Percy Pollard, mill Engineer, born 12/5/1908, and the fixed water level indicator between the two glass water gauges, the pipes and valves on the left werefor the water injector that put water into the boiler under pressure.
Percy Pollard and his son Derek inside the Lancashire Boiler; they are sitting on the two tubes. The bioler had to be descaled and inspected every year.
The Mitchell Mill reservoir on Wadsworth Moor. The water was used to power the turbine near Sandy Gate. The turbine was stopped or started by a large valve situated in a wooden hut over the mill dam.
This turbine, situated near Sandy Gate, generated electricty using the water from the reservoir on Wadsworth Moor. The cables near the generator would have gone up to the mill.
This mains electric motor would drive the mill. When the reservoir was full and over-flowed the water would drive the turbine near Sandy Gate. The steam engine would be disconnected but the steam boiler would still be used for washing wool.
The belt drive from the first motion shaft tothe second motion shaft. The wooden sliding door was the entrance to the battery room which was full of lead acid batteries to power the 110 volt lighting in the mill as there was no mains electricty.
This Thorneycroft Wagon would pick up raw wool from the conditioning house at Bradford, and then deliver the washed, carded and combed wool "Tops" to customers. The wagon also brought coal from Sharleston Colliery. The wagon driver was John Birket.
The Boiler House. A lot of coal was stored outside, it was brought from Sharlston Colliery near Wakefield . The man in the picture was the boiler fireman.
Percy Pollard at this time was the steam engineer at Charlie Crabtree Mill in Blind Lane, Todmorden, in reserved war-time occupation. Boston Hill Cottages had been servants' quarters when the big house was still there. at this time it was all owned…