STANLEY MILLS

Stanley Mills were founded over 200 years ago by a group of Perth merchants with technical and financial support from Richard Arkwright, the 'father' of the English cotton industry. Textiles were manufactured here almost continuously from 1787 until 1989. As demands changed and technologies developed, buildings were added, adapted, expanded, destroyed by fire, rebuilt, shut down, reopened and demolished. Machinery came and went, powered initially by water wheels and later by electricity generated by water-powered turbines on the site.

Today we explored the building and tried our skills at working at the mill as a worker and then as a manager.






It sits on a peninsula formed by a hairpin bend in the River Tay. The Tay is the fastest flowing river in the UK and drops 21 feet as it snakes around the peninsula. A tunnel had been driven through the peninsula as early as 1729 to power a corn mill. The cotton mill was built in 1786 at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The nearby village of Stanley was established around the same time to provide accommodation for the work force.

These two buildings have been restored and are selling now as flats. The cost for a 2 bedroom flat here is 127,000 pounds.It is a beautiful, serene area.

This is the road to the town that the workers would travel twice a day.

When one spool was empty it would have to be replaced quickly.

If the string broke it would have to be replaced back in the hole by nimble fingers. The work force was 885 strong with 540 female and 497 under 18. The children would finish work and then attend the company school. Many health issues came from working here because of the constant cotton in the air.

The raw cotton was bought on the Glasgow cotton exchange. Gifts of Tay salmon  were given to sweeten the deals of cotton. The American Civil War from 1861-1865 lead to a closure because of a cotton famine.

The machines in the carding room date from the 1950's. They are the only cotton machines in Scotland that are still in their original positions. The noise of the machines made normal conversation impossible so the workers developed a system of sign language to convey simple messages like the time of day or warning of the presence of the foreman. 

This display showed how the water powered the machinery.

The work day started at 5am and went for 12 hours. Saturday was 9 hours. They had 2- 45 minute meals. One at 9 and one at 2. Most of the people went home for the food. They had two days of unpaid holiday a year. Sundays they were off and were not obligated to attend church. However if they were less than 15 years of age they got free seats.

Hats would protect their hair and the aprons their clothing, from being caught in the machinery and causing injury..

MOTHER'S DAY

DAILY BREAD

What do you do daily?











Copy the link to see what picture is missing.

http:/www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-08-012-daily-bread-pattern?category=mormon-messages/mormon-messages-2013&lang=eng&cid=HP_FR_5-1-2015_dPTH_fMLIB_xLIDyL2-2_

Martin/Willey Handcart Companies

From 1856-1860,  3,000 Pioneers traveled to Zion in handcarts. Of the ten handcart companies only two met with disaster. On May 4, 1856, the Willey Handcart Company left Liverpool, England on a large ship. Their company of 590 people  had 88 immigrants from Scotland. The Martin Hand Cart Company had 665 people and left 3 weeks later.

They arrived in New York and then traveled by railroad to Iowa City, Iowa to be outfitted with handcarts, and supplies, but they were not expecting them so everything had to be gathered and made quickly. The green wood  used for the handcarts was not suitable for the long, hard travel.

The wheels were five feet in diameter. They had a single axle 4 1/2 feet wide and  the carts weighed approximately 60 lbs empty. The shafts were 7 feet long with a cross bar in front. Two hundred and fifty pounds of supplies were put inside, plus luggage. Many handcarts weighed 500 pounds as five persons were assigned to a handcart and each individual could put 17 pounds of clothing and bedding inside. There were 100 handcarts in the Willey handcart company with 5 wagons carrying food and tents that housed 20 people each.

They traveled to Florence, Nebraska where 100 people decided to winter there. There were not sufficient supplies or room for all of the company to stay. And so they traveled on.

The company continued on to  Ft. Laramie where normally there would have been  food and supplies for them to restock, but because no one knew they were coming there was nothing for them. The date was August 16. Rations were cut to 4 ounces of flour for each person per day which equaled 6.4 tablespoons.

Franklin D. Richards, European Mission President and twelve returning missionaries passed the hand cart companies and were surprised that they were on the trail. He was even more concerned with their poor conditions.  He told them that when he got to Salt Lake he would send wagons back to help them.

When he arrived in the Salt Lake Valley October 4, he told Brigham Young abut their plight. Brigham Young did not know that they were on the trail and immediately organized people that night to rescue the pioneers. "Go and bring in those people now on the plains, and attend strictly to those things which we call temporal...otherwise our faith will be in vain."


Rocky Ridge rises 700 feet over  2 miles.


When the company reached Rocky Ridge they had been without food for 3 days. The night before the rescue wagons arrived, George Cunningham saw them in a dream. They had 18 wagons filled with food, fuel, and clothing. When the wagons arrived the next day the company had voted to only keep two wagons and send the other 16 on to the Martin Handcart Company that was 76 miles behind them.

