60th Anniversary Meeting - 1955
The January 1955 meeting of the council saw New Mills celebrate the achievements of 60 years of local government.

"New Mills has many of the amenities of a large town-and all of the advantages of a small one" said Councillor F. S Kitchen when, at the urban district council’s diamond jubilee meeting, on Wednesday of last week, he gave a twenty minute review of the development of local government in New Mills during the past 60 years.

 Councillor Kitchen˜father” of the council which he joined in 1940 - he was chairman of the council in 1946-47 and is chairman of the finance committee - gave his review at the conclusion of the normal monthly business of the council. The meeting opened with prayers, offered by the Rev T. L Weatherhead, vicar of New Mills.

 Instead of being held in the council chamber at the Town Hall, the meeting took place in the large hall, the seats and desks normally used by members and officials having been taken into the hall from the council chamber. Invited into the meeting were former Chairman residing in the district, relatives of men who have died since holding the Chairmanship, representatives of all local organisations and members of the general public.

 There were about 150 people present, and oldest ex-Chairman present was Mr W. A Collins, of Mellor Rd, New Mills, who was Chairman in 1932-33 and again in 1939-40, and who served, as a councillor, for 26 years up until 1946. Displayed in the room were various documents, etc, illustrative of the development of local government.

 At the start of the meeting Councillor R Hoggins, J. P. (Chairman) welcomed the guests and members of the public because, as he put it, “We who serve in local government in New Mills very rarely see electors and rate payers at our monthly meetings, although, of course, the meetings are public. Tonight you will see and hear how the town's business is transacted. I give you all a very sincere welcome and hope you find the meeting both instructive and interesting

 "When the urban district was formed", said Councillor Kitchen in his review, "the area was much the same as today, but the population was 6,700 compared with today’s 8,300. There had been changes in population, probably due to changing trade conditions and wars, because in 1914 the population was 9,000 and, in 1939, 8,900.

 "Going back to the 1939 population figure" added councillor Kitchen, “it is recorded that in the Second World War 1,371 people from New Mills served in the forces. In its early days", he said, "the council were fortunate in having a public hall, which had been the envy of many neighbouring authorities, in which to hold meetings and social events.
The hall (now, of course, the Town Hall) was erected in 1871 and opened by the Seventh Duke of Devonshire, a tower was added in 1875 and a clock and chimes were presented by Mrs Ingham, of Watford Villa.

 The Town Hall was extended in the late 1890’s and a new wing added in 1900 was also opened by a Duke of Devonshire and in 1939 the chimes were replaced by the late councillor G. A Broome-Coope in memory of his parents.

 At the beginning of the council they were fortunate in having a gasworks, and this assisted the rates by the profits which it was then making. Turning to Public Health matters, Councillor Kitchen said the sewage works were laid down in 1895-96 at a cost of sixteen thousand five hundred and thirty two pounds and were enlarged in 1939.
Saying that the council used to be a constituent member, along with other nearby authorities, of the Infectious Diseases hospital at Chinley, he said that 1937 was the peak year for diphtheria cases, there were 72 notified. Immunisation started in 1938 and for the past six years there had not been a single case.

The library was opened in 1899, the council having adopted the free libraries act of 1895, and at the time New Mills was one of the smallest authorities in the country to have its own free library. When it was opened the library had about 3,500 books; today there were around 12,000. It was in 1909 with a grant from the Andrew Carnegie, that the new library was built, prior to that books were accommodated in the Town Hall. The library had been a great asset to New Mills.

 In 1906, said Councillor Kitchen, the council acquired the water rights from the Sumner Estate, the council buying, for something like eleven thousand pounds, the rights and privileges which were vested in the estate. In 1953 the council acquired water in bulk from Stockport for distribution throughout the area.

 A matter of great importance was the building in 1923 of the fire station, which had proved its usefulness throughout the period and perhaps particularly during the war. Councillor Kitchen recalled that the first fire engine was named Susan, it had often been said that it was christened after the wife of one of the members of the council.

The first council houses were erected in 1922 and between then and the Second World War, the council owned 179 houses. In 1936 they bought Highfield Farm, now Highfield Estate, and a vigorous building policy had been pursued since 1945. Further land had been acquired and today, the council had 600 houses, and more are been built.

 In 1928 the council started its own electricity undertaking, but of course both electricity and gas had since been nationalised. All the way through, the members of the council had shown thought and activity in having their own services. There had always been facilities for recreation and pleasure, and invaluable services had been rendered throughout the years by local societies and bodies.

One of the largest ventures, in the matter of playing fields, was the purchase of High Lee Hall and Park in 1937. Before that, there were recreation grounds at Newtown, Bakehurst and Hague Bar, but purchase of the hall and park had proved a really good asset to the district, being enjoyed by many.

 We are still progressing even today he added, and we have added a series of playing fields and children’s playgrounds, our latest acquisition being at Birch Vale. ˜This one is partly in Hayfield and partly in New Mills, and, you will recall we had the tree planting ceremony about two years ago. Members of Hayfield Parish Council planted trees in the New Mills part, and New Mills members planted trees in the Hayfield part, cementing the friendship between the two authorities‘.

Councillor Kitchen recalled that, after the Second World War, to commemorate the services rendered by the citizens of New Mills, there was a War Memorial Fund, through which a Garden of Remembrance was laid out in High Lee Park and children’s paddling pool and playground equipment provided. Provision of these facilities was not a council matter, but was a general matter, although later they were vested in the council for care and maintenance for all time.

 Meetings of the council were not always as quiet as the diamond jubilee meeting, added councillor Kitchen, but they did work well together as members. Tonight things had gone smoothly and members had been on their best behaviour, but, like today, the councillors in the early days had their moments of anxiety and humour. There was a round of laughter as councillor Kitchen went on; ‘I should probably ask who threw the brick through the window? but I think the most amusing incident I have heard was when one member arrived rather late for a meeting, having bought some poultry which he had in a box and which he placed under his desk. Some other kind member untied the lid and let the chickens out, causing rather a flutter in the council chamber.

 After councillor Kitchen had briefly outlined the functions of the council’s various committees, he said the council adopted the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act probably earlier than many larger authorities, and had lent a considerable sum of money to people buying their own houses.

A new committee was the Development Committee and at the moment the council had the draft plan for New Mills and the shape of things to come. The ˜new bridge” in Union Road he said was built in 1884 linking Newtown with New Mills and had a changing effect on the district. He was not saying that ”the shape of things to come” would be so drastic as that, but there would be a new layout for the town centre. There were still more meetings and discussions to take place before the plan was put into place. ‘There will be many views’ he said. ‘There will be many amendments. There will be recommendations. But all will be done for the benefit of the district and the community in general and for the maintenance and general improvement of our area.

Councillor Kitchen said that in making the January council meeting into a special one to mark the diamond jubilee with invitations extended to past chairman or their relatives along with representatives of all local organisations it was, in effect, to record appreciation of the service and time which so many had given so willingly and voluntarily over the last sixty years.

In the past we have been very fortunate in having men of vision who have given us such a lead in carrying out the work of local government and given us such a good example to follow in the future, said councillor Kitchen. The present council has endeavoured to carry on where previous members left off, on sound lines, with sound finance, and we look forward to meeting future requirements for the benefit of all concerned. ˜I am sure it has always been that, throughout the history of the council we have been well served by having had good officials, staff and employees in the various departments.”

 

 

 

This site is listed in the British Towns and Villages Encyclopaedia of Great Britain and we can be found in the entry for New Mills