Pub and wedding venue plans for historic mill site

A pub, a Parkrun and a "prime" wedding venue are among the ambitions for a Grade II listed former museum site outlined by its new owners.

Thwaite Mills, on the Aire and Calder Navigation near Stourton, was bought by a group of four local businessmen - Will Habergham, Terry George, Michael Rothwell and Kirk Allen - last week.

The 19-acre complex, which features six brickhouse buildings as well as green space, was a functioning water mill while the accompanying museum was open for more than 30 years until its closure in 2024.

The site's new custodians said they wanted to reopen the museum, convert the manager's house into a pub and cafe and host outdoor markets and live music events.

Longer term, it is envisaged part of the complex will be repurposed as a wedding venue, with marriage ceremonies having previously been held at the site.

The ownership group, who said they had paid just short of £1m for the site, revealed they wanted to revive Thwaite Mills' heritage, while making it a hive of activity.

George, an entrepreneur who owns Leeds nightlife venues Bar Fibre and The Viaduct Showbar, said: "What we want for the future is for it to be a fully-functional museum.

"Get the wheels turning again, all the engines turning and put life into it all year round.

"We want something different to be happening at Thwaite Mills and its grounds every week.

"But we want that to be led by the community and for it to be family-orientated."

Adding that the site would be ideally suited to being a "prime wedding location", George added: "From the conversations that we've had with councillors, MPs and local people, the support is there.

"They don't want to see this place going to rack and ruin and falling to pieces."

Habergham, who owns Leeds city centre venue The Green Room, said there had been provisional discussions about a Parkrun route being based at the mill.

"To have a couple of hundred runners here along the canal and finishing up with a coffee is exactly the kind of thing we want to be doing," he said.

"We envisage within 12 months there will be certain parts of the site back open and available for people to enjoy."

Thwaite Mills was sold by the Canal and River Trust to Bradford-based developer Odsal Properties earlier this year.

The site was then due to be auctioned off in June, but this was cancelled, and plans to introduce ghost tours at the 400-year-old complex were publicised last month.

However, the property has now been sold again, with the four businessmen taking it on as a joint venture.

Although ghost tours may not now be an imminent feature at the site, the owners have said they would not rule out spooky strolls being hosted in the future.

Habergham said he had sensed "fear in the community" about the prospect of Thwaite Mills being turned into private flats without access to the general public.

He added: "We want to do the complete opposite. We want it to be open to the public.

"It is a commercial enterprise but this place needs to be generating money to keep it alive and to keep the heritage element alive.

"It's all a bit of a dream but it's a big dream and hopefully one we can put into action."

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