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.

Birtle Dene Mill, near Bury, Greater Manchester.

There is nothing much, if anything, left of Birtle Dene Cotton spinning mill in the lower Cheesden Valley today. But, back in the 19th century it was a thriving manufacturing establishment, even though it was located well away from the towns of Bury and Rochdale, making it difficult to reach for the workers who came from the local towns and villages down in the valley, especially in the Winter months. Some workers were even persuaded to up-sticks and come from other parts of the country to work at Birtle (Bircle) Dene Mill. It was back in 1824 that industrial entrepeneur Mr Thomas Rams-bottom built his spinning mill at Birtle Dene. Thomas and his brother John had earlier built a mill at Harwood Fields in the nearby town of Bury, and, they owned three coal mines in the vicinity of Birtle Dene. To reach the mill one had to walk the two or three miles up Elbut Lane and Birtle Road, and then on up to the mill where the industrial revolution seemed to have arrived at breakneck speed by the early 19th century, and, at which time the Ramsbottom family had 'secured their place in cotton spinning history'. The mill finally closed in 1894-5. OS Grid Ref: SD 83261345. I'm just thinking here - would Birtle Dene Mill have been called Mr Tom's by its workers?

H.D.Clayton says of Birtle Dene Mill: "This was a large establishment, owned by the Ramsbottoms for most of its life, and consisting of a four-storey spinning mill and a weaving shed, lit by their own gas. It was driven by a large waterwheel and auxiliary engine. Lying at the foot of a steep hill, access was difficult down a winding road on which were two rows of cottages with their backs to the hill, so that only front doors could be provided. A windlass was used to haul goods up and down the hillside to the top road and the same procedure was adopted for coal from a nearby pit. When the boiler was installed the mill had a day's holiday, owing to the danger of the boiler falling on the mill as it was lowered down the hillside. When the mill closed towards the end of the 19th century, the boiler was removed and hauled up the hill by a large team of horses."

Sandiford & Ashworth (2000) tell us that: Beyond Deeply Vale the Cheesden Brook wanders across a broad plain flanked on either side by steep hills. Here there are no mills but it is as if the valley chooses to pause before making its final and perhaps most surprising revelation. The stream curves gently round the towering contours of Birtle Edge and the valley gradually opens into a deep gorge, curiously patterned with low embankments and crumbling walls, its thick undergrowth strewn with sturdy masonry and gouged with hollows and enigmatic channels, for it was here in Birtle Dene that the industries of the Cheesden Valley reached their pinnacle. The mill that Thomas Ramsbotttom of Harwood Fields built there in 1824 was far removed, in both style and spirit, from those humble enterprises to the north of the valley.

"Thomas Ramsbottom, however, showed no such caution when he built his mill at Birtle Dene. Here was a cotton mill in its own right, in no way dependent on the putting-out system or the domestic outworker. It was a vertical concern spinning the raw cotton into yarn and weaving the yarn into cloth, with possibly some yarn dyeing capacity and cloth finishing. It was planned and built with the boldness and confidence of a man who clearly had caught the spirit of the Industrial Revolution. Yet when the observer stands at the top of the mill road, a good 340 yards from the valley bottom with a steady and formidable gradient of one in seven, he may ask why Ramsbottom chose such a remote site for such an ambitious mill. There were, of course, the usual facilities of water and coal, but for an enterprise of this scale, comparable with many of the edifices of the growing towns beyond this valley, its situation created intrinsic problems.

"The Observer may also ask how Ramsbottom raised his capital for the project. There is, in fact, evidence that the Ramsbottom family had been involved in textile manu-facture previously at Harwood Fields."

Sandford & Ashworth go on to say: "Perhaps Ramsbottom, for all his ambitions, was still at heart a man of the valley. There is no doubt that he used his resources to the full. Birtle Dene Mill was powered by two, possibly three, water wheels, a small one being provided solely for used in the mechanic's shop when the rest of the mill was closed. The mill also used steam power and Ramsbottom owned three mines situated above the Dene, Bassy Mine, Lower Foot Mine (known as Halfpenny Hole) and Upper Foot Mine (known as Mountain Mine). Access was by narrow tracks running along the hillside to the south of the mill, though there is no evidence of a rail line...... these mines were frequently subjected to flooding and by 1887 they were either unworkable or unable to meet the demands of the large mill. Supplies were then brought up from the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways coal yards at Buckley Wells in Bury. The Dene Mill, like several others in the valley, produced its own gas for lighting and the circular depression which once held the gasholder is still in evidence. In later year electricity was introduced.

"To spare the horses the strenuous haul of goods up the steep slope from the mill, the woven cloth consigned to the merchant houses of Manchester was taken up the hillside by means of a windlass and stored in a building before loading. Such consideration for employees was not, however, universal. Three rows of cottages were provided for work-people on the road down to the mill, while others came from Jericho and Fairfield, hamlets some two miles away. Labour was also recruited from the unfortunate inmates of Jericho workhouse and in 1836, following revisions in the administration of the Poor Law, large numbers of people from areas of Suffolk, Norfolk, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire were persuaded to come North to regular work in the new cotton mills."

Sources and References:

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, Reprinted 2000.

Colour photo (above) of Birtle Dene Mill in the Cheesden Valley is by John Westhead on Geograph (Creative Commons).

https://www.heywoodhistory.com/2018/01/mills-a-z.html

Copyright © RayS57, 2023.