At seventeen Brindley became apprenticed to Abraham Bennett, a millwright and wheelwright of Gurnett, Sutton, near to Macclesfield in Cheshire. The early days of his apprenticeship were witness to magnificent mistakes, such as the incorrectly positioned spokes of a wheel, leaning inwards instead of out and causing the wheel to collapse, which moved Bennett to rebuke his young apprentice and threaten to tear up his indentures. However, James Brindley showed the character necessary in overcoming such problems and not succumbing to them. He learned from his mistakes. He was also able to handle the ridicule and criticism of his fellow workers; an inference gleaned from early accounts of his tenure at Bennett's workshop.

Brindley's mistake from an original drawing by the late Dr Cyril TG Boucher

Abraham Bennett's workshop at Gurnett, Sutton.

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