My travels in Finland took me to Tampere, located 100 miles north east of the capital Helsinki.  It’s Finland’s third largest city and takes just 90 minutes to reach by inter-city train from the capital.  I’d wanted to visit Tampere for sometime because it’s often referred to as the ‘Manchester of Finland’ due to its industrial past as the former centre of the Finnish cotton trade.  Manchester in north western England is a city I know well, it’s not far from where I was born and it’s a place I visit frequently so I was curious to visit Tampere and explore its industrial heritage.

The former Finlayson Cotton Mill in Tampere, Finland

Standing proudly in the centre of the town, on the banks of the Tammerkoski river, is the former Finlayson cotton mill, the birthplace of industrial Finland.  The mill was established in 1820 by a Scottish engineer called…