Imagine – you’re 13 years old and working hard in the Greg family’s cotton mill at Quarry Bank. The rest of your family is in a workhouse in London, hundreds of miles away and you haven’t seen them for a very long time.

Then, you have an accident – one of your fingers is crushed and mangled in part of the mill machinery – and you decide to run away…. to London.

This isn’t a story by Charles Dickens – it’s the real life tale of Thomas Priestly – the apprentice who ran away from Quarry Bank Mill around 1800. It took Thomas two and half weeks to walk all the way to London to find his mother who was living at the Hackney workhouse. Thomas’s father had been the Turnkey at Newgate Prison in the city, but he had died and his family could no longer afford the rent. The only course open to them in those days was to go to live in the dreaded workhouse.

Amanda Lunt, Heritage Manager at Quarry Bank Mill, takes up the story: Unfortunately, it was not long before poor Thomas was tracked down London and returned to Quarry Bank Mill,. He was taken to court where the Judge asked him many questions as to why he had run away – we have all this on our archive here at the Mill. Thomas wasn’t sentenced to prison however. Instead he was punished by the Mill owner by being fined 8 pence for every day he’d been away. Mill apprentices were not paid at that time – the only way they could earn money was by doing overtime and this was for 1 penny per hour. Thomas had been away around 5 weeks – so you can imagine how long it would have taken him to pay his fine: 35 days at 8 pence per day equals 280 pence – which is 280 hours of overtime. Even if Thomas had done 2 hours overtime every day, it would still have taken him 5 months of solid work to pay his dues”.

You can find out more about Thomas – and re-enact his story and his journey to London – by coming along to Quarry Bank’s ‘Spinning a Yarn’ event on 3 June – one of many holiday activities at the Mill over half-term. There’s a whole week of craft activities (29 May – 6 June, 12 – 4pm), along with Pond Dipping in the Mill Pond (1 June, for children 5 – 11 years), or you can have a go at the ancient crafts of handspinning and weaving (2 June, 12 – 4pm). Head over to the Apprentice House Garden to follow our Bee Trail – you can discover loads of interesting facts about these tiny but very important insects. Look out for honeybees around the pond – with all the hot weather we’ve been having they get very thirsty, and go to the pond to drink!

In Quarry Bank’s 18th century garden, make sure you go and visit the Handkerchief Tree which is now coming into bloom – it’s leaves really do look like handkerchiefs, or pick up a garden tracker pack and find out about the games and pastimes of the Greg children who lived there over 200 years ago. Don’t forget you can also enjoy wonderful woodland walks along the valley of the River Bollin – so pack a picnic and head out onto the Styal Estate for a breath of fresh air. Meanwhile, all model boat enthusiasts should make a bee line for Quarry Bank on 29 and 30 May (11am – 4pm) for the annual model boat exhibition put on by local clubs - you can even have a go sailing some yourself!

For those with green fingers there’s a special 3 for 2 offer on all plants sold in Quarry Bank Mill shop, plus a free jute bag to carry them home in – and of course, don’t forget to treat yourself to a delicious meal or snack in the Mill restaurant, or pop into the newly refurbished pantry in the Mill courtyard for a scrumptious Snugbury’s Ice Cream of freshly made sandwich.

Quarry Bank Mill, Gardens and Styal Estate are open daily, 11am – 5pm, including Bank Holiday Monday. For information go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/quarrybankmill or call the Infoline on 01625 445896. Normal admission applies (National Trust members free).

Quarry Bank Mill, 29 May – 6 June