The Eskdale mill was constructed in 1866 as a relatively small operation by Langholm-born Thomas Lightbody (1819-1896), shown below with a red X. The much larger operations of Waverley mill and Buccleuch mill are in the foreground.

The photo below shows Eskdale mill on the right at the rear, with Waverley mill at centre left, before the Criterion/Buccleuch mill was constructed between them.

Thomas Lightbody married Helen Reid (1819-1894), sister of Alexander Reid of Reid & Taylor. His sons William (1853-1883) and David (1860-1916) joined him in the business, but William died at age 30.

On Thomas’s death, David took over the mill. He lived in The Glen, a house overlooking the town.

The mill had a fire in a loft in 1914, which damaged much of its yarn supply but not the main production facility. Fires were often handled by a communal response, in this case involving a large number of people shortly after 5.35 am when smoke was noticed by an early workman.

David’s sons Thomas (1892-1972) and Arthur (1898-1962) joined him in the business and took over when he died in 1916, although Thomas was only 23 and Arthur was 17.

Thomas left the mill business to become a farmer in 1920, leaving Arthur in charge, aged 22. Arthur was Common Riding cornet in the same year.

Eskdale Mill failed in 1927 and Arthur moved to Southampton where he and his French wife Hélène Pullinger ran a hotel that they called The Langholm. Hélène’s younger sister married William Bell, son of Major Edward Bell who was a director of Buccleuch mill. Her older sister Dorothée was manager of her father’s car factory near Kirkcudbright, overseeing a largely female workforce producing ‘The Galloway’, a car designed specially for women. Dorothée was the first female member of the Institution of Automobile Engineers and was inducted into the Scottish Engineering Hall of Fame in 2012.

The mill buildings were bought by J J Paterson, farmer at Terrona, and were put to various uses over the years, including providing storage, housing and a practice hall for the Town Band.

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