The Workers

Britain, and especially the northwest of England, gained the reputation as the ‘Workshop of the World’.

It achieved this by driving up its production output massively through a combination of invention, mechanisation and hard, hard labour. The pioneers of the revolution wouldn’t have made their mark in history without the working families who make the factories rattle and hum every single day.

Indeed it has been said that the Industrial Revolution would have been an unqualified success - if ordinary people hadn't got in the way! The true stories of real people are not all about magnificient progress and achievement, but of struggle, hardship and exploitation.

The sweat of our ancestors - mill workers, soldiers, tradesmen, dockers and even slaves were at the front line of the Industrial Revolution. Diseases like cholera were rife in the early nineteenth century, a low life expectancy and early deaths were the accepted norm and a 13-14 hour working day was standard.

John Phillips Kay, secretary to Manchester's Special Board of Health, described the weavers' plight in 1832: "The handloom weavers... consist chiefly of Irish and are affected by all the causes of moral and physical depression ... ill-fed, ill-clothed, half-sheltered and ignorant - weaving in close, damp cellars or crowded workshops."

Conditions in a weaving shed in Lancashire in late Victorian times were harsh. The relentless noise made many deaf. Lip reading was the norm and even sign language was used. At Burnley’s Queen Street Textile Mill Museum you can still hear the mechanical cacophony that dominated life as a weaver. This evocative museum is the only working steam powered mill left in the world, in a town where over 100,000 looms used to run. Come and share just a little of our ancestors’ experience.

No trade unions, and very few real rights existed. Only when the ten-hour working day was introduced could such luxuries as education and leisure (even holidays) be considered. The coast of Lancashire was finally within reach to the masses – where did you think Blackpool came from?

These stories are told across the region in our great museums through social histories that will transport you back in time. Their lives shaped all of ours, so why don’t you ask yourself, “who do you think you are?”