Washwheel Mill (Bleach Works), Cheesden Valley, near Birtle, Greater Manchester.

Fairly Hidden away upon the moors above Elbut Lane, Birtle Road and Deeply Vale Lane in the Cheesden Valley, near Old Birtle, Greater Manchester, are the ruins of a former bleach mill called Lower Washwheel or Lower Wheel. It was built by James Almond (his residence was about half a mile further up the valley at Deeply Vale) sometime in the early 19th century as a cotton spinning mill, but later in the 1880s, the mill was bought by Joseph (James) Shepherd who ran it as a bleach works. The mill at Washwheel survived until the early 1900s, possibly as late as 1930, but as a somewhat scaled-down industrial site by then. In the 1950s some of the mill building remained, but after that these remaining structures had been demolished and the stonework taken away. The former mill's chimney still stands as do the access bridge and stone becks, and the mill lodges are still to be seen and some other industrial remains can just about be made out if you look for them. The site of the former bleach mill can be found at Grid Reference SD 8286114120.

A.V.Sandiford & T.E.Ashworth writing in 1981 tell us that: "In the 1880's the Lower Works at Washwheel was taken over by Joseph Shepherd for the bleaching of cotten waste and there is still evidence of the stone becks used to hold the scouring liquors. These were of some 65 cubic feet and probably held around 400 gallons of solution. Though the Cheesden Brook did not provide power for the mill the water for processing was taken from sluices a short distance up-stream and fed to a lodge on the west bank of the brook. From there it flowed through a twenty inch diameter pipe, over the brook to another lodge on the east bank. Supply to an adjacent third lodge was supplemented by a stream leading from a source on the moors above. i >

Sandiford & Ashworth go on to tell us more about Washwheel Bleach Mill. Heading south from Deeply Vale:"On recrossing the stone bridge and joining the road south we continue down the valley,the overgrown drive which once led to James Almond's house on our immediate right. Ahead on the skyline can be seen a radio transmission mast and to the left a large water tank. These landmarks stand above Birtle Dene and give the direction of our journey. A short distance beyond Almond's house we leave the road and follow a footpath to the right leading to a chimney amid a clump of trees. The chimney was that of Washwheel Mill, the last concern to closein the valley, and on closer inspection it can be seen to have been extended by brickwork, possibly to avoid the effect of down draughts. The corroded remains of the pipe, until recently, linked the lodges across the stream and the remains of the scouring becks can still be found near the base of the chimney. The Lancashire boiler lay parallel to the stream close to the bridge, but was wrenched from its housing and hauled away in a lorry in the middle of the night by some no doubt enthusiastic scrap dealer in the early 1950's. A cavity filled with the undergrowth is the only remaining evidence, but fragments of iron pipe at the end may be the remains of an 'economiser', an invention allowing water being fed to the boiler to be preheated by pipes carrying flue gases from the boiler."

H.D. Clayton writes in 1979:"Wash Wheel. This mill was a bleachworks, driven by steam, and owned by Almonds, the ruins of whose house can be seen in pleasant surroundings a little further up the valley. It was reached by a bridge over the brook from Birtle and had access up the hill in Ashworth Road. The mill closed in the 1930s"

Sources of information:-

Sandiford A.V. & Ashworth T.E., The Forgotten Valley, Bury and District Local History Society, 1981.

Clayton, H.D., A History of Ashworth near Rochdale, Ashworth Hall, Rochdale, 1979.

Copyright © RayS57, 2025.

Four Acre Mill, Cheesden Pasture, Turn Village, Near Edenfield.

On the windswept Fecit Hill above Cheesden Pasture, 1 mile from Turn Village to the northwest of Knowl Hill, near where the Grain Brook flows into the Cheesden Brook are the now very sad and scant remains of what was Four Acre Mill (OS Grid Ref: SD 827175). A section of the mill wall used to stand there but has had to be demolished for safety reasons. Four Acre Mill was built as a Woollen Mill just before 1810 by John and George Haworth - who were both farmers at Croston Close in the Cheesden Valley. The mill later became a cotton spinning mill. John Haworth also built Great Lodge (now dried up) about half a mile further up on the moor to help feed the brook at Four Acre, and an embankment was also built. George Haworth also ran mills at Lower Croston Close in the Cheesden Valley, and Coal Bank (Carr Woods) in the Ashworth Valley roughly between the period 1830 and 1860. Admittedly, the Haworth brothers did not always see eye-to-eye and would often fall out over business ventures. Four Acre Mill had closed down by the late 19th century.

A.V. Sandiford & T.E. Ashworth tell us more about Four Acre Mill:"The history of the Cheesden Valley is dominated by three names; The Ashworths, the Ramsbottoms and the Haworths and from them emerges a figure whose enterprise, perhaps ruthless enterprise, did much to develop the industries of the upper valley in their formative years. The man was John Haworth who with his brother George was a farmer of Croston Close. Before he was thirty he was operating a mill in Croston Close Bottoms a little way downstream from Cheesden Lumb and he ran another, Four Acre Mill, high up on the moors above Cheesden. Four Acre was powered by a waterwheel thirty six feet in diameter and four feet in width and it took all of Haworth's ingenuity to provide a head of water to drive it. The task of harnessing the waters of the Cheesden Brook to the valley industries was an exacting one to every mill owner, but Haworth at Four Acre, situated well upstream, it was a particular challenge. But it was one to which he proved more than equal.

"The mill lay only a short distance from the confluence of the Cheesden and Grane Brooks but the Cheesden was not of sufficient height to provide a goyt for the lodge at Four Acre. The Grane Brook, however, was higher so Haworth built an embankment across the former and diverted the water into the latter. Furthermore, in the triangle thus formed the earth was excavated to provide useful extra storage at little expense to the construction. A weir, constructed a few yards from the confluence, can still be seen and from it the goyt can be traced to the lodge above the mill.

"But Haworth later turned to a greater concept. Despite the ingenuity of their con-struction the mills, in their early years, were still heavily dependent on a regular rainfall and workers were at times called from their beds to work long hours at their machine when stormwater flooded down the valley to turn the wheels. Haworth was far from satisfied with this situation and literally with shovel in hand led the construction of a lodge, later known as Great Lodge, where the Cheesden Brook rose among peat covered moorland 1478 feet above sea level. He erected an embankment across a narrow neck of the valley to impound the water draining from the moss some four-hundred yards to the north east, and fitted sluices to guarantee a steady flow of water to the industries below.

"When the work was complete he called a meeting of the valley mill owners and offered the use of the water to each of them. The acceptance would have been unanimou but for one dissenter. so Haworth in his tempestuous manner, replied 'if all don't want it, then none shall have it!' and kept the sluices closed. Perhaps he relented later for Great Lodge was, in fact, used and provided a valuable service in regulating the work of the mills.

"The dissenter may possibly have been his brother George. History has provided countlesss examples of the bitterness which can exist between members of a family and it would appear that the Haworth brothers were no exception. John's daughter, Alice, often recalled in later years - a time shortly after the brothers quarrelled when George became ill. Convinced his end was near he despatched a messenger to request John to visit him so that the breach existing between them could be healed. John, it is said, listened to the request, paused for a moment then turned to the messenger and replied 'Now thee goo back an' tell tell 'im as sent thee to get on' wi' 'is deeing. I want to see him neither dead nor alive!'".

Sources of above text information:-

Photo (top) Four Acre Mill remains by Kevin Waterhouse (Creative Commons):https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7255201

A.V. Sandiford & T.E. Ashworth, The Forgotten Valley, Bury and District Local History Society, 1981.

Copyright © RayS57, 2025.