Tales of the Urban Explorer : Callis Mill

Callis Mill is a little further afield than usual, between Todmorden and Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire.

There is little in the way of anything interesting in the former town, with the serial killer, Harold Shipman's surgery being demolished several years ago. Now that would have been something!

It’s crazy that my late father stood the market on Todmorden in the nineties and met the bloke several times as he was a frequent visitor. He’s dead now after hanging himself in jail.

From the bird's eye view on Google maps, the mill looked partly demolished but we got more than we had expected on arrival. While it's true the main part is flattened, the walls are still intact with plenty of graffiti to boot.

We drove past the entrance and looked for a way to turn around before noticing a closed up pub on Halifax road. The place didn’t half look creepy and it’s one we have bookmarked to re-visit soon.

We couldn’t help but have a little snoop around and it was apparent that the place was sealed but not quite well enough. This one requires some ‘extra equipment’ and we will be back.

Callis Mill was simply a walk-in, and as we figured a large part if it was gone, or so we thought. Some walls were still partly intact and full of graffiti.

This ‘main part' was demolished in the mid-'70s, there is some additional information here.

At the far end, we spotted something. Someone had brought along a portable sledgehammer and made a nice hole in the building at the edge of the large open area so we shuffled inside for a look.

It looked like a huge garage inside and the paint spray dickheads had really gone to work. Try as we might we couldn’t find much in this one big room and so we left by way of the hole and made for the main course.

Sometimes the graffiti vandals can give you helpful advice!

I don’t generally reveal access points unless it’s quite obvious which it is in the case of Callis Mill.

Either way, you need to crawl through an opening to get in. There’s a new building that appears to be bolted on to the old factory and this was our way in.

The interior was dark and I was glad of the large light we had brought. The vandals once again had been frivolous with their spray paints and it was messy inside.

What struck us both was the building was quite new, and could easily be renovated into flats or housing.

It’s a shame the place is in the middle of nowhere with little amenities save a bus stop right next to the entrance.

This burnt smashed glass made for some interesting photography.

Some dodgy dude going upstairs.

Up there was much the same, with lots of graffiti damage but a solid stable building that would be great shelter apart from all the place being trashed and windows smashed.

Here we found the connecting room to the main old factory that was much dodgier underfoot.

@goblinknackers was poking around in a small room and found a bill of materials and a restaurant bill, both from 1989.

Il Mulino was my late father’s favourite restaurant in nearby Hebden Bridge. We couldn’t find any other personal items, as much as we searched.

Walking through the old mill we descended into the spooky part that was dark and gloomy. This large open area was home to a bunch of pigeons who were not happy with our intrusion.

This part was quite beat up with holes in the roof and more typical of a 19th-century mill.

Doubling back, we climbed some very ropey stairs to the top floor which had been filled with quite a lot of greenery. This looked like the old offices as we could clearly see partitions.

The floor was soft and squishy in parts. That’s what large holes in the roof do for you! It seems strange that what looks like quite new partitioning is in this kind of state.

Some words of wisdom had been written here. This is what I have waited all my life to read.

We headed back down the stairs and crawled through the other exit, to find a very rusty safe. It was quite empty, the contents of cash long gone.

I took this outside shot just to remember how new part of this building is. Why has it ended up like this?

There are other entrances to the mill, some with barbed wire and other deterrents preventing would-be intruders from getting in. They don't work so well when the front gate is wide open.

Callis Mills wasn’t a bad place to visit, was memorable and different as all of them are.

I think at some point the new part of the building may be sold, but the old part is likely protected and demolishing it may prove challenging for the owners.

• Earn FREE Stellar Lumens from Coinbase by taking partaking in a simple quiz here
• Earn Passive Manna by simply signing up for it here. Mannabase is a Universal Basic Income Cryptocurrency
• Earn STEEM and digital cards while playing STEEM Monsters, the best game on the STEEM Blockchain here.
• Earn JSECoin buy simply creating an account and Mine while you browse here
  

If you found this article so invigorating that you are now a positively googly-eyed, drooling lunatic with dripping saliva or even if you liked it just a bit, then please upvote, comment, resteem, engage me or all of these things.