Last year I shared a letter with you from Robert Hyde Greg, expressing his joy to his new fiancée, Mary Philips, that she had accepted his offer of marriage. The archive volunteers later found a letter from his father Samuel Greg, describing his delight for his son, and advising the couple not to worry about…
Tag: heritage
Heroes of Adventure – what our visitors think
Our exhibition Heroes of Adventure has been on display for a few months now, if you still haven’t seen it, here are some kind comments from our visitors about the exhibition, who will hopefully persuade you to come and visit… “It shows how brave and selfless people were. It proves that we must learn from…
‘Turns out it was probably part of a cupboard…’
Back in July I got an excited phone call from Ally: “Hello! I think you need to come over the Archive, we’ve received a really interesting donation!”. I arrived in the archive to find Ally, and our then Oral History intern Sarah, heads bowed over the table examining the mystery item, which turned out to…
The Mill Series 2 – “My Morning as an Extra”
For the second series of The Mill, filming actually took place on one of the machine floors; the Weaving Shed. Darlow Smithson Productions wanted the scenes to look as realistic as possible, and so when the story moved into the Weaving Shed to follow Susannah Bate returning to work, it was important that our historic…
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…
Arthur and Bobby’s medals, home at last – Heroes of Adventure
As many of you will know by now, currently at Quarry Bank we have an exhibition on called Heroes of Adventure, which commemorates the experiences of the Greg family, the workers and the villagers in the First World War. Ally and I led on the exhibition and we became very emotionally attached to the people’s…
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…
Accidents at Quarry Bank Mill – The Mill Series 2 Episode 2
In Episode 2 of The Mill we see Jack Howlett nearly reach a horrific end, when his head is almost crushed between the draw frame and the back plate of the spinning mule. Luckily for Jack, his father John Howlett in an act of superhuman strength brings the mule to a stop by grabbing the…
The Mill Series 2 – William Greg
Sunday night saw the introduction of another member of the Greg family in The Mill; William Greg, played by Andrew Lee Potts. In the first episode we learn that William has taken over the running of Quarry Bank Mill, whilst his elder brother, Robert Hyde Greg, is in Manchester acting as an MP to fight…
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…
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 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…
Quarry Bank Revealed 