Author: lukesmithurst

Quality and Quantity: Lakeland Brewery Agrees to £3 Million Expansion Project

A south Cumbrian brewery has begun work on a £3million expansion project that will triple output, taking Lake District beer making to a whole new level.

Hawshead Brewery’s main Brewhouse on Mill Yard, Stavely. Image taken by Luke Smithurst

Hawkshead Brewery, having just celebrated its 15th anniversary, has garnered a reputation as an award winning brewery with a large amount of awards and accolades to its name.

Most recently, the company won the overall champion of both bottled beers (Brodie’s Prime Export) and cask beers (Windermere Pale). This is the first time in England both awards have been won by the same brewery.

After an investment deal made earlier this year, the brewery has commenced with an expansion project estimated at £3 million, backed by the German assembly line manufacturers, Krones.

The state-of-the-art rapid batch Brewhouse is being built next to the brewery’s parent company, Halewood International.

With the addition of this expansion, the brewery will produce 6,500 litres at the site and will also be capable of making multiple brews per day.

This is an unprecedented scale for the brewery that started as a small business, working out of a barn outside the village of Hawkshead and producing its first brew of Bitter in 2002.  

 Founder and Managing Director, Alex Brodie, is excited for the brewery’s expansion.

He said “This is the best kit there is. It will allow us to take Hawkshead as a business to the next level. And allow us to increase production, and sell Hawkshead beers more widely in the UK and abroad.”  

He added “Even though Hawkshead will grow significantly it remains a relatively small brewer. And this is a technical improvement which should translate into an improvement in the brewing process and a safeguarding, possibly even an improvement, in quality.”

Hawkshead’s award winning Windermere Pale on sale in a local supermarket. Image taken by Luke Smithurst

Hawkshead will retire their original brewery on Mill Yard from mass production and focus its output on speciality and limited edition brews.

Local Ale enthusiast Connor Barker was intrigued to hear the new direction Hawkshead Brewery is taking in its brewing process:

“I personally find the better the beer the better the establishment, what’s better than going to the source of good beer which luckily isn’t a hard thing to find in the Lake District?”

Former Victorian Mill Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Tulketh mill’s renowned free-standing chimney, visible from many sites around Preston. Image taken by Luke Smithurst

The historic Tulketh mill factory celebrates its 50th anniversary, after a long and storied past.

Constructed during the ‘golden autumn’ of 1906 from locally sourced Accrington brick, the mill is a major sight on the outskirts of Preston, which symbolises an era of prosperity and industrial revolution.

Tulketh mill received tonnes of American and Egyptian cotton, which were later produced into textiles and clothing. 

Having survived three decades longer than other Lancashire mills, Tulketh closed in 1968.

WATCH: The History of Tulketh Mill

The former Victorian cotton mill has had a storied past, with the building serving many different purposes over the years.

Although it is not the industrial powerhouse it used to be, the factory is marked as a Grade 2 listed property, which continues to employ hundreds of individuals across a variety of employment platforms.