Providence Mill on Alexandra Street. One of the few mills remaining in the Hyde area.
The Cotton Mill was built by Dean and Tinker who were Millwrights ,Engineers and Iron Founders of the Eagle Ironworks in Stalybridge. After the death of Mr Tinker in 1867, and with the building unfinished ,the building was put up for auction and was consequently bought by Robert Walker & Sons. It wasn't in operation until approximately 1869 because of ongoing building work..
Disaster struck the Mill in 1886 when fire devastated the main building. As good fortune would have it the Mill was covered by insurance as the estimated damage was estimated at £25,000 - £30,000 - a fortune by that eras standards. The wrecked building was reopened in 1887 and included more modern such as electric lighting which was installed by Hydes specialist firm Stanley & Davis.
In 1890 a PLC was formed - Robert Walker & Sons Ltd . The new company specialised in production of of twist yarns and remained as such until 1920 when Providence Mills (Hyde)Ltd was formed. This company was in operation for only a matter of years and after it had been closed for a while it was taken over in 1927 by Scottish Artificial Silks Ltd. This lasted until 1933. A textile firm J & H Schofield were the next occupiers of the Mill until it was leased by Ashton Brothers in 1939. It is not known at what date Ashton Brothers ceased to use the mill.
It is now in multiple firm occupation amongst which is a furniture retailer..
Thanks to Ian Haynes for the information above. Much appreciated.
9 comments:
Well done for getting a post up Nancy.... I do hope PhotoBucket get it sorted.... I'd hate to have to reload all the pictures... can you imagine that... ha!
Great post as well Nancy.
Beryl says she used to work for Ashton Bros at Providence Mill - she left in 1972 and Ashton Bros moved out about 6 months later.
I think maybe we should do another post on this mill Dave... what do you think?
Good idea Tom, I'll email you the other photos I took there at the beginning of March.
This is nice post which I was waiting for such an article and I have gained some useful information from this site. Thanks for sharing this information.
I came across your site whilst researching Providence Mill and you have an excellent collection of information on it.
I would like to ask if anyone has any knowledge of a company named Len Dixon & Sons, whose factory was at Providence Mill? They specialised in leather belts and holsters for firearms, and I do not know which period they occupied the mill - it would have been some time around the 1970's and early 1980's perhaps.
If anyone has any information, please do let me know via email at: SFResearch@outlook.com
Thank you
How on earth do you open the photos of Providence Mill. I believe my mother worked there for many years but I cannot open the pictures??
Hello there Anonymous
Sorry about the missing pictures, very frustrating when that happens... thanks for letting us know. I'm sorry there's no pictures of the work force. If we get anything sent in I will either add them to this posting or make a new post.
Did you get any info on len dixon and son?
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