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The Maple Mill was a cotton spinning mill in Hathershaw Moor, Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was designed as a double mill by the architect Sydney Stott.The first mill was built in 1904 and the second mill in 1915. In 1968, it was equipped with the first open-end spinning machines in England. When spinning ceased in the 1990s, it was bought by Vance Miller. Trading Standards raided the mill in 2006, and ordered Mr Miller stop selling products that failed national safety provisions. It was seriously damaged by fire in April 2009; the fire brigade was in attendance for two weeks and deployed 34 appliances. ==History== It was designed as a double mill by P.S.Stott, in 1904. The first mill was built then and the second mill in 1915. It worked as a mule spinning mill. It was taken over by Fine Spinners and Doublers in the 1950s. Maple Mill was sold to Courtaulds in 1964. In 1968, Maple Mill was selected by Courtaulds to receive the first top secret BD 200s, Open End Spinning machines from Czechoslovakia. These were experimental, and coming without documentation were difficult to operate. Simply, they were designed for Uzbek cotton not the American cotton or synthetics used in Oldham. A research visit by Courtaulds staff to Ústí nad Labem in August 1968, was interrupted by Soviet tanks putting down the Prague spring uprising. Later a body of Czech technicians was based at Maple Mill, until the problems had been resolved. This was a rare example of cross Iron Curtain co-operation. Courtaulds ceased cotton spinning at the mill in 1991, but it was re-opened a year later by Wills Fabrics Ltd who continued spinning and weaving on the site until the company went into administration 1998. It was bought by Vance Miller and used to manufacture and market fitted kitchens and furniture. On April 21, 2009, a fire started near the diesel generator of the kitchen factory and ignited the contents of propane cylinders and pallets. Sixty firefighters used ten fire engines and "a number of specialist appliances, including two aerial appliances, to contain the fire."〔 Fire Service spokesman Paul Duggan said: "The fire is thought to have started in a diesel generator then spread to some wooden pallets and propane cylinders nearby, some of which exploded as a result. There were people inside at the time but there were no reported injuries or any reports of anyone missing." Local townspeople near the area had been left without water or very little The building is burnt out. The fire was the largest incident attended by Greater Manchester Fire Service for several years. At the height of the fire, a total of 34 fire appliances from across Manchester attended including three aerial appliances, Hose Layers and High Volume Pumping Units. The Fire Service were in continuous attendance for two weeks. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maple Mill, Oldham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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