Chapter 1

It was a busy and bright morning at the mill. Workers were bustling around the yard, and Mr Seddon the Mill Manager was striding around looking very important.

Suddenly, everyone stopped. There was a sound of bells in the distance. This was quickly followed by the clip clop of hooves. The cotton was arriving!

As the long line of pack horses entered the yard, boys rushed to unload the bags of cotton and take them to the warehouses.

‘Alright David – long trip?’ said one of the boys.

‘It wasn’t too bad Simeon, at least there’s no snow on the tops this time of year.’

‘Oof! This bag’s wriggling!’

As Simeon lifted the bag off the pony’s harness, it squirmed and twisted.

Simon dropped it on the ground and stared at it. ‘You sure it’s just cotton in there?’

‘Only one way to find out…’ David stepped forward and slowly opened the top of the bag.

Two scared orange eyes stared out from amongst the fluffy white cotton. A paw extended, patting the opening that had appeared. A nose twitched, and sneezed.

‘Hurry up boys!’ The overlooker shouted. ‘These horses need to get to the stables!’

The cat jumped out of the bag, and ran.

Arkwright’s Café used to be the Mill Stables, where horses would stay after bringing the cotton from the docks at Liverpool. The cotton originally came from hotter countries like Brazil and the USA, where it was often grown by enslaved workers.

To follow where the cat goes, turn left out of the mill gates and head along Church Walk towards the A6. The river should be on your right. The next stop is on the Wheel Bridge, part of our Scavenger Scramble trail. 

Your secret letter is N.

This is part of the Cromford Mills Story Trail: A Cat Comes to Cromford. For more information, visit https://www.cromfordmills.org.uk/event/a-cat-comes-to-cromford-story-trail/