A short documentary I directed for Westlake Films.
With the help of his grandfather, John Isles explores the final days of the textiles industry in Northern England.

Production Info:

TITLE: Memories of the Mill
GENRE: Biographical documentary.
RELEASE DATE: 2004
ORIGINAL FORMAT: 4:3 SD MiniDV
STARRING: John Isles and Frank Brook.
LOCATION: Trafalgar Mills, Huddersfield. Queen St. Mill, Burnley.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY: Kevin Hiley and John Isles.
MUSIC: Music composed by Adrian Birch and used under licence.

Director's Notes:

Memories of the Mill was Westlake's first proper attempt at making a documentary.
John Isles wanted to make a film that explored the working life of his grandfather Frank Brook who had been a foreman for Learoyd Brothers & Co Ltd, one of the many textile manufacturers based in West Yorkshire. Cloth production had been front and centre of Huddersfield's history for centuries but by 2004 that industry was all but extinct. Those who had worked in the profession were now retired and the visible signs of the town's industrial heritage were being demolished at an alarming rate.

The film explores both Frank's recollections of life in a woollen mill, and the machines and techniques used in cloth making. For the latter part we shift much of the film's focus to Queen St. Mill in Burnley - a former cotton mill turned museum in Lancahsire which today is the last 19th century steam powered mill complex in the world.

Memories of the Mill as a film is a satisfying watch for anyone with an interest in industrial history, and thanks to the Huddersfield Video and Cine society is greatly enhanced by amateur footage of the mills in their heyday. Queen St. Mill were wonderful to work with and gave us access to anything we wanted. I was horrified to hear they were nearly closed down recently due to cuts to funding, and I urge everyone to visit and support them as the world would definitely lose something important were they to go.

Production wise the film shows some hallmarks of being the work of inexperienced film-makers - namely me and John. We've got the narrative pretty well nailed down but the interview segments with Frank suffer from unevenly executed camera work and limitations caused by our sound equipment. Of significant annoyance to me even now is the lack of close-ups of Frank during any of his Huddersfield sequences in the early part of the film. It delays us from getting to know the subject of the piece. At least it taught me not to make the same mistake again. The colour grading on the film also leaves much to be desired in places, but that was due to the poor colour manipulation abilities of the edit suite we were using at the time.

Overall the film feels like an earnest labour of love, and John is clearly setting out to make a worthwhile record of both his family's and his home town's history. It always proved very popular with the audiences we showed it to.

Sadly my memories of which of our films won awards are pretty hazy. I know this film did because I've found the photos of us holding trophies! At some point I'll have to update these notes with more details on that.

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