Dean Clough Mills

Ernest Hall came from a very poor family of 13 children and wanted to be a piano player. He treated business almost as a hobby, but became rich. He used the money he made to save the old derelict Dean Clough Mills in Halifax - three quarters of a mile of empty buildings, which in 1982 had seemed to everyone an almost insoluble problem. Hall sees his purpose in life as being to help people achieve their own inner genius, and he helped in the revival of Halifax by creating 1.2m sq ft of workshop space in these old mills for artists, craftsmen, small and big firms: everything from photographers, graphic designers, printers and architects to a wholefood co-op employing 60 people, a home for the Northern Ballet, and (in the more recent stages) some blue chip companies.

'Hall sees his purpose in life as being to help people achieve their own inner genius'

To quote from 'Dean Clough' by Eric Webster:

'In a major act of faith he set out to create an environment which would deliberately stimulate and encourage enterprise, and thereby form a model for long-term success in a much broader arena. With an astonishing swiftness Dean Clough took on a new lease of life as a wholly integrated industrial, educational and cultural community.

'Dean Clough is now the home of around 180 businesses, with upwards of 1,800 people working on site. Many of these are first time ventures.'

'The development of a solid commercial base,' comments Ernest Hall, 'has enabled us to graft on increasingly ambitious elements. We established an art gallery through which we act as patrons and which has resulted in the collection of over 150 works of art; we appointed an artist in residence and an arts curator, both of whom receive substantial financial support, a creative working environment, and of course, the gallery space itself.

'We are demonstrating that the arts and education play a vital part in economic regeneration, and also that artistic integrity need not be compromised by moving 'art into enterprise and enterprise into art'.

'The prestigious Slade School of Art opened in 1988 as an extension of Dean Clough, providing a major focus for the people of Calderdale in particular, and the North of England in general.'

In 1988, the first Enterprise Campus was launched at Dean Clough, based on a partnership between the private sector and the Local Education Authority.

Its aims are to enrich the educational experience of young people currently involved in education and training programmes, in schools and colleges, with the thriving craft and artistic life of Dean Clough - the Slade School, the Open College of the Arts, theatre and environmental initiatives - also contributing to the rich mix.

The same possibilities for learning and enrichment are offered to adults in Calderdale, particularly the unemployed and other disadvantaged groups.

'We believe individuals are potentially powerful beyond limit, and with motivation can make progress towards any goals they set themselves,' Ernest Hall concludes.

'To satisfy the need for individual achievement against a backcloth of pride in the local community'

'We see these recent developments as a virtual renaissance in Calderdale. It is a re-statement of our commitment to local regeneration but not of a narrow economic kind alone. It is a commitment to provide the broadest range of experiences for as many of the people of Calderdale as possible and to satisfy the need for individual achievement against a backcloth of civic culture and pride in the local community.'

Dean Clough Industrial Park, Halifax (tel 0422 344555). 'Dean Clough and the Crossley Inheritance' by Eric Webster is a Dean Clough Publication. Ernest Hall has a very fine slide show about Dean Clough and would be a good person to invite to address any group planning inner urban regeneration.

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