Grane Mill Haslingden
Grane Engineering Museum, Grane Mill, Laneside Road, Haslingden, Lancashire, BB4 5PP
Grane Mill was a state of the art weaving mill built in 1907 when Cotton was King. It originated 2 miles away at Calf Hey watermill in 1798, but had to move when Ogden Reservoir was needed. Originally a scheduled monument and grade II* listed building, the increasingly rare 160ft chimney is complete with over-sail top and proudly declares its name, 'GRANE', for all to see. All the mill's essential building elements survive, including the Engine and Boiler houses with unique almost completely restored Mill Engine, made in Haslingden, which can now be demonstrated by electric motor. Looms are being returned to the North-light Shed and brought back to working order to weave once more. Mill workshop and auxiliary engines run on compressed air and other rescued machines are in various stages of restoration together with related mill and engineering artefacts. These include bikes and cars the weavers and managers could have used, machine tools and paraphernalia from loom foundries and cotton mills.
The site is being developed into a working museum to not only rescue vanishing regional heritage, but to research textile heritage and use machinery conservation, operation and repair opportunities to educate and provide practical basic training in heritage machinery skills. The Mill gives visitors an insight into Lancashire lives through the prism of the engineering that sustained our families and local communities for decades and made affordable cloth available to the whole world.
Grane Engineering Museum, Grane Mill, Laneside Road, Haslingden, Lancashire, BB4 5PP
Children accompanied by an adult are very welcome. Access to the Stott Engine House is up a flight of steps, yard surfaces are uneven setts requiring due care can be slippery if wet. Visitors must keep well clear of moving machinery when it is being demonstrated. On site parking is limited.
The whole site is being gradually conserved and repaired as a museum by the Grane Mill Preservation Group of volunteers on behalf of the Grane Engineering Museum charity in partnership with the Heritage Trust for The North West. It is rated by the LCC / Historic England Lancashire Mills study as 'Exceptional' heritage, but also on the Heritage at Risk Register so much work remains to be done. It really is a work in progress.