June 2024 saw a lot of changeable weather, and the day i visited alternated between sunshine and blue skies and dark clouds and rain. I’d taken a few photos of the headgear with an old railway crane in the foreground, as I liked the way the lattice structure on the boom complimented the lattice structure…
Tag: Lancashire
#668 – Wood Top Mill, Burnley
While Burnley was known as a textiles town, the decline in that industry in the mid 20th century left a great deal of empty mills, and a number of these were taken over by the expanding aerospace industry. The catalyst for this was WW2 and with Burnley’s relatively remote location and skilled workforce, Lucas industries…
#655 – Brierfield Gas Holder 1
I last went here in 2015 when I was accompanying my friend Katriina around a few places in Lancashire and we had a quick look here. It was around this time that the National Grid were accelerating their removal of gas holders and I regret not photographing more. I had it in my head that…
#650 – Imperial Mill Blackburn 2
As I moved out of Blackburn in 2004 and stopped working there in 2006, I rarely go back unless I have to. It’s a town I have mixed memories of, and as I wasn’t born there, and most of my friends from there have also moved elsewhere, so there’s little to take me back. Nonetheless,…
#649 – Imperial Mill Blackburn
I lived in Blackburn for a few years in the late 90’s / early 2000’s and used to work near this place, Imperial Mill. I took some photographs of it that I don’t think I’ve ever put on here but you might have seen the one above on my website if you’ve ever visited it….
#648 – Vine Mill, Oswaldtwistle
I was in ‘Ossy’ on the way back from somewhere else, so I thought I’d swing by this place as it’s been in my list for a while. It’s not the most visually interesting mill, so I took a couple of record photographs and then went down a lane at the side to see if…
#647 – Stonebridge Mill, Oswaldtwistle 2
In days gone by, a mill at the end of the street was a common site in Lancashire and Yorkshire, with the terraced housing being built for the mill workers. Let’s not romanticise it though – these places were noisy and had smoke billowing out of the chimney 24/7 so I can’t imagine they were…
#646 – Stonebridge Mill, Oswaldtwistle
Oswaldtwistle is one of those northern towns like Slaithwaite (Slawit) and Barnoldswick (Barlick) that is not pronounced as it is spelt. Locally it is pronounced ‘Ozuldtwissle’ or just ‘Ozzy’ if you’re really local. Actually, it’s not really a town, it’s more a suburb of Accrington (which is pronounced as it is spelt, although generally abbreviated…
#624 – Mather Lane Mill No.3 (Brooklands Mill) Leigh
On the south side of the Bridgewater Canal is the other remaining mill of the Mather Lane complex, Mill No.3 which is also known as Brooklands Mill. Unlike No.2 mill, this is still in industrial / commercial use but split into multiple units as is normally the case with old mills. The adjacent mill (No.1…
#623 – Mather Lane Mill No.1, Leigh
Just up the Bridgewater canal from Butts Mill are Mather Lane Mills, a small complex of mills that straddled both sides of the canal. Wikipedia tells me that it was built in 1882 and the Bolton architects of Bradshaw, Gass and Hope were responsible for the design, as they were of many Lancashire mills. In…
Mechanical Landscapes 