The Big Move: Part 1

Sometimes everything just goes to plan...

We're thrilled to share a fantastic update:  After more than a year of planning, Wingham Wool has officially begun the relocation to our new site in Gloucestershire. And what better / stressful way to start than moving our heavy machinery!

Moving machines of this size is no small feat, especially when some of it is the best part of 100 years old. The designers and engineers of the of 1920's British textile industry weren't really thinking ahead about how we'd move them in 2023, so it meant a fair few planning meetings to ensure that everything was done to ensure nothing was damaged.

The first stage was to actually make the machines accessible. Our carding engine has been in the same spot for about 30 years, and so various shelves, doors and even walls had been erected in the way between it and freedom. Once these had been dealt with there was a clear path to the waiting crane and truck, but it still took the best part of a day to get everything out and ready for the big lift. We had an excellent moving team on-site to handle this part, so all we had to do was stand back and look worried.

Once all up and loaded it was time to sheet them over and start the 3 hour drive to their new home. 

Of course, what comes out must go back in. One of the major advantages to our new site is ease of access: Going from a 200 year old building to a 10 year old building does mean it's much easier to get machinery in and out. Once again the fantastic moving team did a great job getting everything into place and in just a few hours everything was off the truck and into their new home. A special mention must also go to the owners of the site who have been absolutely fantastic with their offers of help and support during the move, but more about them in a later post...

So there we go, the first steps have been made. It's taken a huge amount of planning to going, but now we're underway it feels like a great weight has been lifted and we can finally take some practical steps. It can be incredibly frustrating when you've thought about it for so long and then all you can do is sit back and wait. That's when all the doubts start to creep in and you start checking, double checking and triple checking, and when the worry can start to take over. There's certainly been a few sleepless nights, but after this week I can certainly rest easy knowing that the first (and biggest) step has been taken.