Water powered mills on the line of Lumbutts Clough

Water powered mills on the line of Lumbutts Clough in Causey Wood. Causey Wood Mill was constructed by Firth and Haworth in 1826 for cotton spinning. At the time of this photograph it had been derelict for some years and was demolished soon after 1900. The row of cottages on the left, Mount Pleasant – known locally as ‘Mouse Nest’ – would be built to house the workers. The higher dam – New Mill Dam – still remains and is used for fishing. The lower dam was filled in when the tip was extended and now forms a playing field. Walking round the Todmorden district, especially up the various cloughs, the remains of many early spinning milss can be seen. The early mills, perhaps only two or three storeys high, and built by the clough side, utilised the water to power their spinning frames. Traces of the water wheel or wheel pit (as at Weterstalls), a clow or perhaps an overgrown mill dam, point to the development of water power and consequent increase in production. In the Lumbutts area, a succession of mills down Folly Wood used the same water, one mill often having to wait until the mill above had finished with the water.