Saltaire Collection

Items

• 2018.58: Photograph of disused lift

  A card folder containing a photograph of a disused lift. There are metal concertina doors with various pieces of wood and electrial wiring visible.
• 2019.6.1: Reed Brush

  Reed Brush with wooden handle.
• 2019.6.3: Wooden wall / table cloth measure

  Wooden wall / table cloth measure.
• 2019.7.1: Shuttle

  Shuttle used in the textile manufacture.
• 2019.7.2: Shuttle

  Shuttle used in the textile manufacture.
• 2020.2.10: The Worsted Overlooker's Handbook

  This copy of 'The Worsted Overlooker's Handbook'. shows calculations, rules and tables useful for a worsted overlooker. It has details about Warping, Spinning, Yarns and Weft. Handwritten inscription inside front cover: 'William Gale, Burnside MIll (Swan Hotel), Addingham. Nov. 8th 1905'. The booklet was used by Harold Kendall during his time at Salts Mill
• 2020.2.11: Handy Reckoner

  This copy of the 'Handy Reckoner' Contains 'Tables of Interest, Income and wages calculations. Percentage tables for profits and discount. Tables of Interest, comparative weights of materials. Tables to calculate wages based on hours worked. The booklet was used by Harold Kendall during his time at Salts Mill
• 2020.2.13: Notebook used for technical details

  Small paper notebook. Used to make notes regarding textile technical details. Probably copied from a published technical book. Aslo probably used as an aide-memoir diary for some of his work. References to: twists, pulley, cylinders, Knob Yarn, Loop Yarn, Spiral Yarn, Flake Yarn. Changing wheel dimensions etc.
• 2020.2.16: School exercise book for Textile department for 1912-1913 session

  Shipley Technical School - Textile Department note book. With'Students Name' 'Harold Kendall' 'Session 1912-1913' 'Subject: 3rd Year Woollen and Worsted Spinning' handwritten in ink. This exercise book was used by Harold Kendall while a student at the Technical School, now Shipley College. The book includes notes from his 'Woollen, Worsted and Spinning' classes. The exercise book icludes notes on: Textile Fabrics, Mineral Fibres, Sketches of rollers, physical properties of wool and other materials, Sketches of machines to clean and wash wool. How different countries climates etc. produce different wools. The quality and use of wools. Sketch maps of the different sheep in different countries, and the different yarns from sheep. Trade terms and names, wool values. 'Gret details for anyone studying the history of wool textile production.'
• 2020.2.17: School exercise book for Textile department for 1913-1914 session

  Shipley Technical School - Textile Department note book. With 'Students Name' 'Harold Kendall' 'Session 1913-1914' 'Subject: 4th Year Woollen and Worsted Spinning' handwritten in ink. This exercise book was used by Harold Kendall while a student at the Technical School, now Shipley College. The book includes notes from his 'Woollen, Worsted and Spinning' classes. The exercise book icludes notes on: Woollen and Worsted Threads, Carding, Diagrams of spindles and cards in machines, Worsted carding engine details, How to prepare machines to put wool in, How to wash and clean machines, Types of combs to use in machines, Sketch drawings of different textile equipment. 'Great details for anyone studying the history of wool textile production'.
• 2020.2.18: School exercise book for Textile department 1914-15 session

  Shipley Technical School - Textile Department note book. With 'Students Name' 'Harold Kendall' 'Session 1914-1915' 'Subject: Woollen and Worsted Spinning' handwritten in ink. This exercise book was used by Harold Kendall while a student at the Technical School, now Shipley College. The book includes notes from his 'Woollen, Worsted and Spinning' classes. The exercise book icludes notes on: Drawing, afirst operation after Combing, Extensive notes and drawings of textile machines and parts, Details of production of fine mohair, alpaca and camel hair, and cashmire yarns. 'Great details for anyone studying the history of wool textile production'.
• 2022.17: Retrospect - J. Parkinson and Son

  Retrospect - J. Parkinson and Son by Ernest Parkinson - A history of the Shipley Engineering firm starting in 1893
• 2022.7: Scribbling and Carding

