Lumb Mill

A Memory of Edenfield.

Lumb Mill in the 1950s

I remember my late mother and father working at this mill in the 1950s. My father worked as a boiler man. As a child I visited the mill during the school holidays also at weekends.

I used to join my father in the boiler house. He used to let me press buttons and turn valves on and off under his supervision. After stoking up the boiler we went round the mill where he explained its history. He showed me a deep hole with green still water in the bottom. This, he said was the remains of a water wheel pit fed from the river by a culvert. This was located to the right of the approach road to the mill, facing the time office. Beyond the time office was a river bridge used for transport and pedestrians going to the mill. The mills approach had a well-kept large lawn surrounded with roses. The centrepiece was a fully rigged yachts mast complete with flags!

At the rear of the mill there was a flagged area. My father said it used to be a dye mill. He confirmed this by showing me some heavy cast iron drains in the yard. Looking down, all you saw was a deep dark void that was part of the culvert that I presume ran the dye mills waste to the river.

There was a footbridge at the rear of the mill over the river from Chatterton, allowing people who lived in Stubbins and the surrounding area to get to work. This bridge had a gate that was locked at night and unlocked early for people to arrive to work; the works bus driver did this.

These are just some of my Memories of Lumb Mill in the 1950s.

Ken Drummond.