Midlands UK industrial sites?

[mshea]

I'm staying in Leeds for a few days and using it as a base to explore old industrial sites, abandoned or repurposed. I have a car, so I can wander quite far afield, if necessary (40 miles maximum). Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Merrill

[elliot_n]

You'll need to go at least 40 miles from Leeds to get to the Midlands.

There are websites dedicated to this kind of thing. Google something like 'urban explorer uk midlands'.

[mlewis]

In the West Yorkshire area there are many old mills that are either abandoned or are used for new purposes.  Ones I know about include Lister Mill and Salts Mill in Bradford.  Salts Mill is next to Saltaire - a model village built by the mill owner which is now a world heritage site.

Many of these sites can be found next to canals and rivers like the Aire & Leeds Liverpool Canal.

I would just like to point out that the Midlands is more than 40 miles south of Leeds.  The Midlands is more like the area covering Stoke, Derby, Birmingham, Leicester.

[kingscurate]

Im in manchester,1 hour drive(ish)from leeds on the M62 motorway.  This sort of had me thinking why just midland industry? Trafford park(manchester) sprung immediately to mind, bombed in the ww2, an industrial hotbed in the NW england. Oldham slightly closer to leeds than manchester full of mills, midlands to me is the car industry or pottery(stoke on trent)
Staying in leeds i would search for yorkshire industry, right now nothing springs to mind other than the mills and the leeds liverpool canal. Todmorden, Hebden bridge those 2 places do have plenty of industrial heritage.
When are you going to leeds? Give us a few days and see if i can help more

[mshea]

Thanks all for your input. I managed to find a couple of interesting sites in Bradford. My girlfriend had her heart set on the Yorkshire Dales National Park and York, so not as much time for urban grit as I'd hoped. Oh well, another time.

Merrill

[kingscurate]

York, lovely place. And the yorkshire dales, you will enjoy both.

[250swb]

Don't forget to drop into the National Media Museum in Bradford, the national museum of photography and film.

Yes there are lots of old mills and buildings from the Industrial Revolution in Leeds and Bradford, but don't discount the Yorkshire Dales. It may be a National Park now, but much of the landscape two hundred years ago would have been a hive of industry, with belching chimneys and grime. So look out for old quarries, mills, etc. It is often well documented as it is a key part of the regions history.

Steve