The barns around Mawdesley tend to carry their own history. A barn clearance in Mawdesley might mean a brick shippon with a corrugated lean-to bolted on decades ago. It might be a stable block nobody has used since the last pony went. Or it could be a timber shed full of fence posts, broken gates, feed sacks and a rotavator that died years back. This is a different job from emptying a garage on a housing estate. It pays to plan it before you lift anything.
Why a Barn Clearance in Mawdesley Is Different
Mawdesley sits in open farmland between Croston, Eccleston and Rufford. Homes and holdings spread along lanes rather than packing into streets. Plenty of properties here have more outbuilding than house. That means bigger volumes, longer carries to wherever the skip can sit, and a mix of light, bulky and very heavy material. We have worked these lanes for over 100 years. The honest starting point is always the same. What is actually in the barn, and where can the lorry get to?
What a Barn Clearance Actually Produces
Old timber is usually the bulk of it – rotten stable partitions, pallets, roof battens, broken doors and old fencing. Then there is metal, from feeders, gates and hay racks to loose sheets of tin and the frames of old machinery. Plastic feed and fertiliser sacks, bale wrap and baler twine take up a surprising amount of room for almost no weight. Underneath there is often broken concrete, brick and hardcore from a patched floor.
That mix matters because both space and weight limit a skip. Timber, sacks and old tack fill a container by volume long before they get near its weight limit. Concrete, brick and soil do the opposite. A skip carrying them can reach its limit while it still looks half empty.
Corrugated Roof Sheets and Asbestos
This is the part we want every Mawdesley customer to stop and think about. Many older farm buildings have grey corrugated roof sheets or cladding, and a good number of those are asbestos cement. HSE guidance on where asbestos is found says it can be in any building built or refurbished before 2000. That includes garage and outbuilding roofs, soffits, gutters and downpipes. It can never go in a skip. It needs a licensed route rather than being broken up and mixed in with everything else.
Perhaps you are not sure whether your sheets are metal, plastic or cement. If so, leave them where they are and have them checked before the clearance starts. Our guide to asbestos and skip hire explains what to do instead. Galvanised steel sheets are a different matter. They come back to our yard for metal recycling like any other scrap.
Choosing a Skip for Barn Clearance in Mawdesley
For most single-barn jobs, the choice comes down to two containers. An 8 tonne builders skip suits clearances with plenty of heavy material in them. A good example is a stable block losing its old concrete floor and brick partitions along with the timber.
Other jobs are mostly bulky and spread over several weeks. Think of clearing a run of sheds, a hay loft and a lean-to one at a time. There, a 20 yard roll on roll off skip usually makes more sense. It takes far more volume, so it suits timber, sacks and light metal. The trade-off is space. A roll on roll off needs room for the lorry to drop it and lift it again, on firm, level ground with clear height overhead.
Getting the Lorry Down a Farm Track
Access is where rural jobs are won or lost. Before you book, walk the route the lorry will take. Look at the width of the gateway and any soft verges or ditches either side of the track. Check for overhanging branches and power lines. Then ask whether the ground near the barn will take a loaded vehicle after a wet week in October.
If the skip sits on your own land, whether that is a drive or a yard, you need no permit. The only practical spot may be on the lane itself. Then the permit comes from Lancashire County Council as highway authority, not the borough council. Only registered skip companies can apply, and the fee is £42 per 28 days. The council needs two working days’ notice, and the skip needs cones and lamps at night. We arrange it for you. Our guide on whether you need a permit to place a skip on the road in Lancashire covers it in more detail.
Farm Waste and the Duty of Care
The barn may belong to a working farm or another business. In that case, the waste coming out of it is likely to be commercial rather than household waste. Under the duty of care rules, a business needs a waste transfer note, or an equivalent such as an invoice, for each load of non-hazardous waste. Both parties keep it for two years, as GOV.UK guidance on waste transfer notes explains. So tell us at the start whether a barn clearance in Mawdesley is for the house or the business. That way the paperwork is right. Our article on domestic vs commercial skip hire sets out the difference.
A few things cannot go in a mixed skip whatever the setting. Tyres, gas bottles, paint tins with liquid still in them, electrical items and asbestos all need to go another way. Raise old sprays, fuel cans and any machinery with fuel or oil still in it with us before loading. If you are unsure, call before it goes in.
Where the Waste Actually Goes
Every load we collect comes back to our own recycling centre. We sort it there rather than passing it to a third party. We separate timber, metal, hardcore and green waste. Old gates and machinery frames go for metal recycling, and broken concrete goes back into use as hardcore. You can read more on our environmental and recycling page. The clearance may be the first step towards converting the building. If so, our piece on barn conversion waste in Charnock Richard looks at what comes next.
Booking Your Barn Clearance in Mawdesley
Tell us what is in the barn, how the lorry gets down the track and where the container can sit. We will tell you plainly which size fits your barn clearance in Mawdesley. Our page on skip hire in Mawdesley covers the village and the lanes around it. Ring our team on 01257 752399 or use our contact page to get started.
