Geography

Samuel Greg had to pay attention to where he built the mill because he needed an enormous, relatively flat plot of land to build a large factory on, and he needed somewhere where a lot of light could get through, and he also needed somewhere with a river so that his water wheel idea would work. He needed a water wheel to power growing and changing inventions.  

Quarry Bank Mill was built next to the River Bollin. The fact that it was so near a river was very important and definitely did not happen by chance. Samuel Greg had searched and searched for a perfect place to build his mill. When he found it, Samuel Greg used the naturally continuous flow of the water in an ingenious way. He made a head race parallel to the river. This meant that the water could be diverted so that it fell onto the water wheel and then back into the river. It was very clever and made sure that there was always a constant power supply to the mill. 

However, there was a problem. What happened if there was less water coming down the river? What if it hadn't rained or the water wasn't flowing very fast? If that happened then there might not be enough power to power the whole mill.

Samuel Greg solved this problem.  He built a dam. A mill pond. 

It was a bit like a reservoir and was just above the beginning of the head race. It still created a continuous flow of water, but it also stored water and let it out in a controlled way, so that there was always a constant flow of the same amount of water.