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Workforce Leaving Smith & Coventry Works, Ordsall Lane, Salford (c.1901)

Workforce Leaving Smith & Coventry Works, Ordsall Lane, Salford (c.1901)

Men and lads spill out at the end of their shift at a Lancashire iron works.

While the men rush out to get home after a hard day's labour, boys stop and show off for the camera, despite getting in the way of their elders. Soon the wonder of the camera attracts a larger audience - probably at the invitation of one of Mitchell and Kenyon's showman partners. Some of the men, and a passing young girl, join the throng. Close by, another young lad eagerly sells newspapers.

Smith and Coventry of Gresley, established at Ordsall Lane in 1859, manufactured machine tools. The company later moved to new premises in Timperley, Manchester, and was taken over by John Hetherington and Sons in 1929.

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From the collection

Factory Gates

In 1895, at the very dawn of cinema, Louis and Auguste Lumière turned their camera on workers at their Lyon factory. By 1900, Blackburn-based Mitchell & Kenyon, among others, had turned that subject into a genre - even a business model.

They visited scores of workplaces - manufacturers, textile mills, steel plants, fisheries, dockyards - in the north west and far beyond, capturing as many workers' faces as they could on screen to lure them to their screenings. Though never meant to last, these films now stand as an astonishing and often moving record of their times.

99 videos in this collection

An astonishingly crowded Victorian street reveals the vast scale of Tyneside manufacturing.
1

20,000 Employees Entering Lord Armstrong's Elswick Works (1900)

  • Elswick
  • 1900-11
Bicycles and broomsticks at the ready as workersfinish shift at a marine engineering works in Victorian Hull.
2

Amos & Smith Boiler Works, Hull