Farington Mill Garden

[Martin]

A community garden commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Lancashire Cotton Famine has opened in Leyland.


Farington Mill Garden has been unveiled to show the importance of the village’s textile history.

Historian Joan Langford, who has worked tirelessly to see the project come to life, offers a brief history of the Farington Cotton Mill, and the effect the two-year famine had on families in the area.

In 1840, brothers-in-law William Bashall and William Boardman built their huge spinning and weaving mill in Farington, and also built houses for their workforce in Mill Street, East Street, School Street and Spring Gardens.

Chorley Guardian

[noel]

The garden was opened on Sunday at 2.45pm, a church service at St. Ambrose church, followed by a march to the gardens and a short service there. A brass band played, there was quite a decent turn-out, unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me.

[Karen]

My Daddy was born in Mill Street ... and my cousin
falled the chimney when the Mill site was cleared.

[noel]

Should that be "felled" Karen? My parents lived right opposite the top of Mill Street. It was a good view watching the girls coming up the street after the buzzer had gone to signal the end of the shift.

[Karen]

Don't know Noel ... tried felled and that didn't
look right either!!![]

Guess you had 'A Room with A View' eh?!![:p]

[noel]

Or maybe a loom with a view Karen.[:p]

[Karen]

TEE HEE!!![]

[sandyship]

I tell my friends over here that i once lived in a village-Lostock Hall that had 3 cotton Mills in its hey day. Hard to believe eh!
Its all gone. I visited the Tulketh Mills in Preston as a young teacher and saw the whole process and they gave me lots of interesting samples to show the kids. i did projects on the cotton industry and i found it very interesting.

[Colin Damp]

Time to revive a Farington tradition? Up to the 1970s the annual churches' "Walking Day" in Farington was always on the last Saturday in August, unlike Leyland's which were around Whitsuntide.

My grandad, who always referred to it as "The last Saturday in Farington", told me that it marked the anniversary of the first bale of cotton arriving after the American Civil War ended. The menfolk, mostly mill workers, bore it on their shoulders down Mill Street singing the hymn "All Creatures That On Earth Do Dwell" (to the oldest tune in the hymn book "The Old Hundredth") and when I was young the August procession would always stop at the top of Mill Street and sing that same hymn.

[Dave H]

local tradition like that is missing now-a-days Colin, the youngsters today are tied to the computers and game consols. The heritage aspect is missing and community feeling is lost.