Category: Archives/Collection

The Darker Side of Styal

Whilst looking through local newspapers from the nineteenth century, PhD student Grant Collier from the University of Manchester has discovered the dark side of Styal. You might be surprised by what he found… ‘Strange dog’ spreads ‘a most lamentable case of Hydrophobia’ According to an edition of the Berkshire Chronicle, printed in December 1827, the…

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Behind closed doors….

Quarry Bank stays open to visitors throughout the winter from Wednesday – Sunday.  That doesn’t mean though, that on a Monday and Tuesday, nothing is happening inside the Mill. The historic houses use this time to carefully clean and care for their collections and despite being a very different proposition, our collection of industrial machinery and other…

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Reassembly is the opposite of disassembly

Nether Alderley Mill, is a water powered corn mill, which some members of the team at Quarry Bank also help to look after. Our ongoing conservation work at Nether Alderley Mill has taken a new ‘turn’ lately. Over to volunteer Bruce Williams for more details. At Nether Alderley once the waterwheels are in action, they turn…

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A Taste of History

Hi, Would you like to try some hundred year old ice-cream? If your first thought was, surely it would have melted by now…you are right.  The ice cream in question is based on a recipe dating to the late 1800s or early 1900s. Elizabeth Mary Greg, better known as Bessie was an interesting woman.  The great granddaughter…

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Voices of the Mill Workers

Hi, This week Helen our Collections and Archive Intern discovered some letters written by workers at Quarry Bank.  I could not wait to find out more, so over to Helen. Working in the archives, it can sometimes be easy to overlook the day to day experiences of the workers at the mill amongst the many…

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Renovate where possible, repair where necessary

Hi, In Power Volunteer Bruce’s last blog about Nether Alderley Mill, the important restoration work was part way through and a tremendous amount of work was being done.  Bruce continues the story here. We left Nether Alderley Mill with the vertical shaft lifted out of its bearings and supported on a chain hoist, and the…

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Quarry Bank has won the Lottery

Hello everyone, my name is Emma and I am the project coordinator for the Quarry Bank Project. Over the next few years I will be joining the blogging team to relay all the wonderful things happening with the Quarry Bank Project. As you may be aware, back in January, Quarry Bank was awarded a £3.9million…

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Printing block collection and a 70 piece puzzle

Hi, Museums are like icebergs, what you see is only a fraction of what is really there.  Quarry Bank is no exception and in the unassuming rooms at the back of the Mill, which house the collection and archive, are many intriguing items. The Drawn Out of Love exhibition has taught me a lot about…

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Meet the Interns

I’m handing over to Sophie for this post, our new Visitor Experience Intern. Hello! My name is Sophie and I’ll be bringing you behind the scenes sneak-peeks, tales of the staff and volunteers hard work in the Mill and across the estate, and lots more stories from the goldmine that is Quarry Bank’s archive. I…

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Piecing together Robert and Mary’s Romance

Well folks, this is my last ever blog post as I leave Quarry Bank for pastures new, and I have decided to end my tenure as blog creator & editor by returning once more to one of my favourite stories from the archive; the romance of Robert Hyde Greg and Mary Phillips, and I warn…

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