Over the past 5 years I have dedicated a lot of time to the research and investigation of the remnants of the once might Yorkshire Wool trade. Mainly concentrating on the remaining buildings associated with the industry: Mills. This post comprises a number of photographs taken in one of many mills visited.
This mill’s primary use was for the knitting / weaving of fabric and cloth using circular knitting machines, of which there were many still left in situ. Many of the earlier machines were made by Mellor Bromley of Leicester, probably dating from the 1960’s with later models having the addition of ‘Wildt’ Some later 80’s and 90’s machines by Camber, also of Leicester were near the back of the knitting room.
Threads of differing gauges were fed through the top of the machines through spools held on racks nearby, patterns are then dictated by metal pattern discs. These machines produce a ‘sock’ of cloth that are either plain or patterned and then rolled and packed.
We couldn’t put a definitive use on much of the cloth that remained as it just looked like generic material, a lot of which was half finished, with ‘socks’ still on the machines.
The equipment was cleared very shortly after we went in by Leicester Machine Movers and conversion is about to start as of October 2015.
You can’t get more Yorkshire than a boat that says ‘Eyup’ on the side.
Bloody good this, excellent photos
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