Whilst I have visited both Cromford and the later Masson Mill, it was Cromford which has inspired me to write a show about it, so a previous correspondent may yet be pleased.

But it is the preservation of Cromford Mill and the work done by the Arkwright society which is of the great importance. We think of it in England as the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, without quite knowing why. The first factory was the Silk Mill at Derby, but Cromford pressaged the complete mechanisation of common product. It inspired me to go into the history of it all and all the subsequent social and political turmoil. Not to mention the characters of the men who set it all in motion.

They were not the later mill owners. Yet what started at Cromford had repercussions all over the world.