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Posted By: chriskay Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 2nd Mar 2008 5:01pm
Took this pic. today on Beaufort Rd. Seems to be all that remains of what was one of the biggest flour mills in the country. Sad. [Linked Image]

[Linked Image]
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:13pm
is this over the road from the life jacket place (beuforts i think)
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:14pm
Tis indeed, i live just around the corner from this, my granma used to work in that place and my granddad worked in the place opposit
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:15pm
thought it was used to ride over to a mates in seacombe via that area from hoylake rd, cheers babe
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:17pm
There is a car place right by there at the moment if i remember correctly ? im not sure what it is though, scrap yard maybe ?
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:20pm
think that was there when i was there, i think there was one or two and if you went along the bottom road towards el depot de birky northo the north end houses was all boarded up and about to be pulled down
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:23pm
Yeah all them houses are gone now, along with Station road and the road before the Blood Tub, Illchester road is the next one to go apparently
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:24pm
my family originate from illy road, all wirral links of mine come from there
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:29pm
I've just asked my dad, that was called Ranks the Millers, made bread and all sorts, next to that was Spillers that made all sorts, cat food, dog food and over the other side, where they are building the new flats on the dock road in Wallasey, by the sumbarine, used to also be Ranks other building where they made treakle and things. He said is was my grandad that worked in there, before he worked on the docks, so him and my aunt used to go to work with him

And he mentioned the glass factory on corporation Road too

This is going back to the 1950's/60's
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:31pm
my Nan and aunts used to tell me all about it, ranks and spillers was massive, the spillers place in Newcastle still stands, empty i think and the Baltic flour mill is now a centre for contemporary arts (or shite as i call it)
Posted By: chriskay Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:44pm
Here's a pic. of the mills from the dock side. Did you know that J. Rank was the same as J. Arthur Rank, the film producer? He was one of the founders of Pinewood studios. His trademark on the opening of his films was a man in a loincloth striking a gong. Anyone remember that? I would, of course, because one of my first jobs in the 1950's was as a cinema projectionist.
p.s. Is the Blood tub now called the New Dock? Drove past that today.
Cheers, Chris.

Attached picture rank mills small.jpg
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:48pm
it is chris, in the history section we ran a thread on it and illchester square all stemming from the dock cottages, you would not think i only joined a month ago with a google link relating to the tunnels/shelters under biddy hill lol
Posted By: chriskay Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:51pm
As I remember it, all the places along Beaufort Rd, had something to do with shipping. Yes, there was Beaufort's, the life jacket people, lots of ships' chandlers & a firm that made signal flares; went by the splendid name "The Schermuly Pistol Rocket Apparatus Company Ltd. Needed a long building to get that on. grin

Cheers, Chris.
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:52pm
yoiu say ' was beaufots' as in the past tense, is it no more???
Posted By: chriskay Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:53pm
Originally Posted by placidmaster
it is chris, in the history section we ran a thread on it and illchester square all stemming from the dock cottages, you would not think i only joined a month ago with a google link relating to the tunnels/shelters under biddy hill lol


Thanks for that; I found this site by exactly the same route.
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 5:57pm
the wirral history section makes for good reading and a lot of the wiki crew have obtained or taken some excellent pictures
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:04pm
Father said when this was closed down him and my aunt used to slide down the shoot into the docks, nutters lol
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:05pm
then he probably did know my family lol that was a trick of some of them too
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:08pm
They tell me loads of things they used to do as kids, like the graveyard, skipping school and hiding in the tunnels at Biddy hill and when it snowed flying down the hill on a car bonnet lol
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:09pm
and sending clapped out cars into the docks at the srappie that was next to the four bridges??? did he ever do that
Posted By: IzzZzzY Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:12pm
Wouldnt suprise me, although when he was at the docks they used to rob the trains of bread and stuff lol
Posted By: placidmaster Re: How are the mighty fallen - 2nd Mar 2008 6:13pm
and switch the points for the trains for a laugh on the railway lines
Posted By: Mark Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 2nd Mar 2008 8:39pm
Jonno has some good input on this one.
Chris you took the picture i was going to take lol....

