MILLS in Bolton were once the mainstay of employment for most local families.

If your parents worked in the mill then it stood to reason that you would follow them into that employment.

In 1929 there were 247 cotton mills in the borough which is an amazing thought and in Grace’s Guide for 1891 there were mills in all areas of the town and they covered a wide range of products.

Work in the mills was predominantly cotton spinning with well known names such as Barlow and Jones and Bolton Union Spinning Company which had an incredible 145,000 spindles and according to the Guide paid the workers on the “fourth Wednesday” of the month.

German Street Mill in Derby Street had 730 looms.

Lancashire Hosiery Company made “children’s, ladies’ and gents’ vests” in Bolton and John Chadwick Silk Mills created broad silks, tie silks, scarves and handkerchiefs.

There were dozens of bleachers including John Smith Junior and Company at Great Lever Bleach Works, Christopher Howarth and Son in Horwich, Gilnow Bleach Works and H and E Deakin at Belmont Bleach Works.

There were Calico Printers including Walker Brothers and dyers including H Foster and Sons at Bury Street Dye Works in Little Bolton and Thomas Taylor at Brookfield Dye Works in Tonge Bridge.

Sizers — producing a protective filler or glaze — including Richard Howarth and Son at Spa Road in Bolton, Nathan Ramsden and Company who were also bleachers at Harwood Vale and Thomas Taylor, who were also dyers, at Brookfield Dye Works in Tonge Bridge.

Today there are a very few remnants of the industries that once commanded much of the skyline.

Around 80 years ago there would have been chimneys as far as the eye could see and the smoke coming from them would form a dust cloud across the town.

Small cottages formed workers’ homes around many of the mills often built solely for the workers to enable them to have a home and to ensure they got to work on time.

There were still mills operating in Bolton into the second half of the 20th century but gradually the production that had made the town an important part of the industrial revolution would cease.

At one time workers were flocking to the town simply because they knew there was work to be had here.

Families would move lock, stock and barrel from less affluent towns to try their hand in the mills.

But mills had a shelf life and once the production within them ended so did the jobs.

We would love to hear from you if you worked in one of Bolton’s mills.

Get in touch with Gayle McBain on 01204 537269 or email gayle.mcbain@nqnw.co.uk and we will feature your memories in a future edition.