This is a scan of an old negative of mine which gives rise to a couple of questions. I am not sure about the date - there is a train in the image, but trains change so slowly in these parts, it could be anytime during the last sixty years. You can make out the old Riding Hall Carpet Mill in the background, and that, I think, was demolished sometime around 1980. The other question relates to the two main buildings you can see in the picture: both at the time were factories for John Mackintosh & Sons. One was called Bailey Hall and the other was Albion Mills, but I can't remember which was which. If my brother is reading this far away on his sunny Caribbean island, he might be able to tell me, as he worked there fifty or more years ago.
Bailey Hall is the building to the right of the picture. The building between Bailey Hall and the railway arches, also part of the Mackintosh complex, was known as "G" Mill. If my brother had turned 180 degrees his camera would then have been pointing in the direction of Albion Mills and the early circa 1930's office block. Mackintosh's "new" factory was built in the early 1960's and located between Bailey Hall and Albion Mills. It stood on what was once the Halifax Canal Basin.
ReplyDeleteMy earlier comment was wrong - as sometimes I am!
ReplyDeleteAlbion Mill is the building in the photograph. However, in my day it was known as Bailey Hall. I am now searching my memory for the name of the factory that stood behind the early office block. It was in that factory, originally a single storey weaving shed, that Quality Street were twist-wrapped.
A further update: The original mill at Bailey Hall became too small and a new six storey (Albion) mill was built in 1862. So Bailey Hall and Albion Mill are one of the same.
ReplyDelete