Patterson's Spade Mill

Patterson's Spade Mill at Templepatrick is the last working water-driven spade mill in daily use in the British Isles. William George Patterson founded it in 1919 on a site that had already housed a corn mill, a paper mill and a linen beetling mill, and at its peak in the 1930s and 1940s over a dozen men turned out spades, shovels and loys in some of the 171 designs recognised across Ireland. Commercial production lasted to 1990 and the National Trust took over in 1992. A water turbine, brought back into operation by engineer Roy McMeekin in 1994, drives some thirty machines, and on a tour red-hot steel billets are shaped under the massive trip hammer while wooden handles are turned on the lathe. Visitors can be measured for a hand-made Patterson spade. Reviewers rave about the one-day blacksmithing classes, where patient instructors help beginners forge a poker to take home, and about guides who know their craft. Dogs are welcome on leads. The Trust admits visitors on prebooked guided tours only, so book before travelling.