Memories of the Lancashire Cotton Mills

Book excerpt: Lancashire was once the Cotton Capital of the world. Raw cotton came in to Liverpool docks and was sold on the Exchange. In the beginning, it was then transported to cottages all over the county where whole families, including the children, would clean, card, spin and weave it. The finished cloth was then sold on the Manchester Exchange. With the coming of the Industrial Revolution new machines saw the work transferred from home to factory. It was said that Lancashire could produce enough cotton before breakfast to supply the UK market, with the remainder of the day's supply going overseas. Read the first hand accounts from local people, and look at the remarkable collection of contemporary photographs.