Flax Mill

The National Trust Council is delighted to announce that UKOTCF has identified some funding for the new Flax Museum., from the Bryan Guinness Charitable Trust. This donation will help towards the repairs needed inside the old Pipe Building adjacent to the jail, which has now been partitioned off to give the prisoners a workshop at one end. The origins of the intact Robey steam engine, made by Robey and Co. Lincoln, Number 9201, situated there, are being researched, but we have so far established, from the Robey contact on the Internet ,  that it was sent here in 1895, so could not have been used for the first Mill as originally thought, because that folded in 1881. Bob Johnston, of the 1962 video film of the island fame, was here for another visit last month and was delighted at the state of preservation of the engine. We were able to film and interview him during his visit, to include in the local television programmes we are initiating, to publicise the Trust.

Ken Denholm's research will be published, so we have a book.with the history of the flax industry. We have the Frater film from 1962 , with the Flax sequence, the music on tape from the 1984 production of "Fibre" for Prince Andrew's visit, (and looking for anyone who may have taken a video of that), we plan interviews with former workers, some modern footage of flax clearance on the Peaks, and of course stills from the 1962 video for display boards.

Presentation of School Resource Packs to MIddle School Head Teachers

Related Information

Project Reports May 2003

Projects Reports October 2003

Projects Reports January 2004

Projects Reports April/May 2004

Projects Reports August 2004

Project Reports November 2004

Project Reports June 2005

Project Reports July 2006

Project Reports December 2006

Project Reports May 2007

Newsletter 17 Dec 2007