Well what can I say... housed in this little crumbly shed is one of, if not the best mills I have ever seen. Original machines, all line shaft driven are crammed into every corner. Little guess work is needed to work out what was what, rather than the usual "there must have been a belt here, this probably powered this..."
I have read a great deal into the Worstead industry in the Colne valley and Huddersfield, which was the hub of cloth manufacture in Britain, so I understood some of the process, but that said there was many a machine which had me stumped. What was interesting was that most of the machinery was manufactured in the Colne valley regon, for the home industry of the area.
The mill's power source was water, and amazingly much of the water wheel remains. Like Patons and other mills in the Colne valley the mill had later used this wheel to generate electrical power, and much of the equipment to do this, which itself was of a fair vintage still remained. The iron wheel (which amazingly was one casting!) is the largest I have seen of it's kind in situ.
I dont really know what else to say... there are not many sites that make me just put the camera down for a while, simply walking around soaking it all in. That said when the camera did come out I took over 200 photos in what was just half a dozen rooms...
Oh, and the teasel machine has to be the single best piece of mill machinery I have ever seen! Big thanks to Urbanity for the heads up on this one.
Paris, New York, Peckham? Try London, Brussels, Paris, Slingsby!!
I have read a great deal into the Worstead industry in the Colne valley and Huddersfield, which was the hub of cloth manufacture in Britain, so I understood some of the process, but that said there was many a machine which had me stumped. What was interesting was that most of the machinery was manufactured in the Colne valley regon, for the home industry of the area.
The mill's power source was water, and amazingly much of the water wheel remains. Like Patons and other mills in the Colne valley the mill had later used this wheel to generate electrical power, and much of the equipment to do this, which itself was of a fair vintage still remained. The iron wheel (which amazingly was one casting!) is the largest I have seen of it's kind in situ.
I dont really know what else to say... there are not many sites that make me just put the camera down for a while, simply walking around soaking it all in. That said when the camera did come out I took over 200 photos in what was just half a dozen rooms...
Oh, and the teasel machine has to be the single best piece of mill machinery I have ever seen! Big thanks to Urbanity for the heads up on this one.
Paris, New York, Peckham? Try London, Brussels, Paris, Slingsby!!
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