Back to the UK after 50 years

[OZDUCK]

Finishing off Chester. If you are nearby it is well worth spending a few hours here.

Outside the Town Hall - a bronze statue gifted to the city by the Chester Zoo



Grosvenor Bride - "This elegant stone bridge across the River Dee, seen from the city wall as you pass Chester Castle, is actually a Grade I listed building. It was the longest single-span arched bridge in the world when it was opened by (the then) Princess Victoria in 1832"



Another "Bridge of Sighs"





The train trip to and from Chester was not the most scenic one I have ever taken. The line often runs through cuttings or with trees hiding it from view. And when views were available they were often just of flat farmland.



This was one of the more exciting sights



Occasionally you would pass by a small town



Once again we got both English and Welsh language information

 

[OZDUCK]

Our second day trip was a mini-bus tour to the Lake District. This can be visited by train from Manchester but then you are restricted as to what areas you can see. The company we went with was Rabbie's Tours and the price was £164 including a 45 minute 'cruise' on Lake Windermere. Due to traffic delays on the return trip it turned out to be close to an 11 hour trip.

We had visited the Lake District in 1976 and it was so cold and wet we spent very little time there. Unfortunately this pattern repeated itself as we experienced the coldest and wettest day of our trip.

A stock photo of one of their vans. All the tour companies seem to use the same 18 seat Mercedes vans and their prices are basically identical.



The inside of the van. It was pretty comfortable but a little short on legroom. I sat in the middle rear seat so I could stick my legs out but this also meant I was right over the rear axle so it was a bit bumpy.



On the way out of Manchester

London Road Fire Station opened 1906 and shut down in 1986 with a variety of failed redevelopment schemes since then.



A former cotton mill - Victoria Mill built between 1869 - 1873. It operated until 1960 and is now mixed residential/commercial use.



A bit of rolling countryside



Bowness Pier on Lake Windermere



Our boat



The tour



My wife found this little display

 

[OZDUCK]

From the boat.

Leaving the pier





Claife Viewing Station is a 19th century viewing platform on the western shore of Windermere, designed with coloured glass panels to frame scenic views of the Lake District.






Some fishermen







Storrs Hall Hotel







Car ferry



As good as the weather got for the day

They are made of sterner stuff than me. Being out on paddleboards in this weather - brr.

 

[OZDUCK]

We had time for a quick walk around Bowness. I can't imagine how crowded it would be in peak periods. It was not the most scenic town I have seen.

Old Bowness





Bowness





Then we moved onto towards Grasmere







The grave of the doyen of the "Lakes Poets" William Wordsworth is in this village - complete with fresh daffodils







A lovely little stream runs next to the graveyard





We bought some of the 'famous' Grasmere Gingerbread. It was ok but not my favourite version.

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop | The World's Best Gingerbread

Discover The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop tucked away at the corner of the churchyard of St. Oswald’s Church, Grasmere just North of Lake Windermere.

www.grasmeregingerbread.co.uk

The bakery is housed in the old Village School





All us foolish tourists queued up in the rain to buy our gingerbread. Later in the day we stopped at another village which had an outlet for the gingerbread - it had no queue whatsoever.



This is the full size of the shop.





The Beatrix Potter industry is alive and well



My wife had Mushroom Soup for lunch and I had a healthy egg, sausage and bacon roll. We shared a pasty. I also had one of the worse Ginger Beers I have ever had. I think because of the Sugar Tax in the UK on soft drinks and the like artificial sweeteners are used extensively and this seriously affects the taste. Plus this Ginger Beer was full of 'botanicals' which tasted pretty horrible. Absolutely not within cooee as good as Bundaberg Ginger Beer or for older West Australians like me Weaver & Lock.

 

[OZDUCK]

And then the rain really came down and didn't stop until we had left the lake district a couple of hours later. It was unfortunate as it really affected the tour. At one 'scenic; viewing point no-one got out of the bus because of the extremely unpleasant conditions.

My wife took a quick video to show how bad it was.

The next stop was at Coniston Water. This was the site of the disastrous attempt at the World Water Speed Record by Donald Campbell in 1967 that resulted in his death. The driver said the theories about the cause of the accident is that due to time constraints he had not not refuelled the boat after the first run and it was therefore too light at the bow and that also he had not waited long enough for the wake from the first run to properly subside.

https://ruskinmuseum.com/who-was-donald-campbell/

https://www.scotsman.com/news/speed-ace-died-as-his-windscreen-decapitated-him-2470314

The viewing conditions from the van were not very good





A few of us got out for a quick look around



It would have been a lovely spot with a bit of decent weather.







Our final stop for the day was the village of Hawkshead.

The weather was 'better' but still miserable.





I think I preferred the original street name





We bought a couple of cakes from this 'cabinet' and they were both delicious.



St Michaels and All Angels Church - mostly 16/17C with some earlier parts



I bought a packet of Kendall Mint Cake at the local CoOp in the village. I had heard about it previously but had never seen it before. It is anything but a cake. It basically a peppermint flavoured slab of sugar. You can feel your teeth rot as you eat it. But you can also see why it is popular with climbers and hikers as there is certainly a quick 'sugar rush' when you try a piece.

Kendal Mint Cake - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And that was the end of a fairly disappointing day out. The driver/guide did his best to entertain/enlighten us but he admitted that it was 'simply one of those days'. The disappointment was not due to his or his companies actions but just because of the weather gods.

We had an extended drive on the way back because of three incidents on the motorway and heavy traffic in Manchester.

To taunt us there was a bit of a sunset when we arrived back in Manchester.

