Woodhouse Mill, seen from the towing path of the Rochdale Canal, c. 1906. The three-storey terrace of houses was called Bank View. The improvements and inventions of Hargreaves' spinning jenny, Crompton's mule, and later, Cartwright's power loom…
Woodhouse Mill, built in 1832, was sited directly alongside the Rochdale Canal to take advantage of the transport facilities and process water. The small engine house can be seen on the left of the mill. The chimney was detached from the mill in…
Wilson Bros Fire Brigade - After numerous disastrous fires at their Cornholme bobbin works (the mill was rebuilt twice following fire destruction), Wilson Bros formed their own fire brigade which also attended domestic as well as mill fires…
In his book 'I Haven't Unpacked' Billy Holt describes 'Old Sinbad', as he was known locally, who first took him on as a half-timer: "The proprietor was a short, stout, fussy old man with a round, untrimmed grey beard and a pair of steel-rimmed…
John Willie Bentley and his son, John Bentley, at Blind Lane, about 1890. The Man on the right is the roadman employed by the Holebottom Trust who used to bring his pick heads and chisels to the smithy to be sharpened.
During the hey-day of the weaving activities the sheds were powered by a pair of steam engines of 1,000 hp, which were named 'Sam' and 'John' after the two eldest surviving Fielden sons. The photograph shows Leslie Baron who was in charge of the…
The three cottages in the centre of the picture were the homes and workplaces of the entrepreneurial Fielden family who moved there from Edge End in 1782. The various stages of expansion can be seen in the five-storey building which was a spinning…
Waterside Mill fire 1901 - On 17th June 1901 fire destroyed the old spinning mill belonging to Fielden Bros. Built around 1800 and adjoining the Laneside cottages, the four-storey building was the first of many extensions and additions that would…
A view across the 'New' shed at Waterside in 1912. Interior of the large weaving shed at Waterside in 1912. It is now the site of the Morrisons Supermarket.
Water powered mills on the line of Lumbutts Clough in Causey Wood.
Causey Wood Mill was constructed by Firth and Haworth in 1826 for cotton spinning. At the time of this photograph it had been derelict for some years and was demolished soon after…
Another Fielden Mill utilising water power with a unique system of three waterwheels, each fed by a stepped series of dams. This mill was later converted to steam power. Lumbutts Mill and Jumb Mill were interconnected by a conveyor system which…
Another Fielden Mill utilising water power with a unique system of three waterwheels, each fed by a stepped series of dams. This mill was later converted to steam power. Lumbutts Mill and Jumb Mill were interconnected by a conveyor system which…
Lumbutts Mill 1900s - In addition to the parent mill at Waterside, Fielden Bros owned several smaller mills in the valleys around Todmorden, almost all of which were used for spinning purposes. Two of these were situated in the Lumbutts Clough - the…