The Clevo Flour Mill stood on the South side of Victoria Bridge and took four days and 265 pounds of gelignite to bring down, with each attempt increasing the tilt until it finally fell on 17 June 1970. I took this photograph on 14 June 1970.
Photograph and details courtesy of Andy Wood.
Picture Stockton Archive 
Cleveland Flour Mills, Thornaby-on-Tees. A steam-powered corn mill in the historic county of North Yorkshire, England. The mill was combined with another corn mill in 1889 to become the Cleveland Flour Mills. It was purchased by Joseph Rank Ltd in 1923. The Cleveland Flour Mill, Thornaby was known as the ‘Clevo’. The first mill at the north end of Stockton with a siding from the Clarence railway was built in 1856 by Richard Henry Appleton. The mill burnt down in 1869 and new mills were soon built at South Stockton (Thornaby) where the River Tees were deep enough for ships to moor alongside. In 1889 the mills had combined to become the Cleveland Steam Flour Mills of Thornaby with R.H. Appleton appointed chairman. The Cleveland Flour Mill owned a private fleet of steamers to ensure supplies and also to bring wheat from the continent. The warehouses stored grain and sugar and were equipped with elevating and conveying machinery so that the grain could be taken direct from the steamers at the rate of 60 to 70 tons per hour. The ‘Clevo’ closed in the 1960’s and was demolished in June 1970. It took four days and 256 lbs of gelignite to destroy it.
Around 1948/49 these mills set fire it was said due to the natural combustion of the corn husks stored there – this caused the largest fire seen in England for years and took a large number of fire engines and firemen to bring under control, I know it smoked and burnt for some 3 weeks and was well mentioned on the BBC radio news broadcasts. My Uncle Robert Paterson (aka Robert Wilson) was manager there in the 1930s,
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My great grandfather James Horton 1848-1886 worked there and died from an horrendous work accident. The Coroner’s report was interesting, as management claimed no responsibility for the accident. Obviously Health and Safety in the workforce hadn’t been thought of in those days!
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Brilliant photo thanks for sharing.
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We were working on a new boat on the river just alongside the flour mill. They advised us to moor the boat to the opposite side of the river.
The firm I worked for was Cebec International Darlington. I remember that day very well.
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Discharged grain there in the 50 s
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I was 13 and cycled from Hardwick to see this happening. Thanks for sharing Andy
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