B1-032/3

Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection.

research document

typewritten

2008

Shaw, David

Commentary by Dave Shaw on the photographs of and brochures about Salts Mill machinery from the Bowtell Collection. 'Photographs exist of some of the machinery installed in Salts Mill during its days of textile production. Several of the photos were used in two promotional brochures produced by the company, the first (in French) in 1918 (approx) under the name Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd; the second, in 1924 (approx) under the name Salts (Saltaire) Ltd. (Further commentary on the two brochures can be found overpage). Additionally, there are photos of the Mill departments following removal of machinery, presumably taken in the 1980s. The photographs were held by the late Mr Albert Bowtell, and subsequently (2007) donated by his widow Mrs J Bowtell to the Saltaire Archive. The original photos have been digitally scanned to minimise further handling and many are reproduced here for easy reference. We are anxious to document as much as we can about the type of machinery seen in the photos, its date of use, the mill department in which it was used etc etc. If you can help us to this end, please add your comments (together with your name and contact details) to the sheets accompanying the photos. The Industrial Museum has in its Reference Library a few Salts Mill brochures which are a very good source of information. Two of the brochures date from around the 1920s, one being in French, the other being in English. The French-language brochure was designed and printed by W. N. Sharpe Ltd., of Bradford and London. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Sir Titus Salt Bart Sons & Co Ltd'. Its text has mention of a Royal visit in 1918, so it dates from after that event. I currently judge it to be 1920-ish. (Also it is judged to have been produced by letterpress (indicated by the imprint on p15/16). The English language brochure was designed and printed by Percy Lund, Humphries and Company Ltd, The County Press Ltd, Bradford. The Mill's company name in the brochure is 'Salts (Saltaire) Ltd'. The brochure carries a page of photos of the company's board members of 1924, which presumably allows us to date it as being of that year. (This brochure is thought to have been produced by litho-press). Much of the text and the illustrations are common to the two publications. The French-language text is briefer than the English-language text, and the English-language brochure has more illustrations. Although most of the illustrations are common, many of those of the English-language brochure have been 'improved' — eg blemishes in photos have been removed; indistinct features have been sharpened by hand etc. Even the Belwarp and alpaca trademarks of the two publications are not quite identical. An illustration of the Mill, viewed from the SW, is common to both brochures but with modifications having been made in the later one — for example, cars have replaced horse-drawn carts seen in the other (earlier) brochure. What is also of interest is that several — perhaps the majority — of the photos are the same as those in Mr Bowtell's collection, including the ones which have been touched up. As we investigate the various photos in more detail, the two brochures will help date the textile machinery that features in the photos in the collection of Mr Bowtell.'

Salts Mill

Textile industry

Mill machinery and processes

Sir Titus Salt Bart. Sons & Co Limited

Salts Mill, Saltaire, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

Gift: Bowtell, Albert E