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…
Tag: Victorian
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…
How our visitors care for Quarry Bank – the Bell Tower, the water wheel, cobbles and glasshouses
In two weeks the National Trust will have entered its Winter season, and many of the mansions and houses we look after will close to carry out important conservation works on the buildings and their collections. Whilst we reduce our open days from 7 to 5 here at Quarry Bank, we are also busy getting…
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…
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 – 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…
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 Joys of Steam
We have a brand new Heritage Intern, Jess, who has been working with our brilliant Power Volunteers for the past few months, and in doing so, has found a brand new passion… ‘If there is poetry to be found anywhere in a cotton mill it is in the engine-house you will find it.’ (Autobiography of…
‘The thousands inside all seemed to radiate with joy’ – The Great Exhibition of 1851
We’ve just had all the fun of the fair this May Day, and welcomed back Great British Fun Fair’s brilliant Victorian Swing Boats and Chair-o-planes. Nearly 163 years ago, Robert Hyde Greg enjoyed one of the greatest fairs the country had ever seen; the Great Exhibition of 1851. Whilst cataloguing letters of the Greg…
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…
Quarry Bank Revealed 