Feb 19, 2016
This is Alice Reddy. I photographed her in 2006 as part of my series By Water which explored the canals and water paths of the North Atlantic Ocean. This photograph was taken in Queen Street Mill in Burnley when Alice was 92. She worked in the mills around Darwen, Lancashire all her working life. Here she is demonstrating threading by ‘kissing the shuttle’.
Queens Mill is the last surviving steam powered weaving mill. It’s going to close taking with it the experience of being in this environment, the hum of the 300 looms and an understanding of history through the rattle in your bones the machines make. The shared histories of Alice and the communities of Lancashire deserve and need this museum to stay open. Save Queens Mill!