the Bradford industrial museum more side
road in Eccles Oh is a great place to
visit in its own right but it's also a
goldmine for information and reference
material which I can use in the salt
revolution production the Mel was
originally built by John Moore in 1875
for worsted spinning now it did change
ownership over the years but in 1970 it
was bought by Bradford Council from WJ
Whitehead who then opened it as a museum
in December of 1974 as you know by now I
enjoy creating 3d CGI models of places
of interest and of course the industrial
museum is a good candidate for this
attention so why don't we use the 3d
model to familiarize ourself with the
site
on entering the site you'll come across
a building which used to be the
cafeteria
unfortunately the cafe is closed but the
building is now used as an exhibition
area on the left is gay thorn roar a row
of original Victorian back-to-back
houses which were purchased back in 1987
then carefully dismantled and faithfully
rebuilt here at the Museum welcome back
to those in a bit the mill managers
house is one building which can be
easily overlooked having said that it's
not always open now I find that a little
bit strange because this house I would
class as a real jewel because it offers
a great insight to middle-class life
during the Victorian and Edwardian
periods this building used to be the
host Emporium which stabled Darcy and
Murdoch the horses at work now these two
horses were full of character and a
great attraction to visitors and
children but in 2012 despite public
outcry and appeals they were axed by
Bradford Metropolitan Council today this
building houses a few stationary
horse-drawn carriages on a collection of
Oz Alice's and brasses
the main entrance to the museum is
directly opposite the form a horse
Emporium however another place which can
be easily overlooked is a blacksmith
shop the museum covers four basic areas
of interest textile and weaving motive
power transport and printing
upon entering the main building of the
museum we may catch a glimpse of the
bust of a very familiar person the
purpose of my visit to the museum is of
course to obtain some video reference
material for the main salt Revolution
production now over the decades I have
been a regular visitor so I already know
what to expect however it is fair to say
that during these tough financially
restrictive times for much of the time
during opening hours the museum's
exhibits stand idle and silent and a
primary source of information is via the
looped audio-visual presentations but
just look how the place seems to burst
into life when the machines are switched
on for those brief 30 minute generations
the museum is also home to some really
fine examples of Jarrett motor vehicles
Chow it's once based at idle in Bradford
manufactured motorcycles light cars and
commercial vehicles from between 1906 to
1954 however there is one exhibit here
with which I share history during her
working life Nellie is a zero for zero
saddle tank industrial steam locomotive
she was built in 1922 by hood Sewell
Clark of Leeds now as a young lad back
in the late 1960s he had more often than
not find me plain down at the Leeds and
Liverpool canal between a plebeian
Shipley and it's along that stretch of
canal that you would have come across
the actual sewage works well actually
you'd have smelt it long before you came
across it anyway it's here where Nellie
and her sister Engine Elizabeth spent
their entire working lives and there's
no points for guessing who often got to
travel on Nellie's footplate during her
latter working years
I wouldn't dream of spoiling your visit
to the museum by showing you all of its
exhibits so why don't we pop back
outside and take a brief tantalizing
look of the other attractions Moorside
house was first occupied by the mills
first owner John Moore and he lived
there with his family until 1887 today
when you walk through its front door it
really is like stepping back 130 years
in time it can be a little unnerving
because it really does feel as though
the family still resides and in fact
there have been some visitors who've
been quite surprised by the woman who
stands quietly in a children's nursery
Ghaith on Raw was an actual rule of
nineteenth-century back-to-back houses
once known as gate on Street in gray
Orton Bradford in 1986 a little over 100
years after they were first built they
were purchased carefully dismantled then
faithfully rebuilt on the site of the
industrial museum recently volunteers
spent six years redecorating the houses
to reflect periods of the 1870s 1940s
and the 1970s was more members of the
public donated many items connected with
those periods
another part of the museum which can be
easily overlooked is the blacksmith or
farriers workshop now I think I'm right
in saying that it has been a few years
since this Forge was struck however I do
have memories of when it was used to
shoe the horses at work and it was
whilst I was in here that I thought my
mind was beginning to play tricks on me
because I began to hear the distinctive
sound of hammer against steel on anvil
well after quickly affirming that I
wasn't going potty and being a bit of an
Aussie sore so I went in search of where
the sound was coming from and that's
when I came across in Hogg a retired
blacksmith and volunteer at the Museum
in doesn't do demonstrations he's not
what you would call front-of-house he's
just one of those people who freely
gives of his time and skills to make our
visit to the museum that much richer and
informed I spent about an hour watching
in at work of the forge we chatted and I
could see the love and passion he asked
for his craft and of the commitment he
has made to the museum not everything is
about money of a cynical what's in it
for me I know that the museum staff and
volunteers have been set up polishing a
relentless challenge I also know they
meet that challenge every single day on
our behalf
well that almost concludes my research
visit to the Bradford industrial museum
I hope you've enjoyed it however I would
like to end on a note of poignancy it's
January the year is 2014 and in a few
months time we shall be commemorating
the 100th anniversary of the start of
the Great War the Mel's clock tower
which can be seen for miles around
was built specifically as a memorial to
those who fell during the great war of
1914 to 1918