The Wilmslow Lodge at the Coach and Four

The Apprentice House Garden

by bugalugs

The garden of the Apprentice House was used for growing vegetables and herbs and was worked by the apprentices and overseen by a gardener.

The garden has now been restored and replanted with the same kind of vegetables and herbs that were used in Victorian times.

The Woods

by bugalugs

There is also quite a big woods adjacent to the mill park area. One of the paths to reach the woods is alongside Norcliffe Chapel, another is at the right hand side of the mill.

If you head along the path south from the mill through a couple of fields, you then enter a park called The Carrs, which is actually in Wilmslow, but they both join each other.

Styal (Near Wilmslow)

by bugalugs

"Quarry Bank Mill and Country Park"

Styal is a village adjacent to Wilmslow in Cheshire. Situated a few miles south of Manchester and a couple of miles from Manchester Airport. Quarry Bank Mill was built by Samuel Greg in 1784. The Mill and the parkland is set in almost 400 acres.

Samuel Greg came from a merchant family in Belfast. He came over to Manchester in England and was adopted by his uncle.

The Greg family, including five generations stayed in the textile industry for almost 200 years.

Quarry Bank Mill was given by the family to the National Trust in 1939 and in 1959 production finished.

However today this mill is a wonderful place to visit, with many hands on experiences that children will love.

It also gives a great insight into our industrial heritage.

Many parties of school children visit here during the week. My son did when he was learning about this in his junior school. His music teacher then wrote a play/musical based on the apprentice children who worked in the mill which was a great success.

The North West of England has at one time a huge textile industry sadly, those times have more or less now gone.

However, this mill does produce 'Styal Calico' and you can buy various things in the gift shop.

"The Parkland"

Enjoy the lovely countryside around the mill and the village

"Oak Cottages"

The quaint village with the rows of terraced cottages clustered together where the workers of the mill lived.