Bee Hive Mills, Bolton

Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 20 Aug 2011

Two large cotton spinning mills. No. 1 on the right was built in 1895 and retains its engine house while No. 2 on the left was built in 1902 and retains a severely truncated chimney with a modern stack up its centre. In their day these were the largest spinning mills in the world. This view largely shows No. 1 mill with part of No. 2 and its chimney on the left. The No. 1 engine house has featured on urban exploration websites and contains a very large water tank to supply the firefighting system that includes diesel driven pumps in part of the engine house. The engine was a Hick, Hargreaves of Bolton horizontal twin tandem triple expansion engine of about 2000 horsepower. The mill closed and the engine was stopped in about 1956. The No. 2 mill ran until 1970 but I do not know when the engine stopped. The No. 2 mill engine house had been demolished when I took this photograph. Bee Hive Mills were demolished in the second half of 2019 and new houses are being built on the site. This photograph was taken from a United Utilities car park that has also been demolished and that site also cleared.

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