / urbex angle we stuck gold that day. Visited February 2016. Hope you enjoy the pics.....






The Ground floor.....































Up to the second floor....








































Up to the third floor / attic.....

What an absolute gem, it's got everything from knitting to butter churning.The industrial archaeologists should be wetting their pants over this site.Thanks for sharing this beauty.

flyboys90 said:

What an absolute gem, it's got everything from knitting to butter churning.The industrial archaeologists should be wetting their pants over this site.Thanks for sharing this beauty.

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Haha thank you flyboy90 - yes, was amazing to see & explore..... but would be an even better experience if you knew all about this type of industry!

what a great find, i do like the old industrial buildings and seeing the workings. really enjoyed, this thanks Rod. Wouldn't mind a look myself one day

It looks like they went home after a days work and never came back again. The belts are still there and ready for production.

Great find - good shots too. Well done.

flyboys90 said:

What an absolute gem, it's got everything from knitting to butter churning.The industrial archaeologists should be wetting their pants over this site.Thanks for sharing this beauty.

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I glad you noticed the butter churn, I wasn't sure, did you see the paraffin heater in the previous pic?
Proper Job Rod, I enjoyed it, Thanks

From the outside i can see why you thought it was not much to get excited by but the inside was a goldmine - cracking job pal.

What a joyous place,any sign of the engine that drove the line shafting?

Amazing report!

oldscrote said:

What a joyous place,any sign of the engine that drove the line shafting?

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If it was still there, there is a big possibility that I photographed it! Took nearly 200 photos in there - but would need to know what I was looking for. If you can tell me what photo(s) the line shafting is in, I'll search through my photos? Thanks

Thank you all for your kind comments - glad you enjoyed

tazong said:

From the outside i can see why you thought it was not much to get excited by but the inside was a goldmine - cracking job pal.

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Thank you Taz and welcome back! Hope your move went well

The line shafting shows in a lot of the photos,it's the pulley system in the roof with the drive belts on.The engine needed to drive it all would either have been an old steam job or a stationary oil engine(outside possibility it may have been electric driven,but with the isolated nature of this place that is unlikely)

This place is incredible! Lovely pics

oldscrote said:

The line shafting shows in a lot of the photos,it's the pulley system in the roof with the drive belts on.The engine needed to drive it all would either have been an old steam job or a stationary oil engine(outside possibility it may have been electric driven,but with the isolated nature of this place that is unlikely)

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Thank you.... in the very first photo (on the right hand side of the building), barely visible underneath all the overgrown ivy and plants is the huge water mill wheel. Could this have been the power source? If it wasn't, and it was powered by an oil engine, the outside was overgrown so much it would've been hard to find!

Wow! So full of stuff you can barely move. Amazing find.

Stunning.. Loved this!

Vertigo Rod said:

Thank you.... in the very first photo (on the right hand side of the building), barely visible underneath all the overgrown ivy and plants is the huge water mill wheel. Could this have been the power source? If it wasn't, and it was powered by an oil engine, the outside was overgrown so much it would've been hard to find!

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The original power source was the water wheel. The wheel was well exposed years ago when we stumbled across the place; however, water power is probably one of the reasons we find the place complete today - if the machinery had been more modern and powered by individual electric motors, it would have been sold off / broken up for spares etc, when production became uneconomic. Indications are that the Carding, Spinning and Weaving line, although still operated from the overhead line shafting, were operated by electric power in the later years - the Electric Power Operating Board indicates the possibility of a water turbine generating set - possible remains of the generating set foundations and foundations for a very large electric motor were visible years ago. The fact that this Mill survived the scrap drives of WW1 and WW2 had nothing to do with being 'out of the way', rather the fact that very old, but simply maintained machines could still process fleeces, spin the yarn and weave durable cloth. The workers in my wife's families' woollen mill in Armley in the 80's would not have found any of that machinery strange - only major difference being an individual electric motor to operate each machine. Which is why the West Yorkshire woollen industry eventually went belly up - Victorian machinery just could not compete with the modern Sulzer or Japanese equivalent spinning mules and looms

An interesting example of building your factory near the power source and not the labour source and before it became common to 'store' water on rivers by the construction of weirs lower down stream to provide a power source. A number of other similar buildings do survive, but none as far as I know are still fitted with their original fix of equipment.

A very good and well structured report - nice one!