Entries by Barbara Smith
Lancashire Factory Villages: Barrow Bridge revisited
We were very privileged to welcome Geoff Timmins, Emeritus Professor from UCLan, to be our speaker yesterday evening. Geoff educated and entertained us with an illustrated talk on the development of towns and villages built during the 19th century to house the rapidly growing number of people who had come to work in the factories […]
James Kay of Turton Tower: Inventor and Flax Spinner (1774-1857) – a talk by Richard Horrocks
James Kay of Turton Tower: Inventor and Flax Spinner (1774-1857) – a talk by Richard Horrocks An expressive and engaging speaker, Richard educated and entertained us with his talk on this little known local inventor and mill owner. James Kay’s invention in 1825 of the wet spinning process for flax produced the finest machine spun […]
A Walk Round Springhill
On two days in June, Janet Barrie took groups of SPAG members on walks around the Springhill area of Higher Cloughfold, between Rawtenstall and Newchurch. Meeting at Marl Pits, we walked through the village and considered its mansions and more humble dwellings; churches; institutions; the people who lived there and significant events in its history. […]
Industrial Summerseat Walk
Industrial Summerseat Walk SPAG Researcher Elspeth Dennett volunteered to take members on a guided tour of Summerseat to discover the village’s industrial past. Our starting point was the local Garden Centre just a short walk away from our first point of call, Robin Road Mill, a water powered spinning mill built around 1780 by Peel […]
The Lancashire Cotton Famine and the American Civil War
We had a good turn out on a sunny Thursday afternoon for Stephen Irwin’s talk on how the American Civil War affected the people involved in the cotton trade in Lancashire. Stephen has worked as the Education Officer at Blackburn Museum for over 17 years and is an entertaining and informative speaker. During the 1860-62 […]