High jinks and forfeits

List of forfeits

It's very interesting to take a look at the forfeits boards at the Mill. Based on archives, these new interpretation boards in the Gallery take you back to another time. It's easy to imagine that everyone was well behaved in a mill workplace, working too hard and too long a shift to get up to high jinks. Recently I was talking to a lady who had worked at the Mill in her teens,from 1944 until 1952. She remembered the fun she had with work mates, even ending up soaked to the skin in one of the mill races. I have some favourites among these 'forfeits'. There's a story behind them that we may never get to know, but we can all use our imaginations. 'Calling through the window to some soldiers'. We know that there was a local militia formed to protect the Mills in Belper from what we would now call Luddites. The men drilled locally and the bridge over the road that linked the Mills still has windows for gun emplacements.Men in uniform have always had an appeal! There is still a Drill Hall in Belper. I can't help feeling sorry for the person who 'threw a sickie' to go to Heage Feast and got caught out! Why did the dog get into hot water? And whose face was so ugly that they could terrify S Pearson? 'Rubbing their faces with blood and going about the town' makes me think of the current fashion for Zombie films and city centre Fright Nights for Halloween. It would be wonderful to be transported back in time to meet some of these characters. We know about them now because they got into trouble then. I wonder what they would make of that!

Stone age garden design

Belper's beautiful River Gardens are close to the North Mill for a reason. They were osier beds back in the day when the Mills grew willow to weave their own baskets to hold the cotton. Pliable young willow shoots were the ideal raw material. When basket making ceased, the riverside area was developed for leisure pursuits including boating. A bandstand was built and rockeries and flowerbeds were created. There are many quarries in this part of Derbyshire where natural stone could be found in abundance, but surprisingly the gardens made use of a patented artificial stone called Pulhamite. Named after its inventor, it's a kind of gritty sandstone used to join natural rocks together or crafted to create unusual features.James Pulham and Sons were based in Broxbourne. James died in 1898 and apparently the recipe died with him. There are some showpiece gardens throughout the country featuring Pulhamite and some real enthusiasts keeping its memory alive. Chelsea Flower Show, with its lovely show gardens, reminded me of Pulhamite, especially Dan Pearson's winning Chatsworth inspired garden, echoing Paxton's carefully constructed 'natural' outcrops of rocks. He used tonnes of genuine gritstone from Derbyshire, transported to Chelsea for the occasion. The River Gardens are a gem of a garden. Enjoy them!

Strutts, strolls and rovings

Here at Belper North Mill we have a fantastic programme of guided walks around Belper, as well as our popular tours round the Mill itself. From May 25th until June 7th there is a special programme of Discovery Walks in the Derwent Valley World Heritage Site. Where else could you find out about ice houses and Highland cattle? You can even dilly along the Dalley! There's plenty of information about the Strutt family too. Take a look at the website for details and how to book. www.derwentvalleymills.org And if you want to know more about rovings, visit us and take a tour of the North Mill.

Back in the day

Joan Parker popped into the North Mill recently. She started work at the English Sewing Cotton Company when she was 14, in 1944. She left in 1952, a young married woman. Like many of the workforce, she travelled by specially chartered bus from Clay Cross, where she still lives. There were 12 buses a day to ferry workers from Clay Cross to Belper. It cost 3/9d a week in fares. Joan earned £1.3s.5d. That's less than £1.20p. One of our volunteers has been to interview Joan about her memories of working at the Mill. I hope to share some of those stories with you in weeks to come. E S C Co. didn't close down until 1986. We often have visitors who share their memories of working there, and many of our volunteers have connections. Chucklebutties was the mill canteen. There were beautiful maple wood floors on the top floors of the East Mill. Our new gallery display includes news film of the day the Mill closed, friends in tears, leaving work together for the last time. I think you will spot Joan, second from the right as you look at the photo. Sadly her companions are no longer with us. Imagine entering the world of full time mill work at 14. Like teenagers everywhere, they got up to high jinks. More to follow!

Those magnificent men in their flying machines

A few weeks ago I visited Imperial War Museum Duxford. There's a massive hangar that contains some amazing exhibits relating to aviation and its history. There's even a Concorde! One of the first exhibits you see is part of the wing structure of the Wright Brothers' plane. Wilbur and Orville Wright developed a flying machine, making use of their own experience as engineers and cycle mechanics and constructed of materials available at the time. The Wright Flyer 1 was made of spruce with Pride of the West muslin for surface coverings. The mention of muslin in the interpretation information made me think of Belper North Mill, and cotton fabrics. This particular fabric was described as being used for ladies' undergarments, with a very fine close weave. Imagine my delight when I investigated further and discovered that this muslin was manufactured at Slater's Mills in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The same Slater who is still known locally as Slater the Traitor because he broke the terms of his apprenticeship and took cotton industry secrets to America, making his fame and fortune there. So we can trace the factory system, social housing, skyscraper building techniques and now aeroplanes back to Belper and the Strutts!

Necessity is the mother of interpretation

The gallery in Belper North Mill has been updated, thanks to a heritage lottery funded project. A series of small screens show films of processes and machinery, telling the story of the Mill and its industrial history in a very contemporary way. There's a heartbreaking piece of news film of the day the English Sewing Cotton Company closed, with interviews with some of the ladies who worked there. It's now 20 years since North Mill enthusiasts got together to preserve its heritage. Funding was scarce and displays were put together by volunteers with enthusiasm and their personal knowledge. Our Samuel Slater display is a good example. Jean Bellaby, one of the long term volunteers created it, putting Cindy, Ken and Barbie to good use.To some visitors it probably looks quirky and quaint but it tells an important story about the history of Samuel Slater, Belper and beyond. It's the story of the twin town links between Pawtucket, Rhode Island and Belper, and the establishment of cotton spinning in America, with all its implications. It also tells an important story of make do and mend, and the role of enthusiastic volunteers to share history and heritage, with no funds to speak of. Nowadays there are heritage consultants who specialise in interpretation in the museum sector. There is funding out there to make use of their skills, developing innovative and digital ways to share a story. Interactive online resources, user generated content, apps and android friendly formats. It's a long way from Ken and Barbie, even further from Samuel Slater. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the volunteers who were devoted to saving and sharing the story of the Derwent Valley Mills, they were eventually recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, not crumbling relics of a forgotten industrial past.

Farmers and markets

Last Saturday Belper North Mill took a stand at No.28 as part of Belper's Farmers' Market. It gave us an opportunity to publicise the North Mill, thanks to Pippa and George who run No. 28 as a community space and also support the Mill in other ways. There is a link between local farms and the North Mill. The Strutts turned their attention to the agricultural as well as industrial revolution, setting up model dairy and arable farms in the Belper and Milford area. These farms fed the workforce, now housed in specially built cottages in the town. Wyver, Dalley, Crossroads, Moscow, Shottlegate,and Chevin House Farms were built or redeveloped to incorporate innovations in design influenced by new factory designs. Jedediah Strutt was born into a farming family himself. The Strutts originally bought in produce for their workforce, responding to the huge rise in population of the town as a result of the mills. Payment for provisions was deducted from wages. Those of you familiar with the rise of the Co-op and the Co-operative movement will know that mill owners weren't always so enlightened. In Rochdale the provisions were of such poor quality that a Co-operative Wholesale Society was founded in 1844, based at Toad Lane. This was the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, to give them their full title. The rest, as they say, is history.