GREETLAND

DEMOLISHING A MILL

On the 3^rd November 1974 I was passing through Greetland, which is near Halifax.  I don’t remember why except that I used to buy cotton yarn around that time, from James Sutcliffe and Sons Ltd., cotton spinners,   who had Victoria Mills there, currently inhabited these days by Andy Thornton Architectural Antiques and possibly others, as like most textile companies James Sutcliffe’s faded away. 

I was confronted by fire engines on the main road, the B6113 Rochdale Road, not far from Victoria Mill just before a road junction.  It was an era when demolition was going on all over the place around this area, usually by firms with Irish names.

There was an old stone mill being pulled down alongside the main road.  I don’t know whose it was.  There was a token gesture to 'Health and Safety' of the time with a sign indicating 'men at work' on the pavement but little else.  The mill was being demolished by a couple of chaps walking about on top of the high walls that were still standing, about four storeys up, knocking off the stones with a sledgehammer so that they fell down inside the mill.  At least the demolition men were wearing hard hats!

I know this is an old tale but I have only just rediscovered three colour slides I took at the time.  I doubt there are any other photographs of this event as people did not tend to carry cameras around in those days.  Today everyone has a means of taking photographs and videos.

Unfortunately only the Fire Brigade could help here as one chap apparently lost his nerve high up on that narrow wall, so I was told at the time, and had to be brought down.  His mate watched the proceedings, standing hands in pockets, staying with him until he was helped away and then he strolled off along the wall on his own to carry on swinging his hammer, knocking the stonework down bit by bit.

The pics are not too good as it was gloomy being in the late afternoon on a winter’s day.

The turntable ladder goes up while the man waiting to be rescued sits on the wall - see insert

 A fireman goes up the ladder

Rescued

When this little drama was over and while the nonchalant man with the hammer continued knocking his stones off the top of the wall, the traffic  carried on as normal, but the pavement seemed to be closed - just in case!.