Following yet more fails after leaving Naylor Jennings we were headed south gradually and found ourselves outside Hartford Mill, a stalwart of the UK Industrial urbex scene for many years standing defiant amongst the many converted cotton mills in Oldham.
Hartford Mill closed in the early 90s and is pretty much a shell but a massive very photogenic one, so me and Landie Man were excited to finally get into something else. We made our way gingerly to the top floor knowing full well we'd been clocked by a pair of contractors out fixing some street furniture on the road outside. The sounds of kids enjoying lunchtime in the school playground down below drowned out most other noise so we got down to it shooting the top two floors, however all was suddenly about to change dramatically....
Before going down to the above floor (3rd from top) Landie said he'd seen some kids hanging around outside, we thought nothing of it and pushed on. A few minutes later he said he looked out a window and saw what looked like smoke coming from a building on site, I looked and to me it looked like wind kicking up dust or something so carried on. About five minutes later we heard all manner of crashes and bangs from somewhere below us so knew something was up - and then I looked out the window to discover what had become a fully developed fire down below. So the executive decision was made to get out bloody quick, as we knew it'd look pretty bad and suspect if we were seen hanging around the site much longer with a fire going. Once we were clear of the site and back on the street Landie called 999 and the fire brigade turned up pretty sharpish, they did their stuff efficiently and we were on our way. It was quite an experience at least! I could have spent much longer in there, I loved it....I'll be back hopefully.
Phone photos...
More here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157642261484564/
Hartford Mill closed in the early 90s and is pretty much a shell but a massive very photogenic one, so me and Landie Man were excited to finally get into something else. We made our way gingerly to the top floor knowing full well we'd been clocked by a pair of contractors out fixing some street furniture on the road outside. The sounds of kids enjoying lunchtime in the school playground down below drowned out most other noise so we got down to it shooting the top two floors, however all was suddenly about to change dramatically....
Before going down to the above floor (3rd from top) Landie said he'd seen some kids hanging around outside, we thought nothing of it and pushed on. A few minutes later he said he looked out a window and saw what looked like smoke coming from a building on site, I looked and to me it looked like wind kicking up dust or something so carried on. About five minutes later we heard all manner of crashes and bangs from somewhere below us so knew something was up - and then I looked out the window to discover what had become a fully developed fire down below. So the executive decision was made to get out bloody quick, as we knew it'd look pretty bad and suspect if we were seen hanging around the site much longer with a fire going. Once we were clear of the site and back on the street Landie called 999 and the fire brigade turned up pretty sharpish, they did their stuff efficiently and we were on our way. It was quite an experience at least! I could have spent much longer in there, I loved it....I'll be back hopefully.
Phone photos...
More here http://www.flickr.com/photos/mookie427/sets/72157642261484564/
