The Crux Grimsby

21/09/2026

What a weekend for The Crux Grimsby and Victoria Mills.

On 18 and 19 September, we took The Crux Grimsby to Grimsby Town Hall as part of this year’s Heritage Open Days, sharing the past, present and possible future of one of Grimsby’s most distinctive buildings.

Around 700 people visited the Town Hall over the weekend, and our exhibition was busy almost constantly.

Visitors explored 15 heritage boards charting the story of Victoria Mills, from its earliest beginnings through the Marshall and Spillers years, before seeing Fleet Architects’ emerging ideas for transforming the silo into a climbing and heritage centre.

And people didn’t just look.

We heard family stories, discovered new connections to people who once worked at the mill, gathered feedback on the proposed designs and recorded our first oral history interview with a former Spillers worker who worked at Victoria Mills between 1959 and 1962.

One particularly special moment came when a visitor told us about his ancestor, Jesse W. Allenby, who had worked at the mill. We checked the census records and found him, aged 21, recorded as a general clerk at Victoria Mills in 1921.

Those are exactly the connections we hope this project can preserve.

The response to the future of the building was equally encouraging. Every visitor completing our exhibition feedback supported the project, while our wider online survey has now passed 400 responses.

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped, talked, shared memories and told us what they would like to see happen next.

Also thanks to Fleet Architects Ltd, Carla Linford, Natasha Powers, Bernadette Bone, Sector Support NEL and Stella Jackson from North East Lincolnshire Council for helping deliver this exhibition.

We’ve written more about the weekend, including some of the wonderful stories we heard, in our latest article. Link in the comments.

And if you or someone in your family worked at Victoria Mills, we would still love to hear from you.

19/09/2026

🏭 WE’RE ALL SET FOR TODAY… WHO’S COMING?

After a fantastic first day yesterday, we’re all set up and ready to do it all again!

Come and explore Victoria Flour Mill: Past, Present & Future, our FREE exhibition as part of the Heritage Open Days Festival 2026.

There’s loads to discover — from the early history of the mill and the people who worked there, through Spillers and Nickerson Seeds, to the work happening now and our emerging vision for bringing this incredible Grade II listed building back into use as a climbing, heritage and community hub. 🏭🧗

You can also share your own memories and stories, have your say on the future of the mill and chat to us about the project.

📍 Grimsby Town Hall
🕙 TODAY – 10am–4pm
🎟️ Completely FREE – just drop in

Last chance to see the exhibition today — who’s coming? 👋

Please give this a share and help us spread the word!

18/09/2026

🏭 Fantastic to see our Heritage Open Days exhibition being shared this morning!

Thank you Melanie Onn for helping us spread the word.

Months of work have gone into uncovering and bringing together the story of Victoria Flour Mill, and today we finally get to share it with everyone.

📍 Grimsby Town Hall
⏰ 10am–4pm today & Saturday
🎟️ Free – just turn up

Come and discover the past, see what we're working on in the present and help us explore what the future could hold.

See you from 10am! 🏭

🏭️ Victoria Flour Mills is one of Grimsby’s most distinctive historic buildings, and here's your chance to learn more about it.

As part of Heritage Open Days 2026, The Crux Grimsby is holding a free exhibition this weekend looking at the history of the mill, the stories of the people who worked there and what the future could hold for this Grade II listed building.

There’ll be historic photographs, archive research and ideas for bringing the building back into sustainable community use, including its potential as a climbing, heritage and community hub.

📅 Friday 18th and Saturday 19th September
⏰ 10am to 4pm
📍 Grimsby Town Hall
🎟️ Free, no booking required!

09/09/2026

🏭 Victoria Flour Mills: Past, Present & Future

We're really pleased to see our Heritage Open Days exhibition featured by Discover North East Lincolnshire!

Over the last few months we've been uncovering more of the story of Victoria Flour Mills — its history, the people connected to it, the parts of its story that have been forgotten, and what the future could hold for this incredible Grimsby landmark.

📍 Grimsby Town Hall
📅 Friday 18 & Saturday 19 September
⏰ 10am–4pm
🎟️ Free entry

Come along, explore what we've discovered, see our emerging ideas for the building and, importantly, tell us what you think.

Victoria Flour Mill has been part of Grimsby's skyline for generations. We'd love the people of Grimsby to be part of deciding what comes next.

