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.

Around Deeply Vale Mills & Wind Hill Colliery, Cheesden, Near Rochdale, Greater Manchester.

The Industrial Revolution came to the Cheesden Valley, north of Rochdale, in the late 18th century and flourished in the 19th when fourteen mills were built here, although they were not wholly reliant on the Cheesden Brook itself - the course of which runs in a south-easterly direction from Four Acre mill above Cheesden Pasture mills in the north to Simpson Clough in the south - these mills being for the most part steam-driven. The place-name Cheesden means 'gravel valley', though parts of it are gorge-like. The area soon became an Industrial enclave or Cradle of Industry with thousands of local people from the nearby towns and villages working in the mills, which were at their heyday in the middle of the 19th century; the workers' youngest children being sent to school at Buckhurst school-cum-chapel, just a short distance to the north (after 1840) which was opposite Longlands Mill and its lodge. To the Industrial Archaeologist the mill ruins alongside the Cheesden Brook are like paradise! Deeply Hill, also known as Deeply Vale Upper mill, is located at (SD 8230 1488), while just to the south is Deeply Vale Lower Mill at (SD 8242 1455).

These cotton-spinning mills, paper and print mills, and bleach and dye works, in particular, those at Deeply Vale Upper (formerly known as Deeply Hill) and Deeply Vale Lower, were supplied with coal from Wind Hill Colliery (SD 83105 15220) on the Ashworth Road, 1 mile to the east. Deeply Hill mill became Hardmans in 1867. It closed after 1890. Coal was supplied to Deeply Vale mills by means of a tramway over the Ashworth Road and then crossing the moorland from the colliery at Wind Hill; it eventually reached the mills in wagons (carriers) over a wooden trellis viaduct and overhead rope and pulley system, which would have been very ingenious for its time.

The Cheesden Valley has, in more recent times, been referred to as 'The Forgotten Valley', but maybe not so much forgotten today! However, today not much is left of the mills and workers cottages at Deeply Vale apart from the bare overgrown ruins of these once mighty industrial buildings that paved the way for the Industrial Revolution in the Cheesden Valley. By the end of the 19th century and the early 20th it was the end for the mills in the valley; they were closed and abandoned forever with nature slowly consuming the buildings, which became ghostly ruins. Peace returned to the valley. However, some of the mill workers dwellings continued to be occupied right up until 1960. And equally there is not much left of the former Wind Hill Colliery on the Ashworth Road apart from the square-shaped perimeter earthworks and foundations of coal-working buildings and pit shaft etc.

You can walk south along a country lane (Croston Close Road) from Cheesden Bar (SD 82259 16563) on the A680 (Edenfield Road) for about 4-5 miles passing the now peaceful and solitary ruins of Bridge Mill, Cheesden Lumb mills, Croston Close mills, Longlands mill and its lodge, and the former Buckhurst school and chapel, which is now a private house. Continue walking south-south-east through Deeply Vale with the Cheesden Brook on your left as well as the mill lodges. Here one can see some enormous dressed stones among the overgrown foundations, all that remains of the two former mills; also the Almonds residence. Continue south along the main footpath passing the ruins of Washwheel Mill Lower (Almonds) to Birtle Dene Mill and Kershaw Bridge Mill (Allansons) - ending up at Simpson Clough Mill (SD 85217 12140) which is still in use today. Hooley Bridge is just a little further along on the Bury-Rochdale Old Road.

Sources and related Websites:-

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

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

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheesden_Valley

Photo of Deeply Hill and Deeply Vale by Bill Boaden: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1875969

Photo: Remains of Deeply Vale print works by Liz Dawson: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/380469

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2016/02/the-lost-mills-of-cheesden-valley.html

Copyright © RayS57, 2021.