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…

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…

The Mill Series 2, Episode 1 – The Poor Laws

Series 2 of The Mill has kicked off  by exploring of one of the most contentious pieces of legislation of the 19th century; The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, which saw the wide-scale introduction of the infamous workhouse, as we greet a brand new family; the Howletts. Daniel Bate: Robert Greg’s asked the Poor…

The Mill Series 2 Press Pack from Channel 4

Yesterday, Channel 4 released their press pack for Series 2 of The Mill. It’s absolutely jam packed full of information about the second series, as well as loads of information about the fact behind the fiction that we here at Quarry Bank supplied them with, and even the article first featured here on the blog…

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…

Preview The Mill Series 2

Series 2 of The Mill is finally making its way to your television screens within the next month or so, but if you’re quick, you might be able to snap yourself up some tickets to preview Episode 1 before anyone else. On 10 July at 6.30pm, at the BFI in London, there will be a…

The Mill – Series 2 – Behind the Scenes

We’ve been keeping fairly schtum these past few weeks about the fact that Channel 4 and Darlow Smithson Productions are back at Quarry Bank, filming series 2 of ‘The Mill’. It’s once more been a brilliant, hectic, surreal experience having them back , and on the days filming took place in the Mill Yard, all…

Through the Keyhole in Styal Village

A couple of weeks ago I gave you a behind the scenes look inside Quarry Bank House, and we all saw how the other half lived as it were. Well today, I had to go into No. 13 Oak Cottage, in Styal Village, known to us at Quarry Bank as the ‘pickled cottage’. I thought…

Apprentices vs workers

Now that the cataloguing volunteers have worked their way through the vast amount of Greg letters, they have shifted their focus towards documents relating to the business. One such document was written by Robert Hyde Greg titled “List of apprentices and their value as compared with other workers”, dated December 1837. As the title suggests,…

Revolutionary Walking Tour – The ‘real’ Esther Price

This weekend saw the second of our fundraising village tours, this time led by Archive volunteer Ann-Marie, who I’m handing over to this week… “The tour was called ‘The ‘Real’ Esther Price Trail’ and the idea was to separate the truth from the fiction of ‘The Mill’, and use specific sites at Quarry Bank Mill…