With its towering silos, concrete buildings and cavernous hangers, a well known feature of the Heathcote Valley is the site of the old maltworks building.

Times are certainly changing though and the sounds of demolition must have been heard by many Heathcote Valley people.

Many of the buildings have now gone, and you can get a whole new view of our Valley Inn! With the help of cranes, wrecking balls, bulldozers and trucks, you can now see us from many new vantage points.

The Canterbury Malting Company shut long ago in 1999, and its buildings have slowly crumbled into a sorry state of disrepair.

A new lease of life?

Many plans have been drawn up over the years to find a new use for this very prominent site in our valley. Residents will probably recall an idea to turn the silos into flats! This was followed by a dream of using the site as a film studio. Now the current owners have plans to build retirement housing.

Whatever the outcome, you can see from the video that it will take a lot more demolition before the new owners can build again.

When they do, we will be raising a glass to celebrate!