Prospect mill, Blackburn road, Bolton, UK. Demolished around1981.

Oil on canvas

12x14 inches

£125

As the textile age unravelled because of cheaper imports, so great Victorian mills like this were demolished. But that was not before time or because they were ugly. far from it. The picture shows an engine shed, built in the late fifties, to accommodate the machinery inside, whilst adding speed to the production line. The orange facier bricks, in stark contrast to the old Victorian monolith, add a more modern dimension. It was all to little to late. As unemployment rose sharply, workers were laid off, the mills fell silent. I entered a few times as a teen, looking round, alone in this giant, eerie shell. All the machines, cotton bales and artefacts just lay there as if everyone was on lunch break. Newspapers, half empty cups of tea sit in canteens. I never had a camera then, I'm gutted!. But I hope my picture stirs a bit of a loss inside you, as you look back on a world that has changed so dramatically...By R.A.Hall.