STEVE Hemingway was 17 when he first brewed his own beer.

“I wanted to try and brew my own beer similar to Tetley’s - that was the beer which inspired me.”

The resulting tipple “was quite good,” he says, spurring him on to refine his craft.

He continued to make home brew, setting up equipment in the kitchen and later the cellar at his Liversedge home.

In 2015, after many years as a refrigeration engineer, Steve was made redundant and decided to invest in some state-of-the-art brewing equipment.

“When I brought it back it would not fit in the cellar, so I had to put it in the garage, but within three months it had outgrown that too.”

His ales went down well with family and friends and he began putting it in barrels. “A local golf club bought the whole lot - they said it was better than Timothy Taylor’s.”

He laughs: “They said it was too strong for their members, so I brewed another that was less strong.”

He called that light amber bitter Luddite, in recognition of the strong history of the Luddite movement in the Spen Valley. “I am very interested in local history and wanted the names to reflect the area’s past.”

Steve began to look for premises in which to base and expand his brewing operation. “I had it in mind that if I got myself an old mill it would be less costly than an industrial unit,” he says. “I looked high and low and came across Woodroyd Mills in Cleckheaton.”

The premises were not in good shape but, on a limited budget, he fitted them out. Steve’s wife Wendy, grown-up children Sarah and Richard and other family members helped when they could, as did friends, but Steve carried out the bulk of the work himself.

After three months the brewery was up and running. “I called it Mill Valley Brewery as I lived in Valley Road, Liversedge at the time. It was going to be Luddite Valley Brewery but someone said ‘You will end up having your equipment smashed - it was a joke, but I still changed it.”

His Yorkshire Bitter and Luddite ale was soon joined by Mill Blonde. The Luddite connection is carried through on labels and pump clips, which show Cartwright’s Mill in Rawfolds near Cleckheaton, where, in 1812 more than 100 Luddites invaded and attacked machinery.

Steve is very keen to find out more about Woodroyd Mills. “I think the building dates from the late 19th century but don’t know why it was built, although I imagine it has a connection with the textile industry.”

Among the many vegan-friendly craft ales, beers and stout brewed by Mill Valley, is Panther, named after the iconic motorcycles that were once made in Cleckheaton, and Redwing, named after a model of Panther.

As the business took off, pubs in the area began to buy Steve’s beers, and he took his ales to Bobtown Beer Bash - a beer festival in Roberttown. Following its success at that event Steve decided to invite people from local pubs and bars to sample his wares. He got more business as a result, including orders from sports clubs.

Soon people began to walk into the mill asking whether they could buy beer. It promoted Steve to apply for a temporary licence. “We opened a pallet bar - a bar made from pallets. We called it The Mill Bar. My wife wasn’t convinced that it would work, but we were really busy. It was hard, but I was so eager for it to succeed.”

The licence allowed opening just once a month, but customers wanted to go more often. “So we built a proper bar.”

Mill Valley Taproom - our T&A Pub of the Week - opens Friday to Sunday, with live entertainment on a Saturday night and monthly comedy nights.

As sales expanded across the north, with deliveries to pubs as far afield as Manchester, Nottingham and Hull, it was soon clear that Steve’s business had outgrown its base.

He took on a second building, the former Heights Working Men’s Club in Halifax Road, Liversedge. It’s now the Brewhouse. “We brew all our beer from there,” says Steve. “I would like to know more about this building too - it was a public bathing house in the 19th century."

Both The Brewhouse and Mill Valley Tap have shops, for customers in person and online. The latter also serves food, beginning with breakfast at 8am, through to lunchtime and early evening bar food including pizza, burger, chicken wraps and chips.

“After the first lockdown, when Boris said pubs could only open for meals I thought I’d better get a food licence,” says Steve.

The local community has also helped - a crowdfunding page raised more than £9,000 for a canning machine. “More than 160 people donated - I had a lump in my throat.”

The past 18 months have not been easy. “I’ve been through a lot of heartache and lost staff, but we have carried on and things are starting to pick up.”

He adds: “People keep telling me that at 60 I should be slowing down - that’s not going to happen for a while.”

*millvalleybrewery.co.uk