Infiltration

Ojay location: Manchester Gender: Male \|	Rock Nook Mill, Summit (Littleboro) - May 2010 < on 7/2/2010 8:44 PM >

	Rock Nook Mill, Summit (Littleboro) - Visited by Ojay, Bungle666 & Stepping Lightly. Bungle666 is a Full Member on this forum, and I have great pleasure from time to time meeting up and exploring the local area with him. Rock Nook Mill, situated in the upper Roch valley on the edge of the Pennines and alongside the Rochdale Canal. Not massive amounts of history that I have been able to gleen in a short space of time, but here is what I have managed to find out. Built in the 1840's and aquired by Forthergill and Harvey in 1910, as a cotton yarn and cloth manufacturer Rock Nook Mill is an odd looking stone building and quite unique in appearance as far as cotton mills are concerned. The Mill has 4 floors, and a basement which is still in use, as the other side of the mill which was extended in 1898 is very much 'Live' and in use, as it was when we visited. In 1987 the business was bought out by Courtaulds, and since occupied by Tygaflor Ltd, producers of lino flooring. The mill now stands empty and has been stripped by the pikey's and looks like a more recent haunt for the local bagheads (lOvely). That said the place is trashed to be fair, however there were one or two interesting features. Once inside we started from the top down, I was soon up in the water tower with S.L. before I carried on the climb up to see the Braithwaite tank, whilst Bungle went for a wander around the 4th floor. After a short while we all met back up and carried on our mooch of the place, stopping for pictures on the way.... EXTERNALS INTERNALS Inside the Water Tower Braithwaite Tank Various floors Office window Laboratory, Pfft this was really pathetic ChemicalZ Machinery lift to all floors World domination; This is Stepping Lightly's secret headquarters Is this Lift Surfing? Down to the Engine Room, and Rope Race, sadly no boilers or steam engines left Lovely tiles Rochdale Canal; Locks alongside the Mill Er, whats all this, I can't climb down? :confused Oh well, better take a closer look.... Thanks for looking

bungle666 location: among those dark satanic mills Gender: Male i ate all the pies!! \| \|	Re: Rock Nook Mill, Summit (Littleboro) - May 2010 <Reply # 1 on 7/2/2010 11:39 PM >

	Ill tag my report on the end then for effect!! Visited with ojay and steppinglightly. The mill was originally constructed by Fothergill and harvey, The company was founded in 1846 by Alexander Harvey, son of Charles Berry who adopted the name Harvey, and two Fothergill brothers. The company specialised in merchanting cotton cloth in Manchester. In 1859 they took over a small weaving shed in Littleborough from a small family firm, King & Co, and this was to become Sladen Wood Mill. Sladen wood was expanded greatly till the turn of the century, But the company’s main expansion was almost entirely due to the expansion of weaving facilities at Summit and, in 1886, the construction of the Rock Nook Spinning Mill. sometime in the early 1900's Rock Nook was extended to accommodate more weaving and yarn preparation. Raw cotton was carried overnight from Manchester by canal barges until, the twenties, when it became essential for this movement to be made by Motor Lorry. The history then goes very hazy, although the mill continued to be used (and still is used) by Fothergill and Harvey, who has been producing technical textiles since 1848. Originally, fabrics were woven from natural fibres such as cotton and the company produced the first khaki drill for servicemen's uniforms. By 1945, as a research unit had been established, the company was diversifying away from cotton and into glass and other synthetic fabrics. The company was amongst the first weavers to produce fabrics from new aramid fibres and during 1972 took advantage of the technology available from the Royal Aircraft Establishment to weave carbon fibre. The Fothergill and Harvey Group was acquired by Courtaulds in 1987 and using the technology of Courtaulds commenced production of knitted fabrics. Fothergill Engineered Fabrics regained its independence as a private limited company in early 1995. After this the fate of "tygaflor" isnt 100% known, although what is clear is that "Tygaflor" is still a trading brand name, but it is owned by Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, Composites Group. and still trades out of Rochdale, albeit at a different location! I think it would be safe to assume Fothergill and Harvey sold that section of the business off although why isnt clear. Continual production ovens on the top floor. The next floor down was split into 2, half was a production area and the other half the offices and labs. also on this floor in the production area was the underside of the hot machines above. lab the next floor floor was a packing area and featured this machine. and the lowest explorable floor was a warehouse and the former engine house that now contains a small weighbridge. engine house tiles still visible under the more recent whitewash. and finally, some random shots to finish off. a really good morning spent i think!! B.. revisit and enjoy all my adventures at http://bungle666.blogspot.com

Ojay location: Manchester Gender: Male \|	Re: Rock Nook Mill, Summit (Littleboro) - May 2010 <Reply # 2 on 7/2/2010 11:54 PM >

	Some cracking shots there matey, really enjoyed my time, heres looking forward to some more quality explores

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