CONVERSION of Howard Town Mill is no run-of-the-mill project for developer Traci Lomas.

For the former cotton spinning mill and underwear factory, off Victoria Street in Glossop town centre, is where her father and mother used to work and first met each other.

She also intends to move into one of the apartments when the restoration work is completed in September.

The family connection helps explain her appeal for old photographs about the mill and former employees to enable her to mount an exhibition there in the near future.

Traci – born and bred in Glossop and a director of B&R Developments – said: "Three generations of my family worked at the mill and its canteen was actually where my mother and father Rita and Jim Carmichael first met in the 1950s.

"In fact, finding a picture of them together in the braid room – now the penthouse show apartment – encouraged me to launch this appeal to find other snapshots of the building’s history to display.

"When the mill closed, 475 people not only lost their jobs, but also the heart of their community and by exhibiting these pictures, I want to give residents the chance to be involved in the building again."

A mill first occupied the site in 1824. With the conversion into 65 apartments – the penthouse show apartment is due to be ready for viewing on 20 April – over four floors, along with shops, business units and basement parking, Traci believes the ex-mill is back on the map as a landmark building.

"As a lifelong Glossop resident, I know how important the mill was and still is to the town and we have made a conscious effort to involve local companies throughout its redevelopment and to restore Glossop residents’ pride in this local landmark," she said.

Folk with photographs of the mill or of Glossop’s past can bring them along or send them to be copied at Lomas & Co, 12 Market Street, Glossop, SK13 8AR.