A gatehouse lodge built circa 1795 in Belper,
Derbyshire, UK, at the start of the industrial
revolution in the silk and cotton industries. The
links with Rhode Island, USA, are explained.
This is the site of Gerry (Gerald) and Linda Knight, the
previous occupants of East Lodge, a grade II building
which dates from the late 18th century, the beginning of
the industrial revolution in the UK. It was a gate-house
to an estate of George Benson, one of Jedediah Strutt's
sons. Strutt was one of the key industrialists who
automated the production of silk and advanced cotton
hosiery in fireproof buildings using water power from a
novel weir system. Richard Arkwright and Strutt were two
of the industrialists who worked in the area of Belper,
Derbyshire, UK, part of the Derwent Valley World Heritage
site. Strutt helped to provide work for the child
worker's parents by developing the very old local
industry of nail making. The links with Samuel Slater,
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the industrial development in
the USA and poetry are explained. Linda, an accomplished
gardener, artist and poet has included some of her work
on linked pages. Views of East Lodge's award winning
garden are on
"Links with
Pawtucket"