Dark satanic mills

It was William Blake who coined the term 'dark satanic mills' in a poem which is now well-known as the hymn 'Jerusalem'. It's often taken as referring to the mills of the Industrial Revolution, though could equally well be interpreted in the poem as the established church. Either way, it's a phrase that has always come to my mind when I travel over to Halifax, venturing down into the valley that, even now, has a myriad of huge mill chimneys. You can hardly damn it with the same phrase now though, as most of the dirt, grime and smoke has gone, leaving just a few monoliths - like Dean Clough Mills, in my photo - that remind us of the old days of industry.  

Rescuing Dean Clough Mills, once the Crossley Carpet Factory, was an early venture of the entrepreneur Jonathan Silver, who later saved Salts Mill from dereliction. It's a huge complex, not one mill but several, now - like Salts - used for offices and businesses, with a portion dedicated to an arts centre, galleries and a theatre. Unlike Salts, inside, you don't get the same sense of vast space, as it has mostly been modernised - in the public areas at least - into office-like space. 

We made a visit to the galleries and I was highly delighted to see, in the photography gallery, this image of Halifax by my blog friend Alan Burnett of 'News from Nowhere'. Entitled 'Bank Bottom', it was taken on film around 1970, when Halifax was a good deal more 'atmospheric', let's say! It's a fabulous photo, reminiscent of the better known images of Bill Brandt. Kudos to Alan for having work in such an august gallery - and I hope he doesn't mind me including it here. (The church spire, incidentally, is the same one that towers over the Piece Hall in my photos of two days ago.) 

(For Alan's blog, see HERE. It's a good blog, with great photos, humour and interest. Type 'Dean Clough' into his blog search panel and you'll find lots of other fascinating images and info around that area.) 

Copyright Alan Burnett

Venturing out of the mill and up a hill, we found this equally evocative scene, looking back down to Dean Clough.  We resolved to revisit when we had more time to explore...