Bob's Mill Diary - Saturday 24th September 2017

Whilst Mellor Archaeological Trust were clearing out the Waterloo Wheel Pit at Mellor Mill we released the water which had been backing up in the tunnels leading from the Corn Mill tail Race and the Wellington Wheel tail Race. This torrent continued for about 30 minutes. Probably the last time you will see this amount of water racing into the Waterloo Wheel Pit. It must have looked something like this in its prime some 150 years ago.

Editors Note: The "Waterloo Wheel" supplied additional power to the main mill via an underground shaft, whilst a second shaft provided power to series of riverside workshops. The exit level from the bottom of this wheelpit was below that of the Goyt at its nearest point and in order to overcome that problem a significant feat of engineering was required. An exit tunnel was driven under the bed of the river and then carried the water 600 yards downstream until the level had fallen sufficiently to allow it to be discharged.

 Waterloo Flows Again!!