'We’re the guardians': Meet the family keeping a Leeds mill alive for future generations
Tucked away in the Leeds suburb of Farsley, Sunny Bank Mills stands as a reminder of the region’s industrial past - and a symbol of how historic spaces can find new life.
Once a working textile mill employing generations of local people, the site has gradually been transformed into a thriving hub for businesses, artists and the community.
Helping guide that change are joint managing directors William Gaunt and his cousin John Gaunt.
“We’re sort of the current guardians of it,” Mr Gaunt said.
His family has been connected with the mill since it was founded, with cloth manufactured on the site for generations until production eventually came to an end in 2008.
“We were manufacturing cloth here, with a fantastic team of people, till 2008,” he said.
“We employed a lot of the local community for many, many years.”
When textile manufacturing finished, the future of the mill was uncertain.
But rather than allow the historic complex to disappear, the focus turned to giving it a new purpose.
Mr Gaunt said: “When that ceased, we had an emotional attachment to it, which meant we wanted to carry on with the mill and bring it forward to a new life beyond its textile manufacturing.”
That decision marked the beginning of a long process of regeneration.
“I’ve worked here all my life and it did get very run down at one stage,” he said.
“There were broken windows and grills up everywhere and it did look fairly tatty.”
Over the past 15 years, however, the site has been steadily transformed into a welcoming space filled with activity.
Today Sunny Bank Mills is home to dozens of businesses and creative spaces, helping to support hundreds of jobs in the area.
“There’s what, 500-odd jobs here, just under 50 artist studios and 70 or 80 businesses,” Mr Gaunt said.
“We were very keen to contribute to the local economy.”
Preserving the historic buildings has always been central to the vision, even when offers were made to redevelop the site completely.
He said: “We did have offers for the site from supermarket developers and whatnot.
“That filled us with horror because we didn’t feel it was the right thing for the community.”
Instead, the aim has been to carefully balance heritage with modern needs.
“We try and preserve as much of the heritage as we can, but we are pragmatic,” said Mr Gaunt.
“It does need to work in today’s world.”
For him, protecting places like Sunny Bank Mills is also about telling the wider story of the region’s industrial past.
He said: “The West Yorkshire community is very proud of its industrial heritage.
“It was the mills that sort of built West Yorkshire and all the villages and the cities, the chapels, the town halls, they all came out of the mills and the industry.”
Sharing those stories, particularly with younger generations, remains an important part of the site’s role today.
“It’s really important for us to tell those stories, especially to the younger generation, about where their families came from and what they did,” he said.
As the regeneration has progressed, the mill has also played a part in strengthening the local community.
He said: “At one point it felt like a lot of people in Farsley were just commuting to the centre of Leeds and the place was beginning to lose its soul a bit.
“By presenting opportunities in the middle of the community, it really has strengthened the area.”
For Mr Gaunt, however, the achievement he is most proud of is a simple one.
“Bringing people together,” he said.
The work is far from finished. With such a large historic complex, regeneration continues gradually.
He said: “We’re probably about halfway through regenerating the physical environment.
“It’s taken us about 15 years, so we’ll just keep going, chipping away at it.”
Looking ahead, the aim is simple: to ensure the historic buildings remain part of the community for generations to come.
“We fully expect these buildings to be stood around for another couple of hundred years,” he said.
And being recognised for helping to protect a piece of Leeds’ heritage is something he finds deeply rewarding.
He said: “It’s immensely satisfying. We’re very lucky - we’ve probably got one of the best jobs in the world.
“It’s just great to see something given a new lease of life.”