A Simpson & Godlee Limited branded folder containing photographic prints and one photographic transparency showing the three manufacturing sites of Simpson & Godlee at Dean’s Mill Printing Company, Swinton, Know Mill Printing Company, Entwistle, and Bevis Green Works, Walmersley, and the office and warehouse at 8 Minshull Street, Manchester. The images include exterior and aerial photographs of the sites and photographs of employees outside the sites, as well as interior photographs of employees at work and finished textile products. c 1890-c 1950.

These images of the Simpson & Godlee cotton manufacturing and calico printing company are a visual record of a large textile manufacturing and calico printing business based in the Manchester city region. The scale of the company can be seen through the photographs of the three mills and the Manchester warehouse and offices. Copies of a Simpson and Godlee promotional album of photographs record the Manchester office and various manufacturing processes undertaken by the company. The archive includes images that are a visual record of the process of roller engraving and etching, both by machine and by hand, and provide context to calico printing rollers in the museum’s object collection, from different manufacturers.

The photographs show how employees operated machinery and processed fabrics, as well as giving evidence of the scale of employment at Simpson and Godlee. These workplace photos show the roles of technology and engineering in shaping our past. They illustrate the use and impact of STEM developments on everyday life.