Oswaldtwistle
#manchestertrips
Oswaldtwistle is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Manchester, England, 3 miles (5 km) southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning jenny.
The cotton weaving industry in the town had humble beginnings in single roomed weavers’ cottages where, more than 300 years ago, local weavers would spin yarn and weave calico cloth from raw cotton sold to them by a local farmer. Then in 1764, James Hargreaves triggered the start of the Industrial Revolution by inventing the Spinning Jenny. This escalated the cotton industry into vast productivity as the Spinning Jenny could now do the job of 8 spinners in keeping one weaver supplied with yarn. By the early 1800’s, hundreds of workers would stream through the doors of Moscow Mill into the clattering atmosphere of what is now The Weavers Court. Weaving was carried out continuously at Moscow Mill for more than 150 years until the early 1990’s when the globalisation of manufacturing caused the last weaving shed to close and Oswaldtwistle Mills to be born as one of the first Mill Shopping Villages in Lancashire.