A radical remodelling of space at the award-winning Sunny Bank Mills has created an al fresco dining area outside two of Farsley’s most popular cafes and restaurants.
An £100,000 investment in the area outside the historic Old Combing building has enabled the popular Mill Kitchen and Grumpy’s to offer a continental-style eating area to their customers.
An attractive pedestrianised area now leads to the heart of the mill, where Yorkshire Television’s Emmerdale and Heartbeat were filmed.
This investment by Edwin Woodhouse and Co Ltd, the owners of Sunny Banks Mills, follows the regeneration of the historic Old Combing, which has allowed both the Mill Kitchen and Grumpy’s to expand within the building.
John Gaunt, co-managing director of Edwin Woodhouse, said:
“The Mill Kitchen and Grumpy’s have proved a tremendously popular members of our Sunny Bank Mills community in recent years. We are delighted to help them build on the success they have already achieved.
“Indeed the Mill Kitchen hit the national headlines last month when it hosted Emma Barnett’s Election Show on Radio Five. Emma was impressed by the Mill Kitchen, and indeed by Sunny Bank Mills itself, and we were delighted to show her around.”
Many original features of the Old Combing building – where the mill used to comb the wool tops prior to spinning the worsted yarn used in the weaving of some of the finest worsted cloth in the world – have been kept.
These are complemented by recycled and reclaimed furniture.
Work is also under way on a £2 million project called Weaver’s Yard, which will transform the mill.
The central part of the estate is being re-modelled to create open spaces and to re-establish the prominence of historic mill buildings.
There are now 70 companies, and more than 355 employees, at Sunny Bank Mills.