Winter had come early that year and the pioneers were not prepared physically or emotionally for the -11F weather. The snow measured 1-2 feet.

Now comes the Scottish Story of the Kirkwood Family: Margaret, age 46 widowed, Robert 21, Thomas 19, who is a cripple. He had been run over by a cart when he was 6 years old and his wounds never healed leaving him with ulcers on his legs. Then came James age 11, and Joseph age 4. Their father and two sisters had died prior to 1852. They were one of the first families of  converts in Scotland.

When the team of wagons saw Sister Kirkwood and that she had pulled/pushed Thomas in the cart with Robert's help, they told her she would never make it up Rocky Ridge and she would have to wait. She told them, "NO."

She had made it this far with Thomas in the cart and she was not stopping now. She called for James to come. She asked him if he would be responsible for Joseph and make sure he made it over Rocky Ridge. Would he promise her that? James said,  "YES." So for the next 27 hours, James carried Joseph on his back, on his shoulders and in his arms. When he reached the top of Rocky Ridge he could see the lights of the camp fires and carried Joseph there. He lovingly laid him down, collapsed from the exertion of the 27 hours and died. The next morning he was buried in a common grave with 12 others.

The Willey Handcart Company arrived in SLC November 3, 2015.

"Everyone of us came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities."  Francis Webster, a member of the Martin Company.

RESCUE is an action verb. To free from confinement, danger or evil, to save, to deliver, to recover. You are called to RESCUE your relatives, to find them one by one, their names, dates and stories. Will YOU do it?

STAY BY THE TREE

What a wonderful Easter Sunday weekend it was to listen to General Conference where we could again hear the words of prophets and apostles. Perhaps it was because of serving a mission that I was touched especially by Brother  Pearson's talk. I invite each of you to revisit the talk and recommit to being a disciple of the Savior.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/stay-by-the-tree?lang=eng 

New Monkland Church

 July 18, 1851 was a special day for Agnes Jamison and Walter Hoggan. They were getting married in the New Monkland church in Glen Mavis, Airdrie, Scotland. It is 30 minutes from Falkirk. We aren't sure how much has changed since then, but many things are the same.

After three previous unsuccessful tries to get inside this beautiful church, it was a marvelous experience.
I was overcome by being where Doug's great-grandmother and great grand-father were married.

The stained glass windows were exquisite. I only with the sun had been shining from outside for
you to see their beauty.

We enjoyed a wonderful Easter Service from the Church of Scotland. It consisted of singing out of a
hymn book without music. Luckily many of the tunes were familiar and we just
put in the new words.

We read scriptures from Isaiah and Mark, but from a  Bible that was not the King James Version. It was a wonderful service. We were glad we had gone.

These messages were listed on each pew. And it was true. We were welcomed very warmly even with missionary name tags from another church.

Palace of Holyroodhouse-Edinburgh

The Palace of Holyroodhouse is the official residence in Scotland of her Majesty the Queen.  It stands at the end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile against the spectacular backdrop of Arthur's Seat.

This is Hollyrood as it appears today.

When Edinburgh became the capital of Scotland in the 15th Century the Kings chose to live in Holyrood Abbey.

The abbey was first built by David ! in 1128 as an Augustinian Abbey. He had a vision of a stag with a cross between his antlers and this abbey was built on the spot.It was a simple first church for Edinburgh that was too small. Extensive monastic buildings were added 1195-1230 The Abbey which was the sanctuary for those who could not pay their debts, including members of the aristocracy. At one time there were 6,500 debtors residing there. They were only allowed out on Sunday.

The dining room table is always set for 30 and will expand to more with an additional leaf or two.

This was the king's bedroom, but he did not sleep here, just met with visitors. Notice the beautiful plaster ceiling.

Kin

1561-1564 Mary Queen of Scots outer chamber. Mary witnessed the brutal murder of her secretary, Rizzio, by her jealous husband Lord Darnley in her private apartments. Her needlework and perfume pomander are housed in these glass cases.

Long ago, unicorns were fierce and hard to capture. In the Palace unicorns are sometimes shown wearing crowns around their necks, chained up. This suggests Scottish royal power. Typical of the times, the palace sported a menagerie including tigers, lynx, bears, gamecocks, an ape, camel, and a lion yard.

Beautiful tapestries adorn the walls of the palace.

The royal gardens are provided flowers by the 7 greenhouses. When the UK celebrated her Golden Jubilee all the flowers were yellow. If you are lucky enough to be invited to a Garden Party given once a year at Holyrood Palace you will be among 8-10,000 people who will be recognized for their service. This holiday lasts one week.