Cops and Bobbins: Exploring the Textile Industry in Oldham and Saddleworth

Cops and Bobbins looks at the history of the textile industry in Oldham and Saddleworth and opens at Gallery Oldham on 17 November 2007.

The exhibition features items from Gallery Oldham’s Social History and Art Collections and from the collections of Oldham Local Studies and Archives.

Birth of a Milltown, the first stage of the exhibition, examines the rapid growth of Oldham during the early 19th Century. Items on show include several pages from an 1820s textile pattern book.

A Golden Age of Mill Building uses architectural drawings from Oldham Local Studies and Archives to illustrate the blossoming industry between 1890 and 1920. Amongst a wealth of long service certificates, mill owners’ portraits and factory notices there is also some fascinating “factory gate” film footage of workers in 1900. The films, taken outside Platt’s New Works in Werneth and Glebe Mill in Hollinwood, are part of the restored Mitchell & Kenyon archive and are used in the exhibition courtesy of the British Film Institute.

Decline and Fall goes on to trace the 20th Century decline of the textile industry and features stories from those affected. A recent collecting project amongst Oldham’s Asian community will illustrate the textile industry’s role in creating the multi-cultural Oldham of today.

The exhibition looks beyond Oldham to the worldwide impact of the textile industry. From the 19th Century when Oldham consumed vast quantities of cotton grown by American slaves, to the 20th Century when immigrants moved here to work in the mills as the industry declined.

Cops and Bobbins links to Revealing Histories, a project between eight museums and galleries in Greater Manchester commemorating the bicentenary of the Abolition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Act. For further information visit www.revealinghistories.org.uk

Cops and Bobbins is on show alongside Millscapes, a new exhibition that takes a fresh look at the industrial architecture of the North West, from the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution to today’s changing skylines. The exhibition features paintings and mill models from public and private collections around the region and is jointly curated by Touchstones Rochdale and Gallery Oldham, and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Both Cops and Bobbins and Millscapes are on show at Gallery Oldham 17 November 2007 – 2 February 2008.

Gallery Oldham is situated in the Cultural Quarter, Greaves Street, Oldham, OL1 1AL. The Gallery is open Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm and admission is free. For further information call 0161 770 4653 or visit www.galleryoldham.org.uk

ENDS

For further information and images contact Catherine Bradley on 0161 770 4741 catherine.bradley@oldham.gov.uk