Dowley Gap Mill

A recent walk took me along the little lane from the canal bridge at Dowley Gap towards Hirst Woods. I was rather cheered by all the shasta daisies in flower along the wall beside the building. It seems people have been cutting them; there was a sign asking people not to pick them (as it is actually someone's garden). 

This residential complex was once a small worsted mill and associated cottages, built in 1818. By 1890 the mill was disused - and, I gather, became a brewery for a while. At some point in the 1990s the mill was converted to a dwelling (perhaps apartments?), with a large window inserted into the gable end and a stairwell added. The conversion appears to have been done with care and imagination. The whole site, however, is a bit of a hodge-podge of buildings, some better cared for than others. 

It is accessed by a narrow lane along the canal side from Primrose Lane, past Dowley Gap Locks, which then peters out by the aqueduct. What was until recently a rough scramble up to the aqueduct has recently been made into steps, which makes it much easier walking!  

The 'Seven Arches' aqueduct was, in its day, a substantial engineering feat, built to carry the Leeds-Liverpool Canal over the River Aire. At some point the towpaths have been crudely resurfaced with concrete so that, walking over it, you never appreciate the beauty of the original structure. 

Unfortunately the beauty of this whole small area is somewhat marred by the adjacent sewage works, with paddles slowly rotating in the circular settlement tanks. Depending on the direction of the wind, there is often a nasty odour... so much so that I should not like to live in the mill complex! Perhaps you get used to it. 

I was sure I had, somewhere, several recent photos of the mill complex from the canal side. Can I find them? No. So this picture below is years old and taken in a different season altogether!