tarboat's photos with the keyword: silk

This terraced row on Ashbourne Road in Leek harks back to the days of cottage industry with a series of garret rooms on the top floor. These would have housed hand looms for weaving silk cloth. The long windows were designed to allow maximum light into the room. Since I took this photo most of the windows and doors have been replaced with plastic.

Receipted bill for two bales of silk and a case from the Bible Society carried to Macclesfield from London in April and June 1831. The goods would have been brought most of the way by canal, but as this was just before the opening of the Macclesfield Canal the last stretch would have been by cart from the warehouse at Red Bull near Kidsgrove and through Congleton. At this time Robins, Mills, & Co had an office at the bottom of Mill Street in Macclesfield. The trading partnership was dissolved in 1838 and the business operated as John Robins & Co until 1840 when the canal trade was taken over by J Mills & Co.

The bridge linking Worthington's Portland - (left),and Queen (right), silk mills in Leek, has a clock on both faces so nobody could justifiably be late for work.

Bengal Tram supplied from Royal Depot Mills at Park Green, Macclesfield in 1836. Tram is a weft yarn of two or more twisted strands of silk. The purchaser, Thomas Bullock & Son were silk manufacturers in the town. 1½% discount for cash in one month. It was actually settled in just over two months. The mill was demolished to make way for the architectural wonder that is the NatWest Bank and County Court in a building called Silk House.

The stepped terraced houses with weaver's garrets is Paradise Street. The whole terrace was modernised in the 1970s and saved from impending demolition by our caring and conservation minded council. The nearer mill is Bridge Street Mills whilst in the background is Brown Street Mill which is very slowly being converted into apartments after years of dereliction. In the right foreground are the houses with roof gardens on the corner of Bridge Street and Henderson Street.

This decorative work is high up at the junction of Well Street and Cross Street in Leek. This extension to the Cross Street Mills was built in 1898 to the designs of local architect Larner Sugden. A close loook reveals that even the drain head is lettered B N H. The firm were manufacturers of "sewing silks, braids, bindings, trimmings etc", having been established by silk manufacturer John Brough. The firm actually became Brough, Nicholson & Hall in 1891.

Edward Mill of 1924, was one of the last to be built in Congleton. It was a silk mill and replace the Albert Mill of 1871. It is now a gym and fitness centre.

Situated on Foundry Bank, the Victoria Mill was originally a silk mill and in 1858 was occupied by Berisfords for powered ribbon weaving. At that time it was known as Foundry Mill. Today it is divided into a number of commercial units.

The central section of the 1843 Albion Mill on London Road in Macclesfield This mill has been empty for a number of years and is rapidly deteriorating. Formerly used by A W Hewetson who occupied the premises until the 1970s producing machine embroidery.

The Adelphi MIll is one of the significant landmarks in Bollington and whilst the chimney was dismantled some years ago, the future of the building now seems secure. The mill was constructed alongside the Macclesfield Canal but water transport was almost immediately superseded by the Macclesfield Bollington and Marple Railway which ran behind the mill. The Adelphi Mill Properties Ltd website gives a brief history of the mill as under: Constructed circa 1868 by Martin Swindells, a local cotton spinner who also owned Clarence Mill in Bollington, he built The Adelphi Mill for his two sons, hence the name 'Adelphi', which is Greek for brothers. The Mill, which was built adjacent to the Macclesfield Canal began life spinning cotton, but was soon converted to the production of fine silk. During the Second World War, spinning ceased in the Mill and all work was turned over to the production of parachutes. At the end of the sixties the Mill was bought by Britax for the production of webbing for motorcar seatbelts, this continued until the late eighties. The Mill was then sold and converted to offices and workshop uses.

Albion Mill comprises the nearer and central buildings seen here, the oldest parts being erected in 1843. The nearer section still has the ghostly advertising for A W Hewetson who occupied the premises until the 1970s and were at one time the country's leading machine embroidery firm. Today the older premises stand empty and increasingly derelict. The far building is London Road Mill which is currently occupied by East Cheshire Glass.

Elevation of a small section of the Cross Street Mills of silk manufacturers Brough, Nicholson & Hall at Leek. This mill was erected in 1898 as an extension of the 1865 Cross Street warehouses and offices. The architect was Larner Sugden. An overview of the mills of the Brough, Nicholson & Hall empire appears here.

The London Mill weaving mill of Brough Nicholson & Hall stands on Ashbourne Road in Leek, adjacent to the York Mill to which it is connected by a tunnel under Well Street. Today it stands derelict and deteriorating.

The textile mills of Brough Nicholson & Hall occupied a large area close to the centre of Leek. One of the surviving buildings is York Mill on Ashbourne Road, constructed in 1898 and named to commemorate a visit yto Leek bty teh Duke and Ducess of York in 1900.

Although it sports the date 1790 over the doorway this steam powered silk mill in Macclesfield was built in about 1821. This was an integrated mill with all stages of silk throwing and manufacture, including dyeing, being carried out on this site.

Orange and blue - one wall oversaturated to achieve the desired effect