Collection: Calderdale Industrial Museum

Collection-level records:

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Calderdale Industrial Museum evolved to tell the story of industry in Calderdale with the emphasis on textiles and engineering.

  It started with a remarkable man, John Magson, who joined the Halifax museums service in 1950. He devoted 33 years to building up important collections, particularly of early textile machinery during the post-war period when Halifax was beginning to lose its reputation as ‘the town of 100 trades’.

  His dream was to create a museum reflecting the growth of local industry, commerce and related culture at a time when industrial archaeology was not highly valued by many institutions. The Government’s textile reduction schemes had resulted in vast quantities of historic machinery being scrapped, so John Magson used any available, albeit minimal, resources to rescue important machines and equipment, with little help and virtually no storage.

  Premises were required to display such a collection and when the Piece Hall was saved from demolition and new uses sought, it was identified as an appropriate site for such a facility.

  The Rustic (middle) level housed the pre-industrial museum, dealing with domestic woollen and worsted cloth production. Live demonstrations of spinning, carding and weaving were given by staff, and attracted vast numbers of schools, local visitors and tourists. The Arcade (ground floor) level was designated for the heavier machinery and although the space within the Piece Hall was ideally situated for this it was clear that, to represent 100 trades, and bearing in mind that Halifax was by this time part of the wider Calderdale, more space was urgently needed. The decision was made to purchase Albion Works, Square Road, the rear gable of which backed onto the Piece Hall. The premises had latterly been used by John Stirk, machine tool builders.

  Early in 1982 it was decided to create the Calderdale Industrial Museum, representing the industrial and social life of an area approximately 20 miles long and 10 miles wide, through the previous 250 years, which was no mean feat.

  At that time the Government ran the Community Programme which later became the Manpower Service Commission. This body was approached and a major scheme launched to convert the empty warehouse into a lively working museum run by knowledgeable and dedicated staff.

  The project ran from October 1982 to August 1985 and in total employed approximately 200 people including all manner of skilled tradespersons and also researchers, graphic designers, students from local colleges and apprentices on loan from local companies. The small building next to the museum was converted into an engineering workshop, so that very little work had to be contracted out.

  The museum included machines, from carpet, wire, moquette, woollen and worsted manufacture and related industries as well as a range of journals and text books. It was very much a working museum with many of the exhibits still functioning and regularly demonstrated.

  The museum opened in August 1985 and was an instant success, later winning a national award as best museum of industrial and social history. It was staffed by skilled qualified engineers who had previously worked on the MSC scheme. A lively education programme included occasional theatrical productions, and the workshop, apart from maintaining the exhibits, was used to manufacture items for other council departments, thus raising additional income. Overall Calderdale Industrial Museum was considered to be a very valuable educational and cultural resource.

  In 2000 the museum was closed to the public due to reduced Council funding. However, there were plans to continue to use it as an educational resource for schools; the top floor was re-modelled to become an arts and interactive space, and the ground floor an arts store for Calderdale, though much of the machinery was removed to an external store. Many people lamented its closure and believed it to be to be far too important a resource to be inaccessible, and in May 2011 a public meeting was called by a group of engineering and heritage enthusiasts regarding the reopening of the museum. The interest was such that the Calderdale Industrial Museum Association (CIMA) was formed and a formal proposal was made to Calderdale Council that the museum be reopened and run by volunteers. In 2013 CIMA became a limited company and work is currently ongoing to refurbish both the exhibits and the building with the aim of reopening the museum on a regular basis In the meantime CIMA has run successful open days (seven in 2012/2013, six in 2014, one in 2015 and two in 2016) and plan to open regularly on a Saturday from September 2017.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection overview (Collection development policy)

  The collection aims to present a broad cross-section of the wide variety of industries which prospered throughout present day Calderdale, during the period between the late eighteenth century and the mid twentieth century.

  The collection is housed in a pair of late nineteenth century wool warehouses, which later served a variety of uses including garment and boot and shoe manufacture, and foundry pattern making.

  The collection is housed on four levels.

  THE TOP FLOOR: covers the history of textiles, mainly wool.

