Local History

When you live in Manchester and immerse yourself in that city's rich industrial history, it's easy to overlook the rich history of the town where you grew up.

From the 1790s onwards, copper production was tha shiznit in Holywell, Flintshire. Thomas Williams developed Greenfield valley to reach this end.

Holywell copper was used to line the hull of Nelson's HMS Victory. The copper produced here was also used to make shackles on slave ships. Something, unfortunately, I'm sure a large number of Holywell's citizens would be proud of today.

Before Boulton and Watt's steam engine became the catalyst for industrial explosion in the 19th century, running water was the necessary tool used to power industry. Greenfield valley has a high number of hidden, tiny culverts which are truly ancient in terms of industry. These stone-built passageways are tiny and have a low flow of crystal clear water.

There's a lot more here that I'm yet to explore here, but this is the starting point.

Grange Caverns - Holywell

After a search for new drains with nckt, Buttons and Ojay, we stopped off here hoping to find a way into this former munitions store.

Buttons and myself had a look a few weeks ago to no avail. Though the site has been changed around recently and made access a little bit easier.

Originally a limestone quarry, it was used during WW2 as a munitions store and even mentioned by Lord Haw-Haw in one of his infamous Nazi broadcasts.

After the war it lay empty for a while before being briefly opened as a military museum in the 80s and has been empty ever since.

The place is well guarded by the farmers that own it. We legged it from dogs on the way in and found a spent shotgun cartridge on the way out. If you pay this place a visit, keep it real.

More on the Flickr.