Stott Park Bobbin Mill is just across the road from Woodside!
This extensive working mill produced literally millions of wooden bobbins vital to the Lancashire spinning and weaving industries in its hey day.Having been one of many it is now, the only working bobbin mill left in the Lake District today.
The story of the Bobbin Mill is brought to life with tours and an exhibition. Visitors can also see the journey from tree to bobbin first hand during production on the original belt driven machinery. A hands-on family trail with dressing up for children helps visitors to imagine what it was like to work at the mill.
Although small compared to other mills, some 250 men and boys (some drafted in from workhouses) worked here over the years in often arduous conditions to produce a quarter of a million bobbins a week. Woodside and the neighbouring cottages were where the men and boys lived. They would rent rooms in Woodside and Fern Cottage and would be paid a very small wage,which the owner’s of the mill expected to be spent in their shop in Finsthwaite. This effectively meant there was little chance of leaving the Bobbin Mill to work elsewhere. The last owner of Woodside had worked at the bobbin mill , man and boy, as too had his father and grand father before him!
It was a very hard life.
Don’t Miss
- Guided tours around the mill, start at 10.30am and repeated at half past the hour, every 60 minutes. Tours last for 45 mins.
- Steam Weekends throughout the summer (see events for more information)
- See bobbins being made buy your own bobbin from the gift shop
- ice creams can be bought from the shop.