Eleven days until The Big Lift - (29/05)

The last of the shuttering safely being lifted

With only 11 days left until The Big Lift the site preparation continues at a pace.


The last of the shuttering which moulded the concrete walls has been removed, cleaned and oiled. Soil is being back filled into the area between the concrete wall and the original picnic area.


The journey for the screw will start next Monday (2 June) with transport leaving the UK to collect the screw from Germany - we will try and plot its journey across Europe on this blog.

Soil being backfilled against the concrete wall

Going underground - (28/05)

A couple of great view of the existing culverts underneath the old mill taken during the excavation of the site.

Above you can see that there is another parallel culvert still buried at the site, and which looks to have been filled with rubble before the 1912 fire. The two culverts join into one single culvert approximately adjacent to the old bridge over the Goyt.

The join is not well aligned for this second tunnel as can be seen, so perhaps this bit was built in 1883 when Union road bridge was constructed, by which time the water power usage may have declined to some extent.

Just two weeks till the 'Big Lift' - (24/05)

Well the walls are built and have emerged from their shuttering and will soon be home to the Torrs Hydro Archimedes screw.

With only two weeks until the Big Lift (Sunday 8 June) - the next couple of weeks will see the site transform in readiness to lower the screw down from the Union Road bridge (no mean feat in itself) and then into its home for decades to come.

Those wanting to see the lift will have to be reasonably early risers as the screw is set to be delivered at 8:30am and then start to be lowered down into the Torrs within the hour - road closures are set to list until midday as a contingency.

Those wishing to still volunteer as crowd marshalls should try and join a meeting in New Mills Town Hall at 6:00pm Monday 2 June to discuss requirements for the Big Lift day.

Video footage - (22/05)

Its pouring down - (21/05)

From mixer to pump to Torrs Hydro New Mills

...No not the rain, but the concrete. Ideal weather for the last two days has seen hefty progress as the concrete has been pumped across the river into the shuttered wall cavities.

At times gravity seemed to want to take the concrete to places it didn't need to be but now thanks to Chris, Yvette and the team we are left with four walls that are now hardening waiting to appear once the shuttering is taken off tomorrow and Friday.

The week for walls - (19/05)

Such a hectic week for the project - the shuttering is all but completed and the concrete for the walls will be poured Tuesday and Wednesday.

After this the shuttering will be dismantled (easier than assembly) on Thursday and Friday to reveal four newly created walls that will house the Archimedes screw.

Giant Meccano with fish and chips - (14/5)

No longer an artists impression - part of the rebuilt river wall.

Yesterday I spent another day working with the Chris, Yvette and the team down at the Torrs Hydro yesterday and great fun it was too - but hard work for an office type like me !

Main job for the day was continuing to build the shuttering which will enable the concrete to be poured to build the side walls of our concrete bunker.

The shuttering is very much like a giant Meccano kit but takes tow people to lift and manoeuvre each section and then fits together with various clamps, pins and other heavy duty bits and pieces - its then all drilled into the concrete base to ensure that when the concrete is poured we end up with a perfectly straight wall that matches the original drawings.

We worked that hard in the morning that a 'Crispy Cod' fish and chip lunch was just what the doctor ordered to sustain us through the afternoon.

Home sweet home - site base for the Torrs Hydro team.

Top view of the shuttering

The gap between the shuttering which will soon become a reinforced concrete wall.

Drilling the supporting props into the concrete base.

Props, scaffolding, clamps and other assorted Meccano !

The inside of the bunker soon to house the Archimedes screw

Torrs Hydro needs you ! - (11/05)

With the base concrete now set and the shuttering for the side walls growing by the hour we are approaching the critical stage of the project 'The Big Lift'.

Whilst the finer points of the day are being covered by the various contractors and authorities we do need a number of volunteers to assist on the day - we are looking for local volunteers who are willing to be stewards on the day - a large crowd is expected.

We don’t know all the details yet, but the lift day is Sunday 8th June, the time is not confirmed yet (assume around lunchtime).

Please let us know if you are interested in helping you can leave a message on this blog or email us at secretary@torrshydro.co.uk . You can pass this invitation to friends but they must be 18 or older to help.

A meeting for all volunteer stewards will be held at 6:00pm on Monday 2nd June at New Mills Town Hall.

Video footage - (06/05)

Some more footage of the site taken last Friday and shows the finished concrete base - in total some 200 tonnes of concrete were poured and tamped down and some 800 tonnes of soil, stone and rock were removed.

Five weeks and counting... (05/05)

Just less than five weeks to go till "The Big Lift" (8 June) and work is now moving at a tremendous pace, the concrete base is in and side walls are now under way - hopefully this weeks fantastic weather will continue.

We now have a company logo (see above) which I'm sure you'll all agree looks fantastic - this will be used on all future share holder communcations, share certificates.

A bit of the hard stuff ! - (02/05)

Concrete ready for pouring

...Concrete , not whiskey (although we will be celebrating the arrival of our Archimedes screw in due course).

The last couple of days has seen a remarkable transformation of the site from what was at times a muddy quagmire to a crisp and clean concrete lined bunker (for want of a better description).

Over Thursday and Friday approximately 200 tonnes of concrete was delivered and transported from the mixer, down the wooden chute and man handled into position around the supporting metal frame work to make the base for the Archimedes screw and generator.

Once poured the team have to work quickly to get it into the correct places.

The old and the new - newly layed concrete nestling in Torr Mills foundations