£500,000 Plan to breathe new life into old mill

The mill at Gayle, near Hawes, in the Yorkshire Dales, is considered by heritage experts to be of national importance, but its famous turbine last turned 15 years ago.

Now plans put forward by the North-East Civic Trust to restore it have received enthusiastic backing from villagers.

The mill, built in 1784, is the oldest unaltered cotton mill left in Britain. It was used to spin cotton transported by packhorse after arriving at Lancashire docks. Just under 100 years later, it was transformed into a sawmill, and in 1878 took delivery of the latest technology in the form of a turbine, using a breakthrough design developed by Professor James Thomson.

The principles behind the turbine are still employed today, and Gayle Mill has the distinction of having the oldest turbine in the world still at its original site.

As well as sawing timber, the mill also provided electricity for street lights in Gayle, in what was one of Britain's earliest public lighting systems. Civic trust director Graham Bell said they had carried out a study into the practicalities of restoring the mill.

He said the proposals had won overwhelming support among villagers at a public meeting to discuss the options.

"The mill is of national importance. It is important to local people because it is their building, but is also a national historic monument and it is important we save it," he said.

"The overwhelming feeling is that people want to see employment there, and the mill brought back into productive use, as long as their traffic and waste management concerns are addressed."

He said conservation bodies would be approached for grants towards the cost of the renovation scheme, which would see the mill used for training purposes, as well as producing some timber.

Brian Alderson, whose family has owned the mill for five generations, said: "The mill had been the backbone of industry in the village for a considerable time, and the whole system is in working order."