12:08pm Friday 28th March 2008
WHEN Gayle Mill opened its doors to the public for the first time in 20 years last week, it was perhaps difficult to imagine that it had once come dangerously close to being converted into modern, luxury flats.
Yet, when it was closed down in 1988, that seemed to be the only solution and, but for the tenacity and determination of the mill's last owner, the developers would probably have had their way.
Brian Alderson, the last of five generations of his family to own the mill, refused to sell up despite being in dire financial straits.
The mill lay derelict for almost 20 years before volunteers and experts, including former apprentice workers at the mill, embarked on an ambitious five-year project to restore it to its former glory.
Sadly, Mr Alderson died last December, just months before the work was completed, but mill manager Paul Bisson said he would have been thrilled with the final results.
"The mill was a huge part of his life and family history," said Mr Bisson. "He showed true grit in resisting the developers, who were desperate to buy the site for flats, and he would have been very proud to see it today."
Built by brothers Thomas and Oswald Routh in 1784, the mill was voted one of the country's top three heritage projects when it featured on the BBC's Restoration programme four years ago.
It thrived as a cotton mill during the late 18th and early 19th centuries as new trade routes were developed, giving Gayle easy access to raw foreign imports and the booming manufacturing districts of Lancashire.
Traditionally, the women and children of Gayle had earned a living through seasonal farm work, as servants and especially as knitters.
But the mill introduced a new type of working environment, in which the natural rhythm of human life was replaced by the tireless pace of machinery, and the unrelenting hours of labour.
Indeed, the mill's effect on the working population of Gayle was noted by a Government inspector, John Tuke, in 1794. "Where people are collected together in large numbers," he observed, "their morals are liable to be depraved, their health injured and, when employed young, their growth lamentably impeded and strength impaired."
But, in the late 19th century, the cotton boom began to tail off, as steam technology attracted more mill-owners to the big industrial cities. Under new tenants the Aldersons, who were to run the mill until its closure 100 years later, the old water wheel was replaced by a then state-of-the-art turbine, and Gayle Mill was converted into a modern sawmill.
Electricity came to Gayle Mill between 1890 and 1900, when a generator was attached to the turbine.
As a result, the streets surrounding the mill were the first in the village to be lit by electricity, a source of great local pride considering that nearby Hawes had just established a council gasworks.
No doubt the prospect of villagers in Hawes strolling down lighted streets past lit-up shops, churches and schools went some way towards speeding up Gayle's pursuit of the technology.
Change came in the Second World War when soldiers were billeted at the mill. The mill pond itself proved invaluable for tank training manoeuvres, which were later put into practice saving thousands of lives on D-Day. Tank tracks are still visible around the pond today, as a silent reminder of the rather unlikely role played by Gayle Mill in the liberation of Europe.
After the war, business at the mill ticked over for a time, but it became increasingly left behind by an ever-changing world. Lorries now delivered pre-sawn timber to the area, and people looked beyond local trade for wider choice and cheaper goods. By the 1960s, horses, once the backbone of the rural economy, were merely a curiosity, with tractors and trailers doing all the work. By the 1980s, the mill was no longer sustainable and, reluctantly, Brian Alderson took the decision to close.
Tony Routh, who was the last-ever apprentice at Gayle Mill, recalled happy memories of his time there.
A distant relative of the Routh brothers who built the original cotton mill in 1784, he spent nearly three years as an apprentice joiner at Gayle during the 1960s.
"Although I was only here for a short time, Gayle Mill made a big impression on me," he said. "I have such fond memories of the place and of the people I worked with.
"It was marvellous to be a part of something like the mill, which had been so central to people's lives.
We all had a great time working here and I am so glad it has been preserved."
Mr Routh is now a director of the Gayle Mill Trust, a registered charity set up to raise funds for the restoration project and to secure the mill's future.
"Everyone has worked really hard to restore this place, and it has been worth every minute," he added. "The mill and its technology deserves to be preserved for future generations to see, and I'm very proud to be a part of it.
"It really does feel like coming home."
As well as a historic tourist attraction, Gayle Mill is also a working enterprise and provides a range of timber and wood production services.
It is highly efficient, producing its own energy and even selling electricity to the National Grid.
Mr Bisson added: "Gayle Mill is part of our history, and it's wonderful that people can come and see it in fully working order. When it closed down in 1988, I'm sure no-one could have imagined this.
"I think I speak for us all when I say how pleased I am that it was never converted into flats, no matter how luxurious."
Gayle Mill is open from 10am to 5pm, five days a week. It is closed on Mondays and Fridays, except bank holidays. Admission costs £5 for adults, £2 for children and £14.50 for families. For more details, visit www.gaylemill.org.uk.
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