It was an honour to speak at the launch event for Belper North Mill Trust’s new book, “The Strutt Mills of Belper and Milford”. This fantastic book describes the history of Belper’s mills and their enormous contribution to the town and to the story of humanity. With plenty of detail of the fascinating Strutt family, the book also describes life as a mill worker and includes interesting details about the mills and the town. I highly recommend it.
We heard about the story of how the book was put together, the work put in by volunteers and many others in the town, and the contribution from mill owners First Investments, which made the book possible.
I also enjoyed a taste of Crich Brew Company’s North Mill Mild, a beer brewed specially in Belper to celebrate #belper250, and had a tour of the North Mill including the basement which housed the immense water wheel that powered the entire mill.
I very much hope it won’t be long before this book will need a new chapter on the regeneration of the site and the development of a new visitor centre.