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…
Category: Styal Village
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…
The Mill – Series 2 – best behind the scenes photos
Back at the end of April, Darlow Smithson were in their final week of filming the second series of The Mill, and I took it upon myself to loiter around the set taking photo after photo after photo. In the end I had around 300 pictures and one slightly irked producer after I accidentally wandered…
Children of The Mill by David Hanson
To accompany the second series of The Mill, a book has been released which explores the lives of the apprentices at Quarry Bank, from the beginnings of the apprentice system in the 1790s, to its end in 1847. The book is called Children of The Mill, by David Hanson. Back in July we held a…
Heroes of Adventure – Madge Greg – life as a VAD nurse in WW1
On Monday at 10pm the UK brought an end to a day of commemorating the centenary of the First World War by participating in the ‘Lights Out’ event, to remember the lives lost in the conflict. Our exhibition Heroes of Adventure commemorates the involvement of the Greg family, the mill workers and the villagers of…
The Mill Series 2 – interviews with Kerrie Hayes, Andrew Lee Potts and Matthew McNulty
Have you been enjoying The Mill on Channel 4? Who’s your favourite character at the moment? Whilst they were filming here at Quarry Bank, the National Trust managed to grab some one-on-one time with some of the cast and find out what their thoughts were on their characters and on Series 2. Warning – the…
The Mill – Series 2 – behind the scenes – exploring the set
Back in April, myself and other staff members, who helped out with the filming of The Mill, were invited to the studio set in Media City. Darlow Smithson Productions have been kind enough to allow me to share the photos I took of the fantastically detailed sets. I apologise in advance if the photos look…
Mapping out The Mill Series 2
The Mill returns to our screens tonight on Channel 4 at 8pm. The second series includes some new locations, most prominent being Styal Village. For me, and for those of you who know the site well, it’s easy to reconcile the distances we see the workers walking in the series from their cottages to the…
The Mill – Series 1 Catch up and a look ahead to Series 2
For those of you living in the UK, you may have spotted a few TV adverts reminding you that you can catch up with Series 1 of The Mill, ahead of Series 2 which is due to air at the end of July. I thought today that I would direct you to a few previous…
Voices from the First World War – Heroes of Adventure
This weekend we were lucky enough to be visited by Margaret (Susan) Fowler, the daughter of Helen Greg who features in our new exhibition Heroes of Adventure. Margaret provided us with an invaluable oral history interview, as well as loaning us boxes of letters, postcards and photographs of the Greg siblings; Arthur, Bobby, Madge and…
Introducing Heroes of Adventure
On Saturday, our brand new exhibition Heroes of Adventure opened. It explores the effects of the First World War on the Greg family, the workers and the Mill. It’s been a year in the making and an emotional experience for Ally and I, as we have become very attached to the individuals we researched. The…
Scarecrow Festival 2014
Yesterday morning I found myself manhandling Marilyn Monroe, Charlie Chaplin, Gary Lineker and Miss Havisham. In scarecrow form of course. This year the theme of our annual Scarecrow Festival is ‘Film and TV stars’, as Quarry Bank is set to once more grace TV screens this summer in Series 2 of The Mill. Last year…
