2012
NX5956 : The Old Smiddy
taken 12 years ago, near to Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries And Galloway, Scotland
The Old Smiddy
Cotton Mills of Gatehouse of Fleet :: NX6056
Yorkshireman John Birtwhistle opened three cotton spinning mills beside the River Fleet in the late eighteenth century. Tunnels constructed by local landowner James Murray brought water from a loch four miles away to a pool on the north-eastern edge of the town. From here it is split into a series of mill lades for the Birtwhistle and Scott mills. The west lade flowing between properties on Catherine Street and High Street fed the Birtwhistle mill complex.