John Riley e-mailed: Bon jour - I met Kevin Swindells yesterday - in the last 3 weeks he has excavated the garden House [on Oldknow's market garden, further up Lakes Road from the bridge] - it is brilliant - the cellars are intact as is the ground floor up to window cill and the 2 stone stairs up to half landing. Hope you're having a good time.

That is fantastic.  I saw that there was some work going on down there but couldn't quite make out what.  I didn't realise that you are in contact with Kevin Swindells.   Will he allow us to record and document the remains?   Do keep us informed.

[Early in September, we heard that the joint bid to HLF by Mellor Archaeological Trust and the Canal and River Trust, "Revealing Oldknow's Legacy: Mellor Mill and the Peak Forest Canal in Marple", had been successful at Stage 1. Development of the full application will go on until May 2013.]