The Dolphin

I’ll never forget my first sighting of the building that is Cheesden Lumb.

It rose from a deep cut valley forged by glacial meltwater several thousand years ago.

Beyond the facade, a weave of moss and stone formed an outline of former times.

To the front, a more considered view.

If the Grand Tour still existed today, they’d visit here for its manicured dereliction.

Byron might sit brooding in the wheel-pit whilst Wordsworth danced around the waterfall

During my visit the spirit of our lyrical forebears was visible. A litany of light; a visual sonnet amplified the texture of the stone.

In the shadows Jekyll loomed but with the sun Hyde gave delight.

The poetry continued before the clouds rolled in, as the final verse of raking light etched into the stone (diving out of the swim) - a dolphin.

Cheesden Lumb Mill is a remarkable site - accessible from Edenfield Road. Go there on a sunny day and watch the Dolphin edge into life whilst Byron broods in the shadows.

Andy Marshall is an architectural and interiors photographer based in the UK.

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