Its somtimes difficult to imagine hussle and bussle down beauford road now, its mainly used as a short cut to the M53 now.

And on either sides what industry is left i'm sure is just
hanging on...
Posted By: BMW Joe Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 2nd Mar 2008 10:14pm
Ahh I didn't realise these were Flour Mills. I thought they were related to the train tracks running along the front of it.

Here's my photo of it from a while ago showing the tracks running infront of it.

[Linked Image]
Posted By: Mark Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 2nd Mar 2008 10:22pm
I knew i had seen that picture some were joe lol
Been driving me mad lol
Posted By: SoundLad Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 2nd Mar 2008 10:32pm
When i was a wee nipper i watched J.Rank get demoslished.. They used a Wrecking Ball it was very entertaining to me cause it used to cause a huge bang when it hit the building..
Posted By: placidmaster Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 8th Mar 2008 7:26pm
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm wrecking ball
Posted By: Davey_Martin Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 8th Mar 2008 8:08pm
werent these mills used in some scenes of 51st state?
Posted By: Mark Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 9th Mar 2008 11:46pm
To find the answer

Click Me
Posted By: Mark Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 16th Mar 2008 2:53pm
Strangely on a TV advert today i seen a clip of the

Tyne River ( Newcastle upon Tyne )
And fairly close to the Tyne Bridge was a Building in Sand stone (Yellow)
with the words J Rank Ltd on its side.
It looks new, maybe on the spot of the old, who knows??
Posted By: jonno40 Re: Flour Mills - Birkenhead J Rank - 16th Mar 2008 3:53pm
when they shut ranks on Beaufort road down they transferred all work and some staff to a newer more modern mill in Manchester .maybe placid master could tell us more on the Newcastle mill .
Posted By: lansyp Re: How are the mighty fallen - 9th Aug 2009 4:40pm
my dad worked at ranks until it shut in 1988 and he loved working there think it was 24 years .i have the canteen clock in my kitchen and it still works 21 years later although it has had a few new batterys ha ha
Posted By: Mark Re: How are the mighty fallen - 9th Aug 2009 9:43pm
You must post a picture of it for nostalgia wink
Posted By: Anonymous Re: How are the mighty fallen - 11th Aug 2009 4:15pm
Originally Posted by lansyp
my dad worked at ranks until it shut in 1988


Officially closed in September 1988 as it was no longer cost effective.
Posted By: ghostly1 Re: How are the mighty fallen - 11th Aug 2009 7:18pm
Sorry this might be off subject but is still about Flour Mills on Wirral. Has anyone come across the name F O Paul? he was a rich flour miller who lived in overchurch and donated alot of land to different organisations including scouting. A large campsite in Overchurch where the Upton By pass was one of them and Bryn Bach in Wales. I think he might of lived in the big house near the start of Morton Spur which is now residential.
Posted By: uptoncx Re: How are the mighty fallen - 11th Aug 2009 8:35pm
The house by the Motorway is Upton Manor, and was built by William Inman, he lived in it until his death in 1881. The house was then bought by Ralph Leyland. He remained in the house until 1910, apart from 3 years between 1893 and 1896 when it was let to Colonel Robinson. Mr Stern bought the Manor House in 1910 and remained there until 1950 when the FCJ Sisters bought it.

Mr Paul lived in Overchurch house, which he bought in 1915. The house had been built in 1859 by Thomas Webster, younger brother of William Webster of Upton Hall.

Overchurch house was built next to the old Overchurch graveyard, it had a lodge on Moreton Road, just about where the motorway spur is now.

In 1929, when the Jamboree was held at Arrowe Park, an overflow camp was located on land belonging to Mr Paul (a second overflow camp was located at Upton Manor).

When the Jamboree was over, Mr Paul donated the land that the overflow camp had occupied to the scout movement as a permanent camp site. A swimming pool and various buildings were built on the site.

