Features of the Landscape: Mill Chimneys

This is mill country.  At the height of the industrial revolution, there were thousands of textile mills spread across the north of England.  All with their distinctive, tall chimneys.

Most of the mills have vanished now.  Their stones have been carried off to become houses and walls.  Of those that remain, the majority have been converted into warehouses or apartments; or have had conservation orders slapped on them, to preserve the history of the region for posterity.  Very few mills continue to operate as the factories they were originally created to be.

The landscape, however, is still dotted with chimneys, some attached to the mills they once served, some standing as lone survivors of another age.  Some tower tall, some are now stumps.  Whichever, they’re all an intrinsic part of this landscape.