Laurel Mill, Middleton Junction  Laurel Mill was a cotton spinning mill in the Mills Hill/Middleton Junction area of Chadderton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It was sited alongside the Rochdale Canal, which, until 1933 boundary changes, formed the boundary with Middleton, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. It was built in 1905 by the Laurel Mill Company. It was taken over by Messrs Murgatroyd and after a strike in June 1936 it was sold under the terms of the Cotton Spinning Industry Act 1936 out of spinning. Bought by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation before 1951, it was brought back into production baling waste for export. The building closed for the final time in 1966 and was demolished in 1988. Middleton Junction lies at the boundary of Middleton and Chadderton in Greater Manchester  Middleton stands on the River Irk, south-southeast of Rochdale, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Middleton Junction stands on the Rochdale Canal. The actual borough boundary lies to the west of the canal, and the west of Mills Hill Road. The M60 motorway passes to the south of Middleton Junction; the M62 passes to the north. A heavy rail line enters Middleton from Moston and Chadderton to the south, and passes roughly parallel to the canal as they both continue through Castleton northwards to Rochdale. Until 1966 Middleton Junction railway station served the area. Laurel Mill lay in Chadderton, as did Baytree Mill and Junction Mill. Historically a part of Lancashire, Middleton took its name from being situated in the centre of several circumjacent settlements. In 1770, Middleton was a village of 20 houses; during the 18th and 19th centuries it grew into a thriving and populous seat of textile manufacture, so much so that Middleton was granted borough status in 1886. Middleton Junction took its name from the railway junction where the Oldham branch of the Manchester and Leeds Railway (M&LR) joined the main line. The M&LR main line opened on 4 July 1839, and the branch from Middleton Junction to Oldham Werneth railway station on 31 March 1842. It was in the second half of the 19th century, that the area became the world centre for spinning cotton yarn. This was due in a large part to the formation of limited liability companies known as Oldham Limiteds.