Mather Lane Mill, Leigh
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Mather Lane Mill, Leigh by Chris Allen as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Image: © Chris Allen Taken: 25 Jun 2016
Now being converted to housing. This cotton spinning mill was built in 1882 to the design of Bradshaw, Gass & Hope. There is a partly internal engine house on the north elevation. The engine was a very unusual beast being an 800 horsepower inverted vertical tandem compound by J & E Wood of Bolton. It had an ejector condenser and a specially built flywheel with a rim speed of 7000 feet/minute (usually about 5,000 feet per minute or nearly 60 mph). If I recall correctly it also had a parallel motion guide for the crosshead. A very interesting design for its day and I wish I had seen it.