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.
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