CALICO IS HISTORY NOW WALK

"Despite the poor weather conditions Graham Pollard ( park manager ) guided a group of industrial detectives around the extensive water works and ponds that were once part of the Calico Print Works and are such an important part of the park today as a Nature Reserve. When the printworks were in full swing, there was no natural habitat for waterfowl. The chemicals used for bleaching and printing were the main pollutants for most of the first half of the twentieth century. If you look at any of the numerous of the area taken between 1900 and 1960 onwards you will see no wildlife on the river or ponds. However, were it not for this part of our industrial heritage, we would not have the ponds that today are such an attraction for nature-lovers and fishermen. Another interesting aspect is that the river valley, which is now set apart from industry, was one of the first areas of Reddish to be industrialised. This illustrates a link with the old watermills of before the Industrial Revolution when rivers were the prime source of energy for machinery. The group seemed to enjoy peering into the dark abysm of time and we all arrived back at the Visitor Centre a lot wetter and wiser"