Mother's day at the mill

What a gorgeous weekend we've had! More of the blue skies, sunshine and warmth please!

I spent Mother's Day with my daughter at Quarry Bank Mill, a National Trust property about a half hour's drive from our house. I thought I'd share a few of the highlights.

One of the reasons for our visit was to see the 'A woman's work is never done' exhibition which I'd seen featured on the local news. It mainly told of the lives of the millworkers: although women worked similar roles to the men, they were paid significantly less. Sad to think that more than 100 years later, this still goes on.

There were also stories of the women who married or were daughters of the millowners, strong, intelligent women who fought against stereotypes to make a difference in their communities and society.

Dotted around the room were these illustrations by Jacky Fleming from her book The trouble with women which did make us laugh! You can see more of her work on her website.

With Child - Carina Ripley

We also looked around the mill which still has working machinery. This one in particular caught my eye with its rows of reels and spiders' web of threads.

After a pit stop for lunch, we headed over to Styal village to admire the pretty cottages built by the Greg family to house the workers. One of them will be open to the public later this year, as will the Greg's house.

Next up was the mill gardens. Last time we were here, the restoration of the glass houses was still going on and they were covered in boards. The middle curved section is apparently very unusual. And very hot inside!

We preferred the cool of the greenhouse with its rows of succulents and flowers. I'm adding one of these to my 'when I win the lottery' list.

There aren't many flowers in the gardens as yet but these hyacinths perfumed the air all around.

More flowers and a welly vase - my Mother's Day present :)

A lovely weekend and hopefully a lovely week to come. xx