17 decades of work at an end at Guiseley mill (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

17 decades of work at an end at Guiseley's Springhead Mills

10:20am Thursday 7th March 2013 in News

More than 170 years of manufacturing at a Guiseley mill have come to an end as the last company moved out.

Springhead Mills, which opened in 1842, was an important cog in the town’s once- thriving textile history.

In recent years it has been home to a number of small businesses but the last has now moved its machinery out.

The site is now earmarked for redevelopment, despite a long campaign of opposition by people in the area.

David Tate, who has run The Kitchen Factory (pictured) at the mill for the past four years, said his business was the last of eight to move out after being given notice to quit.

He said he had always known his move from Bradford to Guiseley might only be temporary and that the owners were looking to redevelop the site.

“They made it quite clear from the word go – it was always on the cards,” he said.

Mr Tate, whose company will now be based at Moorfield Industrial Estate in Yeadon, said: “I think it is 171 years since they started on the site.

“The bit that we were in dates back to 1913, so basically it was 100 years of manufacturing history.” Ward councillors and residents had spoken of their concerns about the effect on the local infrastructure when an application for 54 homes on the site of Springhead Mills was given planning permission in August 2011.