Lister Comb, Black Dyke Mill, Queensbury, Bradford

Gelatine silver print entitled 'Lister Comb, Black Dyke Mill, Queensbury, Bradford' by Ian Beesley. Signed in pencil on the back. Produced for the commission `Through the Mill:, The Story of Yorkshire Wool in Photographs'.1985-1987'.

Combing is a distinct process in the making of worsted as opposed to woollen yarn. The combing machine straightens the wool, separating out the short fibres into an unwanted 'noil' and the longest fibres ('tops') into a long sliver. Here the 'nip' comb (patented by Samuel Cunliffe Lister in 1845) prepares to receive a series of card slivers.