From the Shropshire Star...

http://www.shropshirestar.com/show_article.php?aID=31364

The Ditherington Flaxmill (aka The Maltings) has been bought by English Heritage. :)

Its good to hear that assessment work to rescue and protect Shrewsbury's historic Flax Mill is due to start soon.

Apparently meetings are taking place between English Heritage, Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council and Advantage West Midlands, which part funded the purchase back in March.

I have been browsing around the English Heritage website and I have found

this link which outlines the significance of the mill and the steps involved in aquiring the site.

All very interesting.

Its in the Shropshire Star tonight that conservation chiefs are negotiating with Sayce Garden Centre, Senate Electrical and Salop Glass to try to buy their sites and find suitable new locations for them.

This would be great for the area and I think definitely go along way to improving it. The aim is to open up the site up for a new public space and includes moving the bus depot in Spring Gardens.

The bus depot does look an eyesore and if you have ever had been stuck waiting for four or five busses to reverse back into the depot in the evening you will agree its no longer a suitable location, it causes mayhem with cars trying to pass them and not bothering to wait coming onto the wrong side of the road.

the shropshire star aticle also said that EH hoped to include the flax mill site in its public open days in september.

Now that would be interesting I'd love to have a look around.

lets hope that the vandals haven't burnt it down by then.

Don't give the little idiots ideas :)

too late,i was speaking after having read it in the shropshire star.

There's a couple of nice articles on the BBC site about the Flax Mill, and a 360-degree virtual tour of (I think) one floor.

What's the location of the Flax Mill like - I mean, what's around it and what sort of area is it? Does the Mill suit conversion to housing, or a venue, or what?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/history/20...oration_2.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/ar...l_feature.shtml

The virtual tour (works on Javascript):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/pa...de_01_360.shtml

The Flax Mill sits in what is Shrewsbury's most dilapidated area (the Spring Gardens-Ditherington districts) and is bounded by a council estate (to the N), a railway line (to the W), some Victorian terraces (to the S) and the bus depot/Salop Glass/builders yards (to the E).

it is mostly residential with a few industrial units adjacent but I believe that there is a compulsory purchase order in place on these.

s.g.d.

That's right - the bus depot is going too.

Meole Brace will soon be looking the same, the football stadium is already ruining what was an attractive tree lined route into Shrewsbury. :(

Articles about the Flax Mill are great, thanks cloudscape.