IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Ramsden Street, HUDDERSFIELD, HD1 2SZ

A mural on Ramsden Street indicating the earlier days of the woollen industry with some automation of processes. The woman on the left is operating a spinning jenny that allows multiple threads to be spun but is still worked by hand. The man in the centre represents the dyeing of cloth and the woman on the right is inspecting a woven sheet of cloth.

On Ramsden Street. This mural shows the early domestic woollen industry. The woman on the left is hand carding. Next along is a woman using a distaff for spinning. This was women's work, hence 'distaff side'. The next woman is using the more recognisable great wheel for spinning the yarn. Finally, the man on the right is using a hand loom for weaving. He is inserting the shuttle by hand rather than using the later flying shuttle. I photographed this long panel in its entirety and other sections show a man with hand cropping shears, a Luddite with his wrecking hammer, a spinning jenny, dyeing and inspection/finishing.

This depicts scenes from the woollen industry. In the background the water wheel and chimney represent mechanisation and the move from the domestic to the factory system. The man in the grey shirt is holding a pair of hand cropping shears used for cropping the nap of the woollen cloth on the table he is leaning against. It was the development of mechanised cropping frames that was one of the targets of the Luddite movement, represented by the man with a hammer. The mechanised cropping frame could do the work of ten men. A set of hand cropping shears can be seen at the Calderdale Industrial Museum. The woman on the right is operating a spinning jenny.

Note the mural depicting textile trades on the end wall of the building on the right. The grand building in the centre is the Town Hall. Beyond that is the 1870s market hall that replaced a Victorian confection.