The Mungo Scott Flour Mill in Summer Hill was one of the first places I photographed after moving back to Sydney from Melbourne. It was also my first urbex trip after a hiatus around the birth of my daughter, so I was rusty.
I'd been doing slow loops of the perimeter trying to find a way in when I noticed an elderly man walk straight in through an open gate. I watched for a while. It was obvious he was lost. He came back out and continued down the street. I followed his lead. If anyone asks, plead lost, point at the camera.
Inside the first building, I came face to face with a small group of copper thieves raiding a switchboard. We had a brief argument about who did and did not have a right to be there. Their cover story was that they had been sent by the insurance company to disconnect the power supply to a building that had been out of operation since 2007. On a Sunday. In singlets and thongs. We agreed to disagree. I told them they were full of it and went to take photographs. They got back to the switchboard.
"The historic site of the Summer Hill flour mill has seen plenty of work in recent months, and the first residents are due to move in at the end of 2017. The five-hectare industrial site of the flour mill has towered over the suburb's leafy streets for almost 100 years, and developers say it will be transformed into 'a beautifully planned place to live, work and play'. One of the last people to get inside the mill before the redevelopment started was Brett Patman from Lost Collective."
Read the original News Local piece at dailytelegraph.com.au.
