I work at the historical mill area and could have had a nice ride during my lunch break :-).
The historical Finlayson mill area is known as the old “town within the town” of Tampere. The Finlayson cotton mill’s roots go back to the year 1820 when a Scotsman called James Finlayson set up an engineering shop on the banks of the Tammerkoski Rapids. The engineering workshop was soon transformed into a cotton mill and later developed into Finland’s first large-scale industrial company. The cotton mill also played a significant role in the general development of Tampere into an industrial city. Industrial production came to an end in 1995 and the former industrial premises flourish today as an active cultural and business center. The Finlayson area, delighting in its historical roots, has become an excellent tourist attraction with versatile services for everyone to enjoy: there are museums, art galleries, theatres, boutiques, a cinema complex and numerous restaurants. It's also the base of Finland's second biggest daily newspaper called Aamulehti.