New Lanark 4.3.2025

 Met up with the knitting group this morning and headed out to New Lanark 

Nice to find an industrialist who cares about his workers.

New Lanark is an exceptional example of a purpose-built 18th century mill village, set in a picturesque Scottish landscape near the Falls of Clyde, where in the early years of the 19th century, the Utopian idealist Robert Owen (1771-1858) inspired a model industrial community based on textile production. It was there that Owen first applied his form of benevolent paternalism in industry, building on the altruistic actions of his father-in-law, David Dale. It was there, too, that he formulated his Utopian vision of a society without crime, poverty, and misery. New Lanark prospered under his enlightened management.

Sadly, it was cheap for them to ship cotton (picked by slaves) grown in the US, ship to Scotland, and then sell it.

Very unusual machinery.

That’s a carding machine above - to get the fibers to lie in the same direction.

One of the first time clocks on the left - and on the right, a device to measure yarn tension.

Here is a single room home that the workers would have - the man in black was our tour guide, the seated woman is a reproduction.

Single room for a family!

Something about the stars - means some kind of iron construction.  Didn’t really understand but it was an important architectural / construction step forward.

Purple and white heather 

And the water power that drove the mill machinery

Had a yummy curry for dinner - gotta appreciate what the Raj did for cuisine!

And so to bed.