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 Trencherfield Mill - Wigan, UK Posted by:  dtrebilc
N 53° 32.488 W 002° 38.334
30U E 523929 N 5932566
This metal information board on the towpath of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal gives some history of a large nearby building that was formerly a cotton mill.
Waymark Code: WMTEEP
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/11/2016
Views: 0
The mill was erected in 1907 and the sign shows a picture of a female mill worker in the clothes she would have worn at the time The sign includes quotes from the worker in the local dialect of the county of Lanacshire. 'Snap' is dialect for food.
TRENCHERFIELD MILL
WHEN COTTON WAS KING
AS TOLD BY A COTTON WORKER CIRCA 1910
It's hot int' mill wi' lots o' noise. On a nice day, we'll take our lunch ont' towpath an' eat snaps from't snap tins'.
Its a 5 1/2 day week for us cotton workers: that's 12 hours a day and half day Saturday.
We've all got nimble fingers, especially the Piecers. They're mainly children, who nip under the spinning machines to tie the broken cotton back together.
Some of us work on the spinning machines and some on the carding machines. The mill takes a raw bale of cotton. cleans it twists it and spins it into fine yarn.
The humidity in the mill keeps the cotton damp so its easier to spin without snapping.
There are five floors of machinery all powered by the Trencherfield Mill Engine.
The noise is deafening - we stuff cotton from the floor in our ears to protect them. We communicate using 'Me-Mawing' a mixture of sign language and lip reading.
We work in our bare feet because our clogs could spark on the concrete floor and set the cotton bales alight.
'We wake early doors to the sound of the Trencherfield steam whistle. Summonin' us to t'mill for another day. But as thee say - England's bread hangs on Lancashire thread.'
TRENCHERFIELD MILL (1907)
¦ This is the third mill to be built on this site in Trencher Meadow.
¦ It was commissioned by William Woods, a local coal, cotton and machine building entrepreneur.
¦ One of the country's first fire sprinkler systems, imported from America, was installed in the mill.
¦ Trencherfield housed 60,000 ring and 24,000 mule spindles (devices for spinning yarn). The cotton spun here was taken to other mill towns to be woven.
¦ The Trencherfield Steam Engine is the largest of its type in its original setting and with its rope race intact.
¦ At full steam, the engine would have produced 2,500 horse power; enough to run machinery over five floors and the central heating system.
Type of Historic Marker: Free standing metal plaque
Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Wigan Council
Age/Event Date: 01/01/1907
Related Website: [Web Link]
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