  The plan is to show the process from fleece to piece. The museum holds a significant collection of early pre-industrial artefacts, including a rare Spinning Jenny, one of only a handful of original such machines surviving in the UK. A treadle operated knitting machine represents the early hosiery manufacture in Halifax.

  Worsted manufacture developed in Halifax during the early eighteenth century. Presently under development is a display of the method most commonly used in Halifax for the preparation and spinning of worsted, through to weaving the finished cloth, as carried out in the early twentieth century.

  THE FIRST FLOOR: displays the history and variety of industries and manufacturing in Calderdale.

  The Cork Display This display illustrates the manufacture of cork pulleys and was originally set up with assistance of the Science Museum; it is the only display of such equipment in the country. Halifax also had an important importer and processor of cork products.

  Leather Working Leather belting and later synthetic products were universally used for machine drives throughout the textile and engineering industries; making of the former is illustrated in the display, alongside pickers for looms which were an important product of the Todmorden area in Calderdale, Robinson Brothers of nearby Horton Street.

  Cat’s Eyes Display Invented in Boothtown, Halifax, by Percy Shaw, and patented in 1934, reflecting road studs were described in a House of Commons debate as “the most brilliant invention ever produced in the interests of road safety”.

  Transport Display This represents the importance of the transport network of pack horse tracks, turnpikes, canals and railways for the movement of the district’s manufactures, and the value of post for communications.

  Carpet Display Two large carpet looms illustrate the Jacquard principle and both the Brussels and Wilton methods of manufacture. Calderdale was a major centre for carpet manufacture and included the world famous John Crossley & Sons, once owners of the largest carpet factory in the world.

  Moquette Loom John Holdsworth sold their moquette fabrics to upholsterers and to bus, rail and tram manufacturers worldwide. Their loom is one of the museum highlights.

  Knitting Display Hosiery was another local industry, here represented by both circular hand driven knitting machines used at home and their larger industrial counterparts. There is also an example of a flat knitting machine of a type used in the local clothing trade.

  Clothing Industry Display This was a dominant area of manufacture within the Calder Valley, particularly in and around Hebden Bridge. A reproduction of a clothing workshop includes a locally made band saw, cutting table and sewing bench.

  Halifax Building Society Display The importance of thrift and the story of building societies’ movement is presented in a display of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society. It is represented by a display charting the society’s establishment in 1853, its progress through the creation of a branch network to become the world’s largest society by 1913, and its merger in 1928 with the second largest society, the Halifax Equitable Building Society, to become the Halifax Building Society. Today it remains one of the most important parts of the retail banking sector of Lloyds Banking Group.

  Washing Machine Display Important local manufacturer ADA from the 1950s, later Philips, and still represented by Croslee, tumble dryer manufacturer.

  Confectionery John Mackintosh, world famous toffee manufacturer, known as the ‘toffee king’ pioneered a unique style of toffee midway between butterscotch and fudge which is represented in a display which includes a giant toffee boiling pan and a working toffee wrapping machine.

  Wire Drawing Display Wire drawing was key to the early development of the wool textile industry in the area owing to its use in cards employed in wool preparation, and later for textile combs. Eventually 1001 different uses were adopted for wire which provided the impetus for significant local development of this industry.

  GROUND FLOOR Power technology development.

  Machinery sourced from a variety of places in the UK sets out to show the development of power technology as adopted in the textile industry, commencing a water wheel and fulling stocks, beam engine, horizontal engine high speed inverted compound steam engine generating electricity, gas engines (Campbell).

  BASEMENT Extractive industries and machine tools developed to serve the textile industries.

  Mineral extraction was important to the progress of all Calderdale’s industries, coal mining being first recorded in 1307, stone extraction being recorded as early as 1314 with coal and clay soon afterwards; ironstone was also important from the late eighteenth century. The displays chart these developments. Refractory products continue to be manufactured locally.

  Hand in hand with the development and mechanisation of the textile industry was that of textile machine manufacture, alongside which a thriving machine tool industry developed; this is represented by an extensive gallery of locally made lathes, drills, planers and other machine tools together with pattern making and a blacksmith display.

  An extensive collection of smaller artefacts also exists, which is not on display, but which is available for viewing on request.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2019

  Licence: CC BY-NC