district where the leaven of the old Saxon tongue, customs and character is less adulterated than in most other parts of Lancashire, as the naming of the Thrutch, below, indicates. The road alongside the river, northwards from Spotland Bridge, was, and remains, Spod Lane. The river was known locally as the Spod as late as the end of the 1970s. Industrial history - mills The power of the River Spodden as it rushes through the gorge at Healey Dell was probably first harnessed in Anglo-Saqxon times to power a corn mill. (The word "Healey" itself, meaning high pasture, is of Anglo-Saxon origin.) In 1636 the old corn mill became, or was replaced, by a wool fulling mill, and a replacement corn mill was built upstream at Broadley. The remains of the 17th century mill, which was built on a bridge over the river, and known as "Th' Owd Mill i' t' Thrutch, may still be seen. Thereafter the river waters were extensively used for industrial purposes; in an 1851 census of mills there were 9 solely-powered cotton mills, and 7 solely-powered woollen mills, in the Rochdale district. An 1890 sale catalogue for Broadley Mill (Cotton) detailed two water wheels, each of .), which supplied the mill with 30 horse-power. With increasing need for power, many mills used river water to utilize steam power; in the 1841 mill census, 6 cotton mills and 42 woollen mills used water in this way. At the Rochdale Waterworks Amendment Bill Enquiry, preceding the enactment of the Rochdale Waterworks Amendment Act 1847, evidence was given by mill owners adjoining the River Spodden that proposals for new reservoirs north of the river would affect the operation of their mills. In total, 30 woollen or cotton mills were sited alongside the river, together with a stone dressing mill, a plate metal works, and a brick works. Foot Mill, a mill beside the first bend of the river north of Spotland Bridge, featured in Edwin Waugh's Besom Ben story. Industrial history - railway viaduct and railway A feature of the River Spodden is the high former railway viaduct, built in 1867 for the Rochdale to Bacup branch line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway. The viaduct has eight arches, built of locally quarried stone, calculated to contain over 4,435 cubic metres. During the construction of the viaduct, the river had to be diverted. The railway line followed the