Visited With Tomarse..
A Little History..
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/features?ArticleID=2701125
The first mill on the site was owned in the 1780s by Miss Rachael Leach, who lived not far away at West Riddlesden Hall. Spinning cotton was her business. She employed as manager a man named Dalton, and as he was the person the workers, customers and suppliers had to deal with, the mills took his name. So did the lane on which it stands.
Miss Leach was described (by an 80-year-old former mill-worker to a historian around 1849) as "a bold and masculine sort of woman". She had her problems with the neighbours at Low Mill, a little further up the River Worth which provided the power source. The owners attempted to divert the flow of the river round Dalton Mills, so rendering Miss Leach's water-wheel redundant. She took them to court and won. Low Mill had been an early base for the Craven family. In the 16th century they were yeomen or gentlemen farmers living in Laycock, a hamlet in the hills between Keighley and the Lancashire border.
Their home was built in 1630 with additions being made in 1665 and 1693 and there is evidence that a Joseph Craven of Laycock sold two shalloon pieces in London in the 18th century. Shalloon was a light twilled woollen cloth commonly used for coat linings.
Joseph Craven's grandson John took over Walk Mill in Keighley. His great-great grandsons, Joseph and John, were the J and J Craven who became owners of Low Mill, Walk Mill and, when Miss Leach's original had been demolished, the splendid new Dalton Mills. J and J Craven later became the I and I Craven company and celebrated their 250th birthday in April 1976.
The Cravens concentrated their business on Dalton Mills, their home being the magnificent Strong Close House, set in 15 acres of parkland alongside the River Worth and an easy walk from the source of their wealth. The Cravens would delight in taking guests through their gardens to the mill and climbing a staircase inside the chimney so they could point out the boundaries of their property.
Exports formed a significant part of the company's turnover and business expanded regardless of what was happening in international politics. Their agent in Paris sent out despatches by balloon when the city was encircled by Germans during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. It duly arrived in Keighley and Mr Craven still has it.
But times were not always good. In 1889 the contents of the mills were sold at auction. A noble comb was sold for £30 and a pair of standard scales and weights fetched one shilling (5p). The total at the end of just one day of the sale was £11,585. Part of the proceeds went to buy new equipment, some to pay debts, a portion to pay the remaining employees. The next upswing in trade would come along in due course.
In 1904, the flywheel which transferred the power from a huge beam engine (the largest in the world) to drive the looms, exploded.
Desperate not to lose production, the Cravens brought in droves of traction engines to stand outside the buildings, linked by belts to the power system, and the clatter of the spinning works went on. Two new beam engines were commissioned and delivered in record time. They were named Jennie and Zilda after cousins of the Cravens, Jennie being part of the family's branch in the United States. The tradition continues – relatives from Texas visited Yorkshire last year and have given their new daughter the name Keighley.
