The Industrial Heritage Group

Leader:  Mike Stow - indhist@ashbyu3a.co.uk - phone 01530 469152

The Industrial Heritage Group is for members who have an interest in our industrial heritage of trains, cars, planes, bikes, early manufacturing etc. to visit museums, railways, factories and other places related to our industrial past. We occasionally take a quite broad view of what constitutes "Industrial Heritage" if it is of interest to us!

Travel arrangements vary depending on how far we have to travel, but generally we meet in Ashby to car-share.

Our trips are normally on Wednesdays unless otherwise stated.

Wednesday 27th March. Tower Brewery, Burton

This tour was a change to our usual format in that we met at 6pm for an evening tour of a local industrial heritage site, namely, the Tower Brewery in Burton on Trent. 18 members entered an impressive three-storey Victorian building, hidden away on an industrial estate. We were welcomed by our host, tour guide and brewery owner, John Mills, with a pint of beer or soft drink. Needless to say, my pint of Tower Bitter was excellent. There was plenty of choice; Salts Burton Ale, Imperial IPA and ‘Gone for a Burton’ seemed to be the popular beers.

The open-plan ground floor contained a bar, seating area, brewing vessels, balcony and spiral staircase. The brewery is open to the public only at weekends when it often hosts music events and private parties. Our tour began by ascending the cast iron staircase to the first floor. John explained that in 2000 he was a brewer with Burton Bridge brewery when he heard that the building was for sale. It was built in the 1870s by Thomas Salt & Co Ltd, and later in 1927 owned by Burton brewers Bass & Co. Although the structure was sound, the building was derelict and neglected under its previous owners and needed restoration. Other parties interested in buying the property were interested in demolition and redevelopment of the site, whereas John wanted to restore its former heritage as a working brewery. This ambition matched that of the seller's and after 9 months of hard work, including the removal of 6 tonnes of pigeon droppings from the water tank, Tower Brewery opened in April 2001. The first floor stores bags of malt and a wooden hopper that feeds the ‘mash tun’ on the ground floor. It was clear that John had a deep understanding and love of his craft.

Climbing a narrow steep ladder, we entered the metal water tank on the top floor. This originally provided a gravity feed to the brewing system below. The water supply is still housed at this level but in a small insulated tank in a corner. John was keen to point out 2 engravings from previous employees in the wooden roof structure that recorded evidence of its heritage; ‘Alf Tyers 1957’ and ‘Salts 1875’. In the gloomy and eerie atmosphere of this cold isolated structure you could almost feel their ghostly presence! Carefully descending to the ground floor we had chance to explore the Tap Room, a small ‘snug’ decorated and furnished in 1950s style with its open fire and gas lamps. Then we helped ourselves to a splendid buffet provided by Helen’s Bakehouse washed down by more perfectly brewed beer.

Thankfully, the final part of the tour was on the ground floor where John explained more mysteries of the brewing process, including ‘mash tuns’, ‘coppers’, ‘heat exchangers’ and the all important hops. The tour was a unique mix of industrial heritage and modern brewing practices, enriched by fascinating tales from our guide, John Mills. If you want to sample Tower Brewery beers try Morrisons or Sainsburys in Burton or the Tower Brewery on most Friday evenings.

Previous trips