In its heyday, around 10,000 scouts a year camped at Overchurch, but by the early 1960s the numbers were falling and this, together with large scale vandalism, led to the closing of the site.

Although the M53 spur was built through the site, there are still some remains of the swimming pool.

Overchurch house became a children's home in its latter days, and was then demolished. The site has not been built on and the terrace in front of the house can still be traced.

Posted By: dingle Re: How are the mighty fallen - 12th Aug 2009 7:09am
Ocean Flour Mills had a Social Club at the top of the Flat Lanes in the 60's the caretaker was a guy named Les who was also the manager of Ocean Athletic Football Club. The Social Club building had a verandah at the front with views to Arrowe Park. You could walk from here to Woodchurch Estate, across the Fender and the train line. In this area I seem to remember a lot of horse farms with a number of Gymkanas on the weekends. There were some good fishing holes too.
Posted By: Anonymous Re: How are the mighty fallen - 12th Aug 2009 1:35pm
Demolishing of the Flour Mills

Attached picture FlourMillDemolition.jpg
Posted By: bigdubber Re: How are the mighty fallen - 18th Aug 2009 11:37pm
what year was this picture taken?
Posted By: Anonymous Re: How are the mighty fallen - 18th Aug 2009 11:48pm
Originally Posted by bigdubber
what year was this picture taken?


From September 1988
Posted By: bigdubber Re: How are the mighty fallen - 19th Aug 2009 12:16am
i used to go there on my bike when the demolition where there. guy used to give me money to go the shops for him.
always remember the strong smells from the mills as they where demolitioning them
Posted By: diggingdeeper Re: How are the mighty fallen - 19th Aug 2009 2:09pm
Originally Posted by PaulWirral
Originally Posted by bigdubber
what year was this picture taken?


From September 1988


It was taken September 1985!
Posted By: bigpete Re: How are the mighty fallen - 19th Aug 2009 3:13pm
Originally Posted by ghostly1
Sorry this might be off subject but is still about Flour Mills on Wirral. Has anyone come across the name F O Paul? he was a rich flour miller who lived in overchurch and donated alot of land to different organisations including scouting. A large campsite in Overchurch where the Upton By pass was one of them and Bryn Bach in Wales. I think he might of lived in the big house near the start of Morton Spur which is now residential.


On Paul Brothers - if this guy is one of them...

I think they were responsible for setting up the Homepride brand - certainly the Homepride mills were also known by some locals and workers as 'Paul Brothers'....
Posted By: uptoncx Re: How are the mighty fallen - 19th Aug 2009 4:42pm
Originally Posted by bigpete


On Paul Brothers - if this guy is one of them...

I think they were responsible for setting up the Homepride brand - certainly the Homepride mills were also known by some locals and workers as 'Paul Brothers'....


See this topic for some of the history of the Homepride flour mills.

Posted By: Anonymous Re: How are the mighty fallen - 19th Aug 2009 9:09pm
Originally Posted by diggingdeeper
Originally Posted by PaulWirral
Originally Posted by bigdubber
what year was this picture taken?


From September 1988


It was taken September 1985!


Yes, sorry...my mind went for a wander!!

Posted By: finegansrainbow Re: How are the mighty fallen - 5th Sep 2009 6:33pm
Anyone remember the night the flour mills caught fire around about 1963? The whole town smelt of toast for days!
Posted By: _Ste_ Re: How are the mighty fallen - 24th Jul 2013 3:17pm
Originally Posted by finegansrainbow
Anyone remember the night the flour mills caught fire around about 1963? The whole town smelt of toast for days!


wasnt there a fire in the late 70's, early 80's?
Posted By: bigpete Re: How are the mighty fallen - 8th Aug 2013 12:53pm
Remember when the big silo builing nearest Beaufort Road came down - I was watching from the bottom of Ilchester - there were coackroaches scurrying everywhere.

Apparently the grain stored generates heat and attracted the cockroaches in much the same way that old valve tellys did !.
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