Period Mill Fire, Bradford

[FamilyWiggs]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-15175696

Can't see what the building was formerly... but presumably was a nice old mill?

 

[biffvernon]

Blake said 'dark satanic' but that was then.

Here's the Google image before yesterday.

 

[Lime]

When I was young we were told in church that the "dark satanic mills" Blake referred to were in fact the churches of his day.
I think that much more plausible than the rather simple modern version that takes the statement literally.

 

[Penners]

When I was young we were told in church that the "dark satanic mills" Blake referred to were in fact the churches of his day.

That's rather at odds with what I was taught. Blake was a deeply spiritual man, and he saw the plethora of mills that arose out of the Industrial Revolution as deleterious to society, humanity and nature - virtual enslavement of the ordinary working person, in fact.

But Blake's religious beliefs have been widely regarded as mysterious and confused. His "prophetic books" contained an impenetrable hotch-potch of obscure, often mythical, religious ramblings.

So who knows what he really intended to convey?

 

[CliffordPope]

Not "churches" but The Church, ie the established Church of England, as viewed by an anti-establishment non-conformist.

 

[JoceAndChris]

So who knows what he really intended to convey?

Me! Taught Blake at A-level for 2 years. Tick tick v good on all comments.

Anyway, such a pity about that burned down mill. I've enjoyed that view from the train many times.

 

[Me!]

Me! Taught Blake at A-level for 2 years.

No I didn't!

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: I expect you were doing something far more useful with your time Me!

 

[biffvernon]

Meanwhile, what's left of the mill is being demolished.

 

[Lime]

Meanwhile, what's left of the mill is being demolished.

You should know by now that a fire is the ideal excuse to destroy every last vestige.

 

[biffvernon]

To be fair, that big five-story wall, as a single, unbuttressed structure, would probably have fallen over the next time the wind got up. But as for the fire's origin, the police are investigating arson.

 

[Flyfisher]

It's difficult to think about a cause other than arson. I assume that a derelict building has no services connected, so electrical or gas problems would seem an unlikely cause, and spontaneous combustion seems a bit far-fetched.

But even if arson is the cause it could be accidental, in the sense of kids playing with matches or tramps trying to keep warm, rather than premeditated let's-destroy-the-building-so-we-can-redevelop-this-valuable-site.

Well, it could be accidental couldn't it? Possibly? Maybe?