 

[OZDUCK]

Our next day trip was far more successful. We went to see if the there was trouble at t'mill. To be precise we went to the National Trust site Quarry Bank Mill. Built in 1784 it ontinued in operation until 1959.

Quarry Bank Mill - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It is pretty easy to get to by public transport from Manchester -under an hour. It is actually close to Manchester Airport. On the way there we had to take two trains but on our return trip we only took one.

We left from Manchester Piccadilly Station




A station we passed through



Our interchange station - only a short wait.



Our destination station at Styal





It was about a 20 minute walk to the entrance to the mill



The first stop on our tour was "The Apprentice House where up to 90 children lived" built in 1790. These were "child apprentices" "The last child to be indentured started work in 1841. Child labour constituted over half of the labour force in the early decades of the mill's operation, according to Prof Hannah Barker, chair of Manchester Histories at the University of Manchester. "By 1833 apprentices made up only 20% of workforce at Styal, and in 1847 the apprentice system was completely abandoned". These children came from workhouses and it was considered that they would be better off working than staying in the workhouse al la "Oliver Twist". "Initially, the children were brought from Hackney and Chelsea but by 1834 they came mostly from neighbouring parishes or Liverpool poorhouses."

It is considered that the conditions at Quarry Bank were better than most and that they were well fed. The wife of the owner was responsible for making sure that the children, including the girls, received at least some education. But the still worked around 70 hours per 6 day working week.

 

[OZDUCK]

Inside

The tours were conducted by guides wearing period clothing



The children were cared for by a married couple who acted as their superintendents. This was their room.



Staff were employed to do the cooking, cleaning and laundry for the children. So they were well looked after for that period. They received some pay and could buy things at the company store which eventually became the first CoOp in the UK. If they 'misbehaved' they could be 'fined' by the mill owner. They paid the fine by working unpaid overtime. It was still a hard life.









The dormitories were upstairs and the building had the 'typical' large Georgian windows.



The children slept two to a bed which is less than we all guessed would be the number.





Girls cloaks



However their stories are still very sad.







Eating implements and some toys



Slates

 

[OZDUCK]

Moving down towards the mill.

Firstly Quarry Bank House - the Georgian home built by the Gregg Family from 1796 with various additions over the years.

4. Quarry Bank House

Home schooling Situated right next to the mill, Quarry Bank House is a sophisticated example of a late 18th-century villa. Construction began in 1796 for Samuel Greg and his wife Hannah. When Samue…

historyscapes.uk

Only the ground floor was open to the public

















The dining table was set up for a dinner party with place cards









One of place cards for the guests was for John James Audobon who was a guest of the Gregg family in 1826. He was the famous, if controversial, artist and naturalist whose illustrations were collected in the colour plate book "The Birds of America" in 1827 -33.. If you have a spare original copy floating around it would be worth around US$11,000,000. I was excited enough about this to point his name out to one of the house guardians - she didn't have a clue what or who I was talking about.

John James Audubon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Lest it appear that I am too enamoured of the founder of the mill Samuel Gregg it must be pointed out that the money to build the mill came at least in part from the slave trade. His family were part of the now infamous group of Bristol slave traders and owners.

Samuel Greg - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[OZDUCK]

Now onto the mill building itself







Notice the multiplicity of windows to allow the maximum amount of light to enter. Use of open flames for illumination was dangerous in a cotton mill because the loose fibres in the air were extremely inflammable especially combined with grease etc.











The Mill Managers Office





The other offices made me a bit nostalgic. When I first joined Customs in 1972 parts of our older offices were still set up in similar way to these.

 

[OZDUCK]

Various hand looms













Fabric is still made here tody and there is a small shop selling various products made on-site.



My wife bought a couple of small "Glass Cloths" for my daughter and herself.

 

[OZDUCK]

And now to the business end of the mill. I would think that I am probably one of the few people on here who has actually walked through an operating yarn mill. In my case it was the late lamented Albany Woolen Mills in the 1990's when I was in Customs. It operated from 1925 - 2002.

The weaving machines

Lots of lovely leather belts in which to become entangled. You can imagine how noisy it would have been when all the machines were in operation.

The "Mules"

Spinning mule - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

My wife did a walk of the full machine deck

One of them in operation. The young children used to work underneath the yarns collecting waste, greasing and retying broken yarns. A great place to lose fingers and on occasion your life.

 

[OZDUCK]

Some more machinery

Historic beam steam engine - but not original to this mill. It was built around the 1830's/40's and was rescued from a sawmill that was being demolished. The mill was, and is, mainly water powered but auxiliary steam engines were installed to power it when water levels were low.





Waterwheel equipment



The waterwheel








There was a quite nice café on-site and we got some lunch there.

I had Hunters Pie with Pork and Chicken. They 'lost' my order and after we hunted it up my wife got a free Fat White coffee as compensation. As an aside those who complain about coffee prices here should order one in the UK. Luckily I don't drink coffee.



For the masochists a few more videos

A short part of a talk about operating the mule - she is speaking very softly.

 

[OZDUCK]

Outside the mill

The water gates



The original waterwheel shaft





The waterwheel from outside'







The back view of the owners house







It really is a rather beautiful spot.

 

[OZDUCK]

The gardens are also very attractive













There is a walled garden there as well



You could buy some of the garden produce



Yhere was still a nice display of flowers







Complete with apples trained over ironwork





A squirrel entertained us for a while





An dthen we walked back to the railways station and returned to Manchester. The 'direct' train passed through Manchester Airport.