Somewhere beneath the flooring at Torr Vale Mill is a heart marked “PL 4 DC”. It may now be covered in screed, but it records a very personal chapter in the building’s long history.
For Philippa and Dan Cunningham, their wedding reception in 2011 was an early milestone in a much bigger transformation. Today, people come to the Mill to work, stay, celebrate, visit independent businesses and explore its industrial history in the heart of New Mills.
The Mill was already derelict when Dan’s father bought it in 2000. In 2009, Dan began renovations with a very definite deadline: his and Philippa’s wedding reception.
For Dan, it was an exciting challenge and the start of a new chapter in business and family life. Philippa had pictured something rather different.
“I’d imagined a big country-house wedding—I loved Mr Darcy and all of that,” she says. “Getting the Mill ready was quite a daunting prospect.”
“It was very rustic, to put it politely,” Philippa recalls. “There was no heating, and it was about 11 degrees in June and damp on the day!”
Her usual explanation is to picture Ross and Emily’s wedding in the partly demolished church in Friends.
“Although thankfully Dan said the right name!” she adds, referring to the moment Ross says “Rachel” instead of “Emily” at the altar. “The younger brides haven’t always seen Friends, though, so I’m increasingly having to explain the reference!”
With good music, food, drinks and company, it became a celebration that family and friends still talk fondly about fifteen years later.
Between them, their brothers helped with everything from painting the high vaulted ceilings to installing lighting and music systems. Other family members contributed artwork and wedding invitation designs, visits, encouragement and emotional support.
Members of the team who are still with them today have also devoted years of work to the renovations. Behind the finished spaces are countless hours of practical help and shared skills, for which Philippa and Dan are deeply grateful.
Philippa is particularly proud to be Torr Vale Mill’s first female owner. For her, it is another chapter in the story of a place that has repeatedly adapted as the world around it changed.
Her role focuses on the business and operations: working with the team, developing activities, bringing ideas to life and being a public face for the Mill. Alongside the team, she helped bring the events floor to life, with Covid delaying plans just as the space reached a new stage in its development.
There is much more to the site than visitors might first realise. A history tour reveals the scale of the buildings and the layers of working life within them. Today, offices, independent businesses and holiday cottages bring different people through its doors, while walkers discover the Mill as part of the riverside setting of the Torrs.
Away from the Mill, life revolves around their two boys, their dog and time with older family members. Switching off completely, however, doesn’t always come naturally.
“Dan will be admiring drainpipes and roofing materials wherever we go,” says Philippa. “And I’ll be looking for business opportunities and ideas we can borrow!”
An ordinary family outing can become an unofficial research trip—one of them looking up at a roof, the other noticing something that might work back at the Mill.
For Philippa and Dan, bringing the Mill back into use has happened gradually, one project at a time, with support from family and a small, hardworking team.
Every wedding celebrated here, stay in the cottages and business based at the Mill contributes to its continuing use and upkeep. Supporting the independent businesses on site is part of that story too—helping keep this piece of British industrial history a place where people work, meet and celebrate.
Discover the businesses, places to stay and things to do at torrvalemill.co.uk.