Abandoned Tweed Mill in Wales

[sydnie7]

Great photos, less than "deathless prose" in the captions and text (it is the Daily Mail, after all). Love the random, irrelevant mentions of child labor and "all too brief breaks" but the images are worth wading through. Would be interesting to see the fabrics that came out, bet they lasted well if the raw materials are any gauge.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...n-shelves.html

[Kiltedjohn]

Really fascinating, but a very sad sight.

[McClef]

There are many sad sights in that area but they still hold a fascination for the past.

[creagdhubh]

Very sad indeed, yet as Trefor stated, still fascinating nonetheless. I wonder, can the contents of the mill be salvaged in any way? Thanks for sharing, Sydnie.

Cheers,

[cessna152towser]

Fascinating.
This must surely be worthy of restoration as a museum/tourist attraction.
Dangerfield Mill in Hawick had all its Victorian machinery still in place when it closed in the 1980's. Local interests wanted to preserve it as a tourist attraction in preference to the Tower Mill as it was more original, and a Friends of Dangerfield Mill group was established. Part of Dangerfield Mill was let for limited production. The tenant got into financial difficulties and following two suspicious fires on Friday nights within four weeks of each other, Dangerfield Mill was left dangerously fire damaged and was de-listed by Historic Scotland. Eventualy the Tower Mill was restored and a few artefacts from Dangerfield Mill found their way into the adjacent textile museum in Drumlanrig's Tower. In the meantime though, while there was indecision the tourist interests in Scotland lost out to Northumberland County Council who established the old Otterburn Mill on the English side of the Border as the Borders Textile Museum with cafe, shopping opportunity, and other tourist attractions.
Otterburn Mill is well worth a visit, still with its original Cornish steam boiler, its replacement diesel engine and many of the overhead lineshafts and pulleys still in situ.

[sydnie7]

The original article came to my attention through Ravelry. Another reader has added these fascinating links:
More photos

And a great period-piece article

[brewerpaul]

I keep trying to win the lottery. What a place to refurbish.

[tulloch]

Wow. That has so much potential. It is a pity to see things like that waste away. Hopefully something will be done with it other than have it waste away to dust.

[jhockin]

I would guess that the threads, in the stockroom photos would be wool, not cotton, if they wove tweed?
My Scots genes wanna reach in and gather up all that wool; hate to see things wasted

[sydnie7]

Another tidbit about some of the machinery having been salvaged for display.