In an unassuming and if we’re being totally candid less than ‘aesthetic’ Bradford cul-de-sac (I can say that it’s my neck of the woods) lies the Bradford Industrial Museum. It documents the once great woollen mill industry that produced the likes of Titus Salt, and put West Yorkshire decidedly on the map. The museum itself is within an original spinning mill previously called Moorside Mill, built in 1875, and tells the wider history of the British industrial topography. There are working printing presses and the museum hosts a printing group. There is an outbuilding documenting the role of Shire horses and animals at work. There’s a collection of automobiles, of steam engines and, last but not least, a large collection of weaving and spinning equipment dating from the Industrial Revolution to the 1970s when the site was bought and turned into a museum.
For me, it’s an extra special place and it was my first museum. I grew up literally 5 minutes away and it was a common weekend trip for my parents and me. If I was going to be cheesy, I’d say it was ‘where it all started’ for me as a museum professional. Every time I’m home, it’s a must-visit, even just to pop in.
The museum is a very sensory experience: After years of industry, the lanolin (the wax from wool) soaked into the wooden floor. Mix that with the smell of paint and metal from the machinery, and you get a very unique smell. Add this to the whirl of weaving machines (sometimes they work the original machines) then every sense is stimulated. The smell, though, is the most memorable thing. Honestly, it’s my favourite smell and always makes me smile when I go back and get that signature, industrial aroma. I can’t explain it, you’ll just have to go and sniff for yourselves.
The museum has followed me throughout my life, in unexpectedly surprising ways. Remember that smell I mentioned? I thought it was unique to that museum; it was a Bradford experience and warranted a trip back home if I wanted to visit. Or so I thought. Whilst on a family holiday to Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, we visited the master weaver Donald John Mackay. Harris Tweed can only be hand woven on the Isle of Harris and when we visited his weaving shed, I was struck by a strange familiarity. What could it be?
The astute amongst you will realise that MacKay’s, isle of Harris based weaving shed smelled exactly like the Bradford Industrial Museum! There was a series of confused glances as two Bradfordians and one Loiner on a distant Scottish Island were reminded of our local industrial museum. On closer inspection, we realised that the hand weaving machine was made in Bradford! West Yorkshire industrial history had reached the very furthest reaches of Scotland and was transporting me back to a museum 5 minutes down the road from my childhood home.
One thing that I think makes industrial museums so special is that most of their objects are in-situ or semi-in-situ. Maybe it wasn’t the original spinning machine from this very mill, but it is an example of the type! We get a glimpse into the actual use of the building within the museum context. In my opinion, industrial museums can create arguably the best iteration of a true ‘immersive’ experience any museum can hope to offer; we see original machines in their original context. In some cases, the staff or volunteers even used to work in that industry, providing first-hand accounts and information that would otherwise have been lost. It’s the perfect mixture of built heritage, engineering, working class history and intangible heritage in action.
Returning to the museum now as a museum professional makes me realise how lucky I was as a child to have this on my doorstep. As a West Yorkshire woman, this museum made me understand why my city is like it is; industry is embedded in the topography and culture. My grandma used to be a mender in a Leeds woollen mill. To this day if one of my jumpers has a hole, she can fix it so its good as new. Industrial history and craftsmanship has followed me throughout my life, starting at the Bradford Industrial Museum, and it makes sense to me that my newest career venture is as an Assistant Curator with the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life.
* * *
Rosie Shackleton is a born and raised Bradfordian, living and working in Scotland. She has a degree from the University of Edinburgh in German and History and has been working in the arts and heritage sector since university. She is currently an Assistant Curator for North Lanarkshire Council based at The Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life.