Why Turnbridge Mills is the ‘last man standing’
The Turnbridge Mills complex is one of Huddersfield’s last remaining working textile mills and was visited by 26 Huddersfield Civic Society members.
The landmark mill is on Quay Street next to the Turnbridge Lift Bridge and forms one of the development zones in Huddersfield’s Station to Stadium Enterprise Corridor.
During the visit on October 2, 2025, the members heard from Ian Brierley (below) that John L Brierley bought Turnbridge Mills on the south side of Quay Street in 1895 to expand the textile business he had started two years earlier on Firth Street.
In 1925 Hirst’s Mill (below) on the north side of Quay Street was acquired from William Hirst to create the footprint the site now occupies.
The tour started in the original John L Brierley Mill – listed in 1978 – where we saw the twisting, warping and beaming machines in action.
The twisting machines were operated by just one lady who flew up and down the machine (below) taking only a matter of seconds to remove the cones which had been fully wound with twisted cotton and re-thread a new bobbin and empty cones and start the process off again.
In another part of the mill we saw the production of a warp (below) and it being mounted onto a beam. This involved the threading of 5,700 ends of cotton warp to be rolled onto a huge cylindrical beam … these people must have the patience of Jobe!
Ian Brierley explained that JLB had invested heavily over the years, making it the most efficient producer of its products in the UK.
Although focussed mainly on white ‘cotton’, ie short staple yarn, twisting, spinning, beaming, sizing and section warping among other processes, the business had, during its history, acquired many related businesses and diversified into many aspects of textiles such as rubber coating, elastic webbing, chenille, Lycra, related businesses. These included pipe cleaners and unrelated businesses such as turbocharger remanufacturing over the years.
The adoption and development of new practices and new technology and machinery, including early use of computers and business management techniques to make processes as efficient as possible, has been responsible for JLB being a leader in its field in a declining marketplace.
Since the turn of the century it is now the only mill still both twisting and warping cotton yarn in the UK today.
Despite JLB being the last man standing, the decline in UK textile markets continued and employee numbers in the yarn and pipe cleaner business have dropped from around 225 in 1998 to just 16 today.
Moving to the north side of Quay Street, we were shown Hirst’s mill (below) which was rather a different story to the bright, clean, active textile production areas in the JLB Mill.
With sparsely occupied areas, having consolidated operations across the road in the JLB building, Hirst’s Mill is now standing somewhat forlorn. The mill is in need of significant investment to carry out roof repairs and maintenance of many aspects of the mill’s structure and services.
Revenues generated by the mill’s current tenants – and being unable to find further tenants given the declining demand for the type of accommodation provided by a 19th century multi-story mill – mean such maintenance activities are simply not feasible.
The prospects for the future, however, are looking much brighter.
A decision from planners is awaited for plans to replace the majority of Hirst’s Mill with a modern manufacturing facility which would be occupied by the internationally successful Paxman Coolers business who have outgrown their existing premises.
Situated in the Station to Stadium enterprise corridor and right next to the University of Huddersfield’s Health Innovation Campus, Turnbridge Mills is the ideal location for Paxman to expand production of their scalp-cooling caps used around the world for the treatment of cancer patients.
A successful outcome, should the somewhat controversial plans (read more by clicking here) be approved by Kirklees Council, will see much needed regeneration of this area and retain a local company’s presence in the area, securing increased employment opportunities for the town.
Many thanks to Ian Brierley and Tracey Simpson for providing our members with a fascinating and comprehensive insight to the up and down world of textiles in our home town.
Written by Howard Smith from Huddersfield Civic Society, October 2025