HERITAGE in your HANDS

Janine Sterland discovers the legacy of New Lanark Mills, the historic 18th century village still spinning yarn today

- Janine Sterland

NESTLED WITHIN a wooded valley on the banks of the fast-flowing River Clyde, a unique woollen yarn manufacturer and former 18th century cotton mill village dominates the landscape of South Lanarkshire, south east of the city of Glasgow.

Founded in 1785 by Scottish industrialist David Dale and later managed by his son-in-law, the Welsh textile manufacturer Robert Owen, New Lanark was built to house a community of mill workers. As a leading venture for its time, it set a new standard for social living - the success of which influenced wider industrial communities across the world during the 19th and 20th centuries. "The historical significance of the site goes beyond the buildings, and to the social reforms started by David Dale and later expanded by Robert Owen,” explains Andrew Cuthbertson, New Lanark's commercial marketing manager. “David Dale recruited from the workhouses and orphanages of Glasgow and Edinburgh, bringing to New Lanark what were called his Pauper Apprentices. They were given clean accommodation and an education while working in the mills."

Building upon his father-in-law's legacy, Robert Owen formed a school the first infant school in the world where children under ten would be in full-time education and would not work in the mills. Owen created the Institute for the Formation of Character, which offered adult education, seminars and dancing classes which everyone in the village could attend. “In addition, he operated a ticketing system for wages - seen as the foundation of the Co-operative movement - as well as free healthcare and paid sick leave; it was truly a mill ahead of its time," says Andrew.

Restoring the mills