John Foster's Black Dyke Mills, Queensbury, Bradford

Gelatine silver reproduction print entitled 'John Foster's Black Dyke Mills, Queensbury, Bradford' by Ian Beesley. Produced for the commission `Through the Mill:, The Story of Yorkshire Wool in Photographs'. 1985-1987'. Titled and signed by the artist.

This large and successful firm has long held a position of supremacy in the Bradford worsted trade. It was begun in 1819 by John Foster whose family ran Cannon Mill in Great Horton, Bradford, before building their own mill on the present site in 1835. Between 1835 and 1871 this family firm won numerous medals and awards at international textile fairs and exhibitions. With Titus Salt they shared in the promotion of alpaca and the profits therefrom have been ploughed back into a vast programme of rebuilding (Victoria and Shed mills). They remain one of the front runners in the production of fine quality worsted cloth.

[Table 25: Through the Mill - The Story of Yorkshire Wool in Photographs, by Ian Beesley and Introduction by Gary Firth]