Yorkshire Craft Beers: Inside the family-friendly bar hidden in a forklift storage space - Queen's Mill Castleford

It’s believed Queens Mill, Castleford has been producing flour for over 900 years. It is home to the world’s largest stone grinding flour mill comprising 20 pairs of stones, and now it also plays host to a craft beer haven.

Yorkshire Craft Beers’ bar and shop is tucked away in the area which had once been used to store fork lift trucks inside the mill formerly owned by Allinson’s.

Allinson’s became famous for its TV advert featuring Brian Glover using the slogan Bread wi' Nowt Taken Out.

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Since Allinson’s closed, the mill has had several owners with the most recent reviving the mill before they sold it to charity Castleford Heritage Trust.

James Knowles, Yorkshire Craft BeersJames Knowles, Yorkshire Craft Beers
James Knowles, Yorkshire Craft Beers

Yorkshire Craft Beers Founder James Knowles joined the trust as a volunteer 11 years ago before being made redundant six years later from his job in IT.

James decided to convert the former forklift truck storage area at the front of the mill into a shop. He called his new business Yorkshire Craft Beers which opened prior to lockdown.

James said: “I needed something to do and I wanted to stay connected to the Mill.

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“I didn’t know much about craft beer but I wanted to do something completely different.”

Inside Yorkshire Craft BeersInside Yorkshire Craft Beers
Inside Yorkshire Craft Beers

“We opened nine months before the world went crazy but it had what people wanted - interesting things to drink at home which is craft beer - but this was only part time.”

James reinvested the money into making the bar area within the shop.

He said: “This couldn’t be further away from what I was doing before. It has its ups and downs.”

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The bar now has eight taps as well as a mobile bar for events championing locally brewed beers,

Yorkshire Craft Beers at Queen's MillYorkshire Craft Beers at Queen's Mill
Yorkshire Craft Beers at Queen's Mill

Queen’s Mill Castleford: a brief history

James said: “There’s been a history of milling in and around this area since Roman times.

“The mill was rebuilt after a fire during Queen Victoria’s Jubilee.”

Yorkshire Craft Beers is one of several interesting businesses nestled inside Queen’s Mill.

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According to Mill Archives, there has been a mill here since the middle ages.

The Mill Archives says: “By the nineteenth century it was a bone and corn grinding mill, housed in a stone building and powered by two waterwheels.

“In 1921 Thomas Allinson took over the mill and removed the roller milling machinery, reinstating millstones. Further stones were later added bringing the total to 20 pairs, making this the largest stone-grinding mill in the world.”

Alongside Yorkshire Craft Beers, Queen’s Mill is home to Recent Beans coffee roaster, Riverside Paint a Pot and Queen’s Mill tearooms, as well as artists studios, offices and events spaces.

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