👇 Full event details on Grimsby Creates Discover North East Lincolnshire

Discover North East Lincolnshire | Heritage Open Days: Victoria Flour Mill: Past, Present & Future - Discover North East Lincolnshire

Heritage Open Days in North East Lincolnshire Discover the past, present and future of Victoria Flour Mill. Explore heritage research, archival imagery, drone surveys and the vision to transform this […]

29/08/2026

Great to sit down with Dean from Grimsby Creates and talk about how The Crux started, what we've learned along the way, and our ambitions for Victoria Mills.

What began as an idea for a climbing centre has grown into something much bigger — exploring how climbing, community and heritage could all play a part in giving this incredible building a sustainable future.

Thanks to Grimsby Creates for taking the time to tell the story, and to everyone who has supported us so far. There's still a long way to go, but we're making progress.

Have a read below 👇

Last week Dean sat down and had a chat with Will from The Crux Grimsby about his ambitions for Victoria Mills, Grimsby, his recent successes of being award grant funding from Architectural Heritage Fund & Our Heritage Places Hidden Stories.

Starting as a combat medic this blog explores Wills experience from starting at the beginning with a dream to learning about how to apply for funding pots and being successful to hopefully one day achieve his dream of a rock climbing centre in Victoria Mill

To learn more about his journey and to read the full story check out the link here -https://createnortheastlincolnshire.co.uk/scaling-new-heights-with-will-wilson-from-the-crux-cic/

01/07/2026

🚀 OUR WEBSITE IS NOW LIVE 🚀

Over the past few months we've been researching Victoria Flour Mills, uncovering its history and exploring what the future could hold for this remarkable Grimsby landmark.

Today we're excited to launch the first version of the Crux Grimsby website.

While it's still in its early stages, you'll already find:

🏭 Information about Victoria Flour Mills
🎬 Our latest digital reconstruction film
📖 The beginning of our heritage journey
📰 Project updates and news
📋 Opportunities to get involved and support the project

This website will continue to grow as we uncover more of the building's history, gather photographs, collect memories from the community and progress the project.

Our aim is to create a place where people can explore the past, present and future of one of Grimsby's most iconic buildings.

A huge thank you to Grimsby Creates and the Hidden Stories programme for helping make this work possible and supporting us in sharing the story of Victoria Flour Mills with the wider community.

🌐 https://cruxgrimsby.co.uk/

We're only just getting started.

What would you like to see added to the website as the project develops?

👇 Let us know in the comments.

An ambitious and transformative project aimed at repurposing the Grade II listed Victoria Mill Silo into one of the United Kingdom’s leading indoor climbing centres.

29/06/2026

What did the inside of Victoria Flour Mills really look like?

For more than a century, this iconic Grimsby landmark has stood beside Alexandra Dock, but much of its story has remained hidden from view.

Using digital reconstruction, we've begun uncovering what once lay inside these walls.

This short preview shows just the beginning...

🎬 Discover the hidden history of Victoria Flour Mills and find out the full story.

👇 Link to full film in the comments.

26/06/2026

The response to our Hang Tough Challenge at the Festival of the Sea got us thinking... 🤔

What if Grimsby had a temporary climbing wall in Freshney Place while we continue working towards our permanent home at Victoria Flour Mills?

Imagine popping into town and having a climb with friends or family. 🧗

Would you use it?

👍 Yes
❤️ Definitely
💬 Tell us what you think!

If you'd love to see this happen, please like, comment and share. Every bit of support helps us make the case. 💙

20/06/2026

🌊 FESTIVAL OF THE SEA – COME AND SAY HELLO! 🌊

Today, The Crux Grimsby will be at Festival of the Sea, sharing our vision for the future of the Grade II listed Victoria Flour Mills.

Come and visit our stand to:

🏆 Take on the Dead Hang Challenge
📋 Complete our community survey and help shape the future of the project
👕 Check out our Crux T-Shirts & Hoodies
🏭 Learn more about our plans to bring Victoria Flour Mills back into sustainable community use
📱 Follow the journey and stay up to date with our progress

Whether you're interested in climbing, heritage, community regeneration, or simply curious about one of Grimsby's most iconic buildings, we'd love to meet you.

📍 Alexandra Dock & Riverhead Square
🕚 Saturday 20 June | 11am – 5pm

Every conversation, survey response and show of support helps us take another step forward.

See you there!

05/06/2026

Over 100,000 people have now seen our Victoria Mills posts this week
This article explains where the project currently stands and the £30,000 funding secured to explore whether the building can be saved and brought back into community use.

If you haven't already, please take 5 minutes to complete our survey.

Your feedback will directly help shape the future of Victoria Mills.

Survey link in the comments 👇

The Crux Grimsby Climbing and Heritage CIC is urging people to take part in its community survey for people to have their say about plans for Victoria Flour Mills Silo