Beechers Abroad

Over the past couple of weeks we've had the opportunity to get an interesting taste of early English industry. We toured a textile mill, a pottery factory, and a flour mill and are combining them all in this post.   Masson Mills The following is a description of the history and significance of the textile industry in the area in which we have been living since we got to England: The Derwent valley, upstream from Derby on the southern edge of the Pennines, contains a series of 18th and 19th century cotton mills and an industrial landscape of high historical and technological significance. It began with the construction of the Silk Mill in Derby in 1721 for the brothers John and Thomas Lombe, which housed machinery for throwing silk, based on an Italian design. The scale, output, and numbers of workers employed were without precedent. However, it was not until Richard Arkwright constructed a water-powered spinning mill at Cromford in 1771, and a second, larger mill ...

This post is a bit of a "grab bag." We'll start with a few pictures to show that we're really not just touring all the time.  We actually study a lot,...we promise!  The studying is not so bad, though, as there always seems to be a beautiful spot to study in and occasionally furry study buddies (Paddington and Mr. Brown) to assist us.  It has been great to have the opportunity to read things we have meant to read for years, but never had the time or motivation to make it happen. On the day before we had to leave our home in Turnditch, Heather and Mark (Hannah didn't want to come) took one last walk around the area.  It was spectacular! We took a bit of a diversion on a public path that led out through an open field full of wild flowers. Sometimes the public footpaths that aren't used very regularly get overgrown and hard to find. This one did just that. We could not find the path after a while, but we did find some lovely s...