Rishton Mill

The story is set in 1850 in the cotton industrial town of Blackburn. Adam Rishton is the son of the largest cotton mill in the town. He has a privileged upbringing, going to the local grammar school as well as living in Stakes Hall; a multi-room mansion overlooking the town and just around the corner from the cotton mill. He is being groomed to take over from his father, Percival. On a trip to the doctors to get his father some medicine, Adam helps a working girl, Julia Newbold, who has fallen in the road. He takes her to an inn to get something hot to eat as the girl is freezing and looks to have not eaten a decent meal for a long time. Julia, a nurse in a rival cotton mill, ends up working in the Medical Room of Rishton Mill. Adam wants changes at the mill but these cannot be implemented until the death of his father. A train crash brings the best out in the new Rishton nurse and Adam takes her to Blackpool to get over the trauma of the crash. The weekend is cut short when Percival is taken ill. The funeral is one of the biggest ever seen in the town. Adam begins to show his strength as the new young owner of Rishton Mill but then there is a fire which kills all the workers on the top floor of the mill. A riot in the centre of town spreads to Stakes Hall with devastating consequences. Plus the American Civil War stops the cotton from arriving at the Lancashire Mills. Through all this Adam finds time to marry Julia and have a family of his own. This is a story of forbidden love between a young gentleman and a working girl. It covers 20 chapters and over 100,000 words.