Talbot Mill,
Manchester.

It goes way back to1855.

Looking back at maps drawn between 1850-1860, it’s hard to tell when exactly Talbot Mill was built, but it was most likely constructed in 1855.

Talbot Mill flourished with success in 1897, when JE Waters joined with a number of other companies to form The English Sewing Cotton Company Ltd. During this time, the company absorbed a load of smaller companies and dominated the market.

From the get-go, the mill made sewing cotton and threads. Then from 1930, it was home to a few textile-related businesses. During the 1980s, one floor was a mushroom farm. No… not that kind.

More recently, it’s been used a set for a period drama and home to Art Battle and A Grand Exposition.

The history.

This footage was captured in 1900 and commissioned by Mitchell & Kenyon. It shows the mill workers leaving work for the day, many of them young people and mostly mill girls. This is was a common sight because education was only compulsory for children aged 5-10 from 1880 to 1918.

The younger children were employed for general, unskilled work. They would walk the aisles, picking up and gathering the cotton waste. They would also fix broken thread as this needed small hands but was very dangerous.