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Spinning back to harsh textile days

Adam Derbyshire
27/12/2006

A BRONZE statue created as a tribute to Mossley's industrial past has been unveiled.

The gleaming life-sized sculpture of a woman, dressed as a traditional mill girl, stands outside George Lawton Hall on Stamford Street.

Council chiefs say the figure represents the town's image as one of the region's textile powerhouses with the mill girls forming the backbone.

The bronze statue was unveiled by Gina Smith, 82, who worked at Albion Mill until it closed in 1942. The mill was on the site of George Lawton Hall where the statue now stands.

A woman dressed in traditional costume shows how the mill girls would have looked during their heyday during the late 1700s and 1800s.

The council believes the statue will be a poignant reminder for Mossley's older residents.

Councillor Jackie Lane, heritage chief, said: "I think this is a fitting tribute to the memory of all those who worked so hard, sometimes under appalling conditions, to make Mossley the strategically important textile town it grew to be.

"Like the rest of the bronze statues we have already unveiled, or plan to do so in the near future, the mill girl is a piece of beautiful street art that I hope everyone will be proud of."

Another former mill girl, Jean Mills, was also at the unveiling. She spoke about how she started working when she was 17 and worked along with the rest of her family.

"They worked five days a week plus Saturday morning and with few holidays," she said.

"At Christmas we would decorate the window bottoms to brighten up the place, but there was never any presents or treats from the mill owner."