James Nutter & Sons at Bancroft Shed, Barnoldswick, Lancashire, 1975-80

Between 1975 and 1977 I worked as photographer-in-residence to the Borough of Pendle in north-east Lancashire: the towns of Nelson, Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby. There I made a series of extensive documentary studies using photography and audio recordings.

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View from the southeast. The office and warehouse face the camera with the ‘dam’ or ‘lodge’ (mill pond) in front of it (to the right in the picture, across the road from the tree). The Engine House is in the northeast corner. In the distance, approx 20 miles north-northeast, is Ingleborough (mountain) in the Yorkshire Dales. April 1976

In the warehouse, stack of empty yarn skeps. January 1977

The weaving shed. April 1976

Weaver with shuttle and pirn. May 1976

A weaver works at a loom in her alley, ‘taking up an end’. May 1976

In the warehouse. Jim Pollard’s drawing hook, older than his marriage. April 1976

A weaver puts a fresh pirn (of weft) into a shuttle. A mirror hangs on one of her looms so that she can comb ‘dawn’ (fluff) from her hair before going home. May 1976

In the weaving shed, where the roar of the looms is deafening, two weavers have a private conversation, their mouths concealed from the eyes of their lip-reading workmates. April 1976

In the weaving shed, a weaver takes her break. May 1976

In the weaving shed. Loom sweeper. May 1976

In the weaving shed, cloth carrier and weaver with loom-state cloth. May 1976

In the weaving shed, loom after dark. Silent, Sunday evening. September 1976

In the weaving shed, empty loom alley. August 1976

In the weaving shed, loom parts with cotton dust (‘dawn’). September 1976

In the warehouse, upstairs with stored loom parts and patterns — healds, reeds and warp beams. March 1977

In the warehouse. Slasher sizing machines, warp preparation. 1975

In the warehouse. Tackler (loom overlooker) in his workshop. May 1976

In the weaving shed. Stanley Graham, mill engineer, winding clock. August 1976

Sydney Nutter in the office. 1976

Whitewashing the lights (glass) of the shed roof to keep out the summer sunshine and make it cooler for the weavers. Saturday 26 June 1976

In the warehouse. Loom-state (‘grey’) cloth awaiting collection. April 1976

The chimney reflected in a window of the engine house. April 1976

In the engine house with Stanley Graham, mill engineer. Double acting cross compound condensing engine, made by William Roberts & Sons of Nelson, commissioned 1919. Photographed 1976

In the engine house with Stanley Graham, mill engineer. April 1976

In the engine house. High pressure crank with banjo oiler. March 1976

In the engine house. Low pressure crank, flywheel and banjo oiler. April 1976

In the engine house. Pressure gauges. September 1976

In the engine house. Oilers. May 1976

Stanley Graham, mill engineer, blowing down the boiler. April 1977

In the engine house. Stanley Graham, mill engineer, sleeping in his armchair beside the low pressure tail slide. May 1976

In the engine house. Stanley Graham, mill engineer, having his hair cut. March 1977

In the engine house. Stanley Graham, mill engineer in conversation with Dr. John Wilfred Pickard. 1976

In the engine house. Stanley Graham, mill engineer. Maintenance, repairs to gland packing on high pressure cylinder. June 1976

In the engine house. Wakes holiday maintenance. Knotting and splicing governor ropes. July 1976

In the engine house. Wakes holiday maintenance. New governor drive ropes, freshly spliced. July 1976

The engine house during wakes week. High pressure cylinder, conrods and tail slide covered with fent (waste cloth). July 1976

Stanley Graham, mill engineer, with wife Vera and daughter Janet enjoying a weekend picnic. July 1976

View from the southwest. The slate roof of the weaving shed with the warehouse beyond. The chimney is positioned midway along the northern side. April 1976

View from the southwest during demolition of the weaving shed and warehouse. October 1980

Site of the former mill viewed from the southwest. The mill engine — along with the chimney and boiler house — was saved from demolition and taken over by the Bancroft Mill Engine Trust, a charitable organisation run by volunteers. 1988

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Bodleian Libraries Links

Bodleian Libraries | Archive of Daniel Meadows, photographer and social documentarist (CMD ID 12752, 17418, 17823, 18768) | Meadows' photographic archive of negatives and contact sheets, 1969-1986, Nov 2014 | Negatives and contact sheets 03, Jan-May 1976

Negatives and contact sheets 04, May-Jun 1976

Negatives and contact sheets 05, Jun-Aug 1976

Negatives and contact sheets 06, Aug-Sep 1976

Negatives and contact sheets 07, Sep-Dec 1976

Negatives and contact sheets 08, Dec 1976-Jan 1977

Negatives and contact sheets 09, Jan-Apr 1977

Negatives and contact sheets 10, Apr-Jun 1977

Negatives and contact sheets 11, Jul-Aug 1977

Negatives and contact sheets 12, Sep-Dec 1977

Negatives and contact sheets 13, Dec 1977-Feb 1978

Negatives and contact sheets 14, Mar-May 1978

Negatives and contact sheets 15, May-Jun 1978

Negatives and contact sheets 16, Jun-Sep 1978

Negatives and contact sheets 17, Sep 1978-Spring 1979

Negatives and contact sheets 18, Mar-Jul 1979

Negatives and contact sheets 19, Jul-Nov 1979

Negatives and contact sheets 20, Nov 1979-Mar 1980

Negatives and contact sheets 21, Mar-Jul 1980

Negatives and contact sheets 22, Jul-Sep 1980

Negatives and contact sheets 23, Sep 1980-Apr 1981

Also:
Bodleian Libraries | Archive of Daniel Meadows, photographer and social documentarist (CMD ID 12752, 17418.17823) | Photographer-in-residence to the Borough of Pendle, Lancashire, Jun 1975-4 Sep 2020 | Bancroft weaving shed and Bancroft engine house, [1975]-2010, n.d.

Bancroft weaving shed, [Late 1970s], n.d.