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…

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…

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…

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…

Mr Holland’s Herbal Remedies

Peter Holland not only mixed with the gentry, but also showed concern for the poor. Developing a large practice in the Knutsford area, as well as working for the Leicesters at Tabley, the Stanleys at Alderly and the Egertons at Tatton, he was the family medical practioner for the Greg family and took responsibility for the medical care of the…

Countryfile and The Clock Tower

Rather excitingly, at the end of last month, Ellie Harrison, Countryfile presenter, visited Quarry Bank to film for an episode of the programme, which will air this Sunday (8 March). As it is National Apprentice Week from 9-13 March, she chatted to Quarry Bank’s Clare Brown (Machine Interpretation Supervisor) and discovered what life was like…

New Life in Quarry Bank Gardens

A few weeks ago I had a lovely morning wandering around Quarry Bank’s gardens on a tour for staff and volunteers, by Sarah Witts (below), the Head Gardener here at Quarry Bank. There certainly have been a lot of changes and huge effort has been put in, by both the garden staff and volunteers, to get…

Meet the Learning Interns

In my earlier blog post I introduced myself (Visitor Experience Intern) and the Archives/Collections Interns, Josh and Helen. But there are more friendly, new faces at Quarry Bank, as Learning Interns, Sarah, Suzanne and Laura, are working hard to give school groups and children fantastic, and of course educational, days out. I now hand over…

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…

“Sorrow & succeeded dependence…bind us closely together” – life after Hannah Greg

I’ve been burying myself in the archive in the run up to Christmas and these first few days of 2015, working my way through a wonderful set of letters that have entered the archive on an indefinite loan. The loan includes letters, photos, and post cards belonging to the Greg family, and were in the…

Christmas with the Apprentices

Last year the cataloguing team found a series of letters relating to Robert Hyde Greg and his family at Christmas. It made me think about the very different Christmas that was happening at the Apprentice House. Christmas was without a doubt the best day of the year for the apprentices, who worked six days a…

Remembering the fallen soldiers of Styal – Heroes of Adventure

Today, 96 years since Armistice was declared, and the First World War ended, people around the world remember those who courageously gave their lives. At 11 o’clock this morning, the staff and volunteers of Quarry Bank gathered in the Heroes of Adventure exhibition to observe the two minutes silence. Styal village lost 24 men in…