A VISION of Lakeland's industrial past has been brought to life in painting, prose and photography at a new exhibition in Ambleside's Armitt Museum.

The rumble of Lakeland's historic water mills captivated generations of visitors and artists, inspiring numerous paintings and drawings of the structures clustered on the banks of Stock Gill since the 1300s.

Boasting a J.M.W. Turner painted in 1797, the exhibition catalogues not only Ambleside's half-forgotten industrial heritage but also brings together a unique collection of art inspired by the town's mills.

Fast flowing water and raw materials such as wool and wood made Ambleside a natural home to industry such as fulling mills - mills which removed sheep oils from woven cloth corn, wool, flax and bobbin mills.

The paintings and artefacts have been loaned by organisations such as the University of Liverpool, the Laing Art Gallery, The Wordsworth Trust and Kendal Museum of Lakeland Life.

Curator Michelle Kelly said artists frequently romanticised Ambleside's mills depicting them in a favourable light.

"It would have smelled awful the tannery pits were right behind where many of the artists stood to paint that classic view of Stock Gill with the 17th century corn mill on the left and the bark mill on the right."

She said she had been surprised by the number of paintings of local mills in existence this exhibition alone has collected 11 different paintings of the same scene.

She added: "At one time many towns and villages would have had several mills. Ambleside was not unique in that respect but it had more than people realised. There were nine mills on Stock Gill and about 20 in the vicinity."

The exhibition continues work begun by the museum's founder Mary Armitt - a pioneer industrial archaeologist who carried out research into the Lake District's industrial heritage, including Ambleside's Mills.

In 1906 she wrote: "Thus the Stock Beck, while delighting hundreds of summer trippers by its beauty, still turns the wheel of commerce."

Miss Kelly said she hoped the collection would help show the region in a new light to tourists and local people.

"It is a side of Ambleside that has never really been explored in this way. Visitors today do not necessarily connect the beauty of the area with heavy industry things like the bobbin mill would have supported major textile industry in the North West."

The Mills Of Ambleside runs at the Armitt from May to October 6.

May 15, 2003 10:00