Bank Hall Distillery, Sandshills, Liverpool, England.
Extract from Alfred Barnard’s historic tour of every whisky distillery in Great Britain, published in ‘1887’
On presenting our credentials, we were conducted, by one of the junior partners, over the establishment, and commenced our inspection at the Mill building, which is entered from the road, and consists of several floors. Part of the ground floor is appropriated to the ponderous grinding machinery, driven by an engine of 40-horse power; the remainder to the storage of maize in sacks. Before reaching the mill crushers, the grain is passed through a “Joggler,” which effectually cleans and separates from it all dirt and foreign matter.
Progressing a few yards, we entered the Spirit Store, a handsome and spacious building, wherein are three Vats, each with a capacity of 3,745, 5,054 and 4,833 respectively. In close proximity, but in no way connected with the Store, is the Methylated Spirit House, where methyl is added to the pure spirit for manufacturing purposes. At an elevation in the open we observed the large water-tank, which is supplied from the Waterworks Company, which holds 35,000 gallons, and over our heads a continuous screw, 280 feet long, which conveys the grist to the Mash House. Having completed our tour of the establishment on the south side of the road, we crossed a bridge, which is suspended from one floor to the other over the public way, and found ourselves in the Maltings and Stores. These buildings stand on the site of what was once the favourite seaside residence of the ancestors of the present Lord Derby, and close by the spot where formerly stood the bathing house from which the noble lords were wont to take their “headers.” They consist of a noble block, seven stories high, each floor measuring 120 feet by 80 feet. Three of them are used for Malting Floors, laid with tiles, contiguous to which are two splendid Kilns, each of which is capable of drying 120 quarters at one time. We passed through several of the other floors by a spiral staircase, and from the top obtained a grand view of the river, extending on the right to beyond the Fort at New Brighton, and the left Eastham.
Ninety men are employed on the works, and the make of the Distillery is called “British Plain Spirit,” Grain Whisky, and Malt Whisky, the largest proportion being Plain Spirit, and the annual output is 1,500,000 gallons.
The Managing Directors are Robert Wheeler Preston and Richard Percy Preston.