Thank you for this article. Several of my female ancestors - mostly weavers - died from lung disease. I am reminded of Julie Leibrich's poem "Kissing the Shuttle".
My dad who lived in Manchester but also know Hebden Bridge well told me the ladies who kissed the shuttle also had a tendency to get cancerous cells on their lips. Ann
Fascinating stuff Dean.
Thank you for this article. Several of my female ancestors - mostly weavers - died from lung disease. I am reminded of Julie Leibrich's poem "Kissing the Shuttle".
"It might have been an aunt of mine.
Or yours. This factory girl clattering
her way through seven o'clock silence.
Clog by clog, flinting up the morning dark
down weathered streets.
Clack signalled start. Listen for the crack
of steel on stone and look for the spark.
See the bench where she watched
the shuttle fly. Warping, wefting, weaving
till the yarn ran out.
That's when the kissing began.
Mouth to teak, sucking threads from India.
Taste the fibre in the lungs. Watch romance
slip away. But feel the quality of cotton
at the other end of day."
I had heard of this particular practice but didn't realise it had persisted into the second half of thd 20th Century.
Really interesting piece. I was completely unaware of this particular danger in the mills, so very illuminating.
I visited the looms at the science museum a few months back and thoroughly recommend
My dad who lived in Manchester but also know Hebden Bridge well told me the ladies who kissed the shuttle also had a tendency to get cancerous cells on their lips. Ann