  A book on the technical aspects of Scribbling and Carding by G.R. Smith. Stamped inside with 'Stuart Bros Ltd, Ashley Mills, Shipley'. Includes text and black and white illustrations.
• 2024.43: On Tenterhooks

  Paperback book with full title 'On Tenterhooks - a compendium of textile words, terms and expressions'. Compiled by Eugene Nicholson. A glosary of words, terms and expressions used in the British textile undustry.
• 2024.56.1: A weaver loads a pirn of weft thread into a shuttle, 1940s

  Picture of a room in a mill containing several machines. A woman is stood at a machine loading a shuttle.
• 2024.63: Saltaire, public ations on etc

  Album with plastic pockets containing miscellaneous images and loose items. Contains 26 images in the pockets with 4 loose items. Images are a mixture of buildings, people, Salt family and mill and 2 images of Compound Engines at Salts Mill together with images of the railway station. Loose items include: poster from The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury October 19th 1956 titled 'Salts Saltaire Ltd, Saltaire a guide by D Larvin'; a photograph of Titus Salt House Sailors Children's Society 1966; and an envelope containing a black and white image of Saltaire and farmland.
• 2025.41: Woollen or worsted? An introduction to wool processing

  An introduction to wool processing by Bradford Industrial Museum. Includes photos and diagrams of machinery. The book is aimed at students of the textile industry
• 2025.90: The Bradford Calculator

  A red and cream bakelite circle with an inner circle which can be moved. Made by Knight & Forster Ltd Bradford. The circle relates to textile measurements
• B1-032/3: Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection.

  Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection. 'Photographs exist of some of the machinery installed in Salts Mill during its days of textile production. Several of the photos were used in two promotional brochures produced by the company, the first (in French) in 1918 (approx) under the name Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd; the second, in 1924 (approx) under the name Salts (Saltaire) Ltd. (Further commentary on the two brochures can be found overpage). Additionally, there are photos of the Mill departments following removal of machinery, presumably taken in the 1980s. The photographs were held by the late Mr Albert Bowtell, and subsequently (2007) donated by his widow Mrs J Bowtell to the Saltaire Archive. The original photos have been digitally scanned to minimise further handling and many are reproduced here for easy reference. We are anxious to document as much as we can about the type of machinery seen in the photos, its date of use, the mill department in which it was used etc etc. If you can help us to this end, please add your comments (together with your name and contact details) to the sheets accompanying the photos. The Industrial Museum has in its Reference Library a few Salts Mill brochures which are a very good source of information. Two of the brochures date from around the 1920s, one being in French, the other being in English. The French-language brochure was designed and printed by W. N. Sharpe Ltd., of Bradford and London. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd'. Its text has mention of a Royal visit in 1918, so it dates from after that event. I currently judge it to be 1920-ish. (Also it is judged to have been produced by letterpress (indicated by the imprint on p15/16). The English language brochure was designed and printed by Percy Lund, Humphries and Company Ltd, The County Press Ltd, Bradford. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Salts (Saltaire) Ltd'. The brochure carries a page of photos of the company's board members of 1924, which presumably allows us to date it as being of that year. (This brochure is thought to have been produced by litho-press). Much of the text and the illustrations are common to the two public ations. The French-language text is briefer than the English-language text, and the English-language brochure has more illustrations. Although most of the illustrations are common, many of those of the English-language brochure have been 'improved' — eg blemishes in photos have been removed; indistinct features have been sharpened by hand etc. Even the Belwarp and alpaca trademarks of the two public ations are not quite identical. An illustration of the Mill, viewed from the SW, is common to both brochures but with modifications having been made in the later one — for example, cars have replaced horse-drawn carts seen in the other (earlier) brochure. What is also of interest is that several — perhaps the majority — of the photos are the same as those in Mr Bowtell's collection, including the ones which have been touched up. As we investigate the various photos in more detail, the two brochures will help date the textile machinery that features in the photos in the collection of Mr Bowtell.'
• B1-032/3/1: Carding 1

  Small machine in left foreground together with carding engines in shed