Exhibition of cotton mills in 1970s Lancashire returns home
Fifty years on, the great documentary photographer Daniel Meadows returns to Lancashire. This facsimile exhibition recreates an original touring show from the 1970s, when these extraordinary photographs were taken, documenting working life in Queen Street Mill, Bancroft Shed in Barnoldswick and even atop a 150 foot chimney stack! Shuttles, Steam and Soot premieres at Queen Street Mill Textile Museum from 8 July 2026 before touring to other Lancashire locations. The photographer visits for an ‘in conversation’ on Saturday 18 July 2026.
Daniel Meadows is now widely recognised as a pioneer of twentieth century documentary photography. His archive is now held in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. Back in 1975, the young Daniel Meadows began two years as photographer-in residence to Pendle Borough Council, with support from Mid Pennine Arts. Here, he found himself drawn to Queen Street Mill, and especially to Bancroft Shed, the last surviving steam powered cotton weaving mill in Pendle. Daniel began documenting the life of the mills and getting to know the people who worked in them. From weaver and radical organiser Bessie Dickinson, to Bancroft Shed engineer Stanley Graham, flue cleaner Charlie Sutton and steeplejack Peter Tatham, he created a uniquely vivid portrait of Lancashire’s workers and their disappearing trades.
Shuttles, Steam and Soot was first exhibited in 1978, as part of the Half Moon Photography Workshop’s radical programme of affordable, portable, touring shows. Touring widely from galleries to community centres, from the Shetland Islands to Germany, the exhibition reached a huge audience before it was eventually lost.
Fifty years on, Daniel worked with Four Corners in London’s East End to recreate faithfully the original touring exhibition. A rarely seen body of work by a towering figure in British photography, we are thrilled to bring it, and Daniel, back to Lancashire. Shuttles, Steam and Soot will continue its journey by returning to the very locations where these unforgettable images were captured.
Shuttles, Steam and Soot will be exhibited at Queen Street Mill from Wednesday 8 July to Saturday 29 August 2026 (open Wed-Sat 12-4pm – admission to the exhibition is free, access to the wider museum is £5 per adult, under 18’s free). It will then be seen from September at the Bancroft Mill Engine Museum and further Pennine Lancashire locations.
Daniel Meadows returns to Queen Street Mill on Saturday 18 July for an ‘in conversation’ with Laurie Peake MBE, Director of British Textile Biennial. Booking details HERE. (Tickets are £5 which includes entry to wider museum and refreshments.)
On Sunday 19 July 2026 at 2pm, Daniel Meadows will also visit the last Clarion House near Roughlee. In 1976, Daniel documented the socialist rural retreat in a magazine spread for Lancashire Life, and recorded a series of extended conversations with the Clarion stalwart Stan Iverson. He will revisit those historic chats in an informal conversation with Sue Nike, Chair of Nelson ILP Land Trust which maintains Clarion House.
Shuttles, Steam and Soot in Lancashire is a Pendle Radicals tour presented by Mid Pennine Arts with support from British Textile Biennial, Queen Street Mill Textile Museum, Lancashire County Council and Nelson ILP Land Trust.
