Mule Spinning Frames, Brackendale Spinning Co., Thackley Bradford

Gelatine silver print entitled 'Mule Spinning Frames, Brackendale Spinning Co., Thackley Bradford' by Ian Beesley. Produced for the commission `Through the Mill:, The Story of Yorkshire Wool in Photographs'.1985-1987'.

So called because of the technical 'hybrid' invented by Samuel Crompton, a Bolton weaver, in 1780 when he combined the best features of the Richard Arkwright's drawing roller with Hargreaves' spinning jenny, originally invented for cotton spinning. The mule was best suited to spinning the finer qualities of yarn and consequently taken up by the worsted side of the industry. However, in the photograph the machines are spinning woollen yarn, discernible by the tube-shaped condensers at the rear of each frame.