Those were the days New Lanark mills

A WELSHMAN who transformed a small Scottish community died 162 years ago but left a Lanarkshire village a wonderful legacy.

One of seven children,

Robert Owen’s father was a postmaster in Newtown and, by the age of 10, Robert became an apprentice clothier and developed a love of reading.

And books were to unlock another life for this young man. In Manchester, he started a yarnspinning business with two Scots, which was soon earning a tidy profit. And, aged 19, he switched careers and was appointed superintendent of a large cotton mill in Manchester. His business acumen was soon recognised and rewarded, and he became a manager and partner in the company.

It was then he persuaded the company to expand, purchasing mills in New Lanark.

Owen went on to transform the lives of the 2,000 inhabitants of this Lanarkshire community.

Some 500 of New Lanark’s residents were children, brought from poorhouses and charities in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Their living conditions were grim – poor education, bad sanitation, surrounded by crime, and appalling housing.

Owen launched an offensive to improve the moral and physical wellbeing of the people. He cut the working hours for adults and, believing every child had the right to an education, no child under 10 was allowed to work in the mills.

He built infant and junior schools, banned corporal punishment and introduced interesting subjects to the curriculum, such as dancing and music.

He claimed it was “the most important experiment for the happiness of the human race that has yet been instituted in any part of the world”.

Today New Lanark mills are recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site.