The sad fate of Farnhill’s mills – two fires and a closure

In the latter years of the nineteenth and early years of the twentieth centuries male employment in Farnhill was predominently in the local mills. Many of the young boys growing up in the village at this time, including those who would later become Farnhill WW1 Volunteers, might have expected to work in one of these mills.

At the start of 1905 Farnhill had at least four mills:

• Airedale Mill, by the river on the main Skipton Road
• Farnhill Mill, on Main Street by Redman Bridge
• Aked’s Mill, part-way up Main Street, just down from the Chapel
• Aireside Mill, by the river on Cononley Lane (then part of Farnhill, now Cononley

By the middle of 1906, however, only Aireside Mill was still capable of full operation.

An article about the sad fate of the Farnhill mills has been written by the Farnhill & Kildwick History Group.

A slideshow of pictures of the Farnhill mills is also available.