Ashton's towering legacy with memories woven in brick and iron

One hundred and twenty years ago in mid May 1905 the foundation stone of Tulketh Spinning Mill facing on to Balcarres Road, Ashton, was laid

- writes Keith Johnson.

It was built by local building contractors Thomas Croft & Sons, a business begun in 1874, and was in production by early July 1906. The five-storey building had been constructed around cast iron columns and steel beams with concrete floors and was clad in red and yellow brick. With a tower, an office block, a stair turret and an engine house with a 24-foot flywheel it was an impressive structure. Two lodges with a water capacity of of 1.75m gallons were also excavated. Unmissable also was the tall chimney of brick, cylindrical, and tapering slightly. Near the top in white brick the word 'TULKETH'. Around the upper part of the chimney were steel bands and at the top a short tile-clad spire. The chimney would rise to 220ft in height.

In January 1908 with the mill in full production the chairman Mr. W. L. Holland at the annual meeting of shareholders informed them that £170,000-that's over £17.5m in today's money - had so far been spent on land, buildings and machinery making it one of best equipped mills in the country.

The mill, surrounded by fields in those early days, survived the challenges of the First World War and expanded its operation by extending the premises on the northern side.