To get an idea of the type of houses that were built for textile workers in the mid 19th Century, the following description was the 'norm' :
A lot of the houses were what were called - 'back-to-back'. These were rows of terraced houses, that were, 'partitioned' if you like, with the party-walls being down from the ridge. These houses generally consisted of two bedrooms and one ground floor parlour, which contained a stone sink and a pantry. The coal-store was outside, as also was the toilet ( called a closet) which was generally situated at the end of the terrace, and was frequently shared by more than one household.
Such a street is Harry Street, which has 8 houses, these are even-numbered i.e. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, & 16.
During the 1950's and onwards, owners living in the houses, were given the opportunity to purchase the one on the 'other-side' whenever these became vacant. That is, the occupant of number 8 could buy number 8 on the other side of the wall so to speak. After this transaction, the owner could remove a staircase and introduce connecting doors, and so double the size of his property, and also keep the same number for his house.
Two houses in BACK HARRY STREET still remain 'back-to-back', hence, there are still two houses in HARRY STREET which are the same, ( I hope you are still with me Colleen). The bottom line is : there was never a number 7 or 9 in Back Harry Street.
The following photographs of 8 and 10 Back Harry Street are now the rear views of 8 and 10 Harry Street. In consequence, there are now only two houses with Back Harry Street addresses.
number 8
number10
HARRY STREET, BARROWFORD
This site which is being cleared, was the former Berry's No1 weaving shed .
It has now been earmarked for a housing development and shopping complex.
Harry Street is in the background.
The Service Station was located where Berry's Gap was situated, but this short lived business is to be turned into housing and shops. The forecourt was number 2 weaving shed.
Drawn by Jim Sanderson for about the time circa 1910-20
The photograph above is Pendle Water at the rear of Berry's mill, taken around 1968. The large house-gable on the right of the picture is of number 16 Harry Street.
This page is dedicated to Colleen Broderick's father Mr. Cecil Hartley, who was born in Back Harry Street in Barrowford ( which makes him a Barrowforder).
Mr Hartley was born in the year 1917. He is in good health and lives in Langley in British Columbia.
The grave on the left contains the remains of a prominent Cotton Manufacturer who started his working life as a handloom weaver in the early 19th Century, and went on to become a leading citizen and innovator in the Industrial Revolution.
Note his proximity to the ruins of the Church he loved, which is a vault, and contains quite a few members of his family.
IN MEMORY
of
RICHARD BERRY
of BARROWFORD
who departed this
Life, NOVEMBER 17th
1857, Aged 66 years.
Also of NANNY his
Wife, who departed
this life February
17th, 1857 Aged 65
Years.
Also of JAMES, their
Son, who departed this
life June 10th 1852
Aged 30 years.
(Verbatim from Gravestone)
The pictures above illustrate the great leap forward in the manufacture of textiles. From being a cottage-industry from time immemorial, it started a revolution that was to change the lives of whole populations. Before the inventions of the Spinning Jenny machine and the Spinning Mule (bottom picture), the industry was very 'labour intensive'.
One handloom weaver needed the work of six home-spinners to keep pace. After the new inventions described, events moved forward by leaps and bounds, the Spinning Jenny could produce spun yarn up to 20 times more quickly than one home-spinner, and this created a problem : there was now a mountain of yarn, and this created a shortage of weavers. And so the next logical step was to invent the Power- loom, now this as it's name implies- needed power to run, and to get 'power' you needed water, and so, that is how most cotton factories came to be built besides rivers and streams where water-wheels could be built. Soon after this revolution, steam engines were invented.
The Spinning Mule frame was invented by Samuel Crompton in 1779 and is such a wonderful invention, that it is even used to this present day with up-to-date variations of it.
Spinning was a very skilled occupation.
Hargreaves' Spinning Jenny
Original boilerhouse of Berry's mill, is now an Electro-Plating Company.
Photo taken in a corner of Berry's mill showing towelling looms. The worker in the centre is a weaver holding a shuttle, the other two workmen
are tacklers (loom-mechanics). c.1930
(St. Thomas' churchyard)
COLLEEN AND HER FATHER. CHRISTMAS 2001.
The picture above shows the completed shopping precinct and apartment flats at the bottom of Harry Street on the site of Berry's no1 shed.
