Cotton Mills: It’s No Life For A Child
Discover how dangerous life was for a child working in a Victorian cotton mill and how the growth of the cotton industry forced some families to a life of living and working on the canals.
This 2hr workshop begins with pupils studying photographs of Victorian cotton mills and discussing what they think the dangers might have been. The class will create a human weaving machine and send a child underneath!
Pupils will handle artefacts relating to cotton mills in order to gain an understanding of what working life was like. Pupils will also handle artefacts relating to canals and barges in order to gain an understanding of what life would have been like as a boat dweller, transporting cotton. Pupils will learn about the cramped conditions in a narrowboat cabin and meet the resident rat!
The workshop will focus on
- How the growth of the textile industry caused the expansion of towns.
- What the impact of the growing textile industry was upon families.
- The dangers of working in a cotton mill.
- What jobs children had to undertake.
- What life as a boat dweller was like.
This is a half day session session but can be booked with Victorian Schoolroom or Victorian Home Life for a full day Victorian experience
“Del covered a lot of topics today linked to cotton mills-some practical work, drama and handling artefacts. The children really loved the activities.”
Sue Taylor St Peter and St Pauls Primary School Bolton
“It was a fantastic experience for the children. Del is very knowledgeable and clearly very enthusiatic about the topic. The time haa flown by – a testiment to the experience the children have just had. Thank you.”
Laura Naylor Maharishi Free School Lathom
