Widely berated for my previous ramblings on local history and detailed eccentric observations on oversized pebbles, I boldly venture forth once more into the murky realms of Dorkology, as preached by the urban legend that is the secretive Geek Club. Members unknown. This time with a shorter piece about the uber-remarkable buildings we work in and around.

Waulk Mill, which sits on the corner of Bengal Street and Redhill Street was built in 1842 and has a Listed Grade II status. Originally it was known as Fireproof Mill and Doubling Mill. Fireproof Mill, as its name cleverly suggests, was designed to be fireproof by using cast-iron beams and columns rather than timber (at least this explains the lack of a credible fire escape aside from diving into the Rochdale canal). Doubling Mill, again rather obviously to anyone with a masters degree in textiles, was used for doubling cotton (the process of combining two or more lengths of yarn into a single thread).

These mills were an extension to the sprawling and successful Murrays’ Mills complex, and were linked by personnel tunnels under Bengal Street. On the ‘Manchester’ side of Bengal Street, Murrays’ Mills, associated with the development of the steam driven mule, was the home to A&G Murray, one of the largest cotton-spinning firms in the world, let alone Manchester. So the cotton was made in Murrays and doubled in Doubling, got that? The earliest of the Murrays’ Mills (Old Mill) date back to the late 18th century and at it’s peak around 1000 people worked across the entire complex putting in 72 hour weeks.