Drive & Stroll, with RON FREETHY

VISITORS To Lakeland often come because of threats to the countryside from industry. They conveniently forget that long before the dark satanic mills of Lancashire and Yorkshire, the Cumbrian woodlands were a veritable hive of industry.

What was it like working in these industries? A visit to the Bobbin Mill at Stott Park is like a trip back in time.

It also provides the chance to see glorious scenery as proof that nature heals the wounds caused by industry.

There is already evidence in East Lancashire that the damage caused by coal mining has now recovered.

When Stott Park closed in 1971 it had laboured for much more than a century producing bobbins for textile mills.

Bobbins were made in a startling variety of shapes and sizes, with the workers having their own blacksmith's shop in which the essential tools to fashion the bobbins were forged.

The iron came from local mines and it was these pits which tempted by own grandfather to move from the tin mines of Cornwall in the 1890s.

The bobbins were made mainly from birch, ash and alder, which were native to the area, while sycamore was also used.

Once plastic bobbins superseded those made of wood, the bobbin makers had to prove their versatility and began to make wooden toys including whips, tops and skipping ropes.

One speciality was a structure known as a spout bobbin, a round piece of wood which filled the space between the drain-pipe and the wall.

When I visited Stott Park in the early 1950s spout bobbins were the main product, although bobbins for wire and a few for sewing cotton were still produced.

A school friend's father worked at the mill and we used to walk around the Stott Park area.

From the mill I followed my boyhood footsteps back to Lakeside, where the Windermere cruisers sail on the lake and a steam railway runs to Haverthwaite.

The mill, however, is still a delight.

After the closure of the working part of the mill in 1971 it appeared that Stott Park was dead. But, like Lazarus, it has risen again.

The machinery still works and has been driven by electricity since 1941, when the massive steam engine was replaced.

This engine has now been brought back into working order and, although it will never drive the mill machinery again, it is still exciting to see how well it has been restored. When it is fired up it produces a wonderful sound.

Here again is a fine example of how resilient nature is. There are many trees, wonderful bird song and lots of fantastic flowers.

My message is drive slowly, enjoy the scenery and stroll this area without rushing.

STOTT Park is reached from East Lancashire via the M6. Turn off on Junction 36 then follow the A590 through Levens and to Newby Bridge. Stott Park Bobbin Mill is situated on the road between Newby Bridge, Lakeside and Hawkshead about half a mile from Finsthwaite. The mill was built in 1835 and is now run as a museum by English Heritage. There is plenty of parking and lots of good walking around the area.