Report - Tonedale & Tone Mills, Somerset - April 2015

[TallRich]

Tuesday night, I was sat at home wondering what the weekend would bring and idly messaged @Oort to see if he fancied a trip to Tonedale, he did and it turns out so did quite a few others!

Visited with @Oxygen Thief, @Idavoll, @Oort, @Seffy, @Styru and @The Queen. great to meet you all (again )

The day started out really nice, but got greyer and was starting to rain by the time we got back to the cars, that didnt stop us having a great chat with @Oxygen Thief and @Seffy for an hour before we hit the road

History: (Pinched from the BBC - but at least its different)

Tonedale Mill was a wool factory which once covered an impressive seven acres with a collection of 19th Century redbrick buildings on the site of the town’s old flour mill.

In this noisy, bustling environment Fox Brothers Limited produced puttees for British troops in World War One. These bandage-like strips of knitted wool would bind a soldier’s leg from knee to ankle. Certainly uncomfortable but an essential piece of kit in the trenches where knee-high leather boots were rare and every step through the black, glutinous mud was treacherous.

From the late Victorian era until the middle of the 20th Century, the British military became an important customer to Fox Brothers. During WW1, more than 8,000 miles of cloth from Wellington was used by the British and Allied governments and puttees became a record breaker for the firm. The largest single order for textiles placed during the war was for 852 miles of cloth to make puttees. Using wool brought in from Watchet and Topsham, thousands of mainly local women worked on the deafening machinery before the finished products were shipped to the Front.

I took loads of pics at both sites, but wanted to try not to share the obvious shots of machinery, instead showing some of the great features and detail. - ok i did fail a bit, but couldn't resist!

Tonedale Mill

1) Most of the air extraction system was belt driven, just like much of the other machinery, That big fan must have shifted some air!

2)

3) A loading winch survives on one of the upper levels

4) The one I couldnt resist throwing in

5) The floor was dodgy here!

6) Shouldnt that be one a roof?

7) The view of the chimney from the water wheel

8) A large generator in the boiler room

9)

10) Out of steam

11) Do they still make things this well?

12)

13)

Continued...

 

[TallRich]

Tone Mill

1) Triklon

2) or what?

3) some of the pulleys are really detailed

4) a higher up shot, the roofspace was great, i didnt bang my head once :-)

5)

6)

7) The stories this lamp could tell...

8) I could look at this for ages and still not see it all, I can only imagine the noise the place must have made when it was in full production!

9) One of the last pieces of cloth produced is still hanging on the rollers, slowly falling to bits

10)

11)

12) A Rozalex Barrier cream dispenser

13)

14)

15) Another of those nice belt driven fans

16)

17) Has @Oort been "middle class exploring" again?!?

18) The roof space was great, I love old timber frame buildings

19)

Thanks for looking

 

[Seffy]

Comprehensive set there dude. I think you took a photo that had a few of us in, which I thought would be good, did it turn out well? It was in Tone Mills when you were standing up higher than the rest of us..

 

[TallRich]

Comprehensive set there dude. I think you took a photo that had a few of us in, which I thought would be good, did it turn out well? It was in Tone Mills when you were standing up higher than the rest of us..

This one?

I posted it in people pics, wasn't sure who wanted their faces blurred so i did the lot :-)

 

[Cuuvin]

Excellent Shots, the way it should be!

 

[wellingtonian]

Very nicely done. Lots to see eh?

 

[Miss Drippy]

Great report, Rich!!

 

[Mr Beady]

Nice, always liked the look of this place, shame it's a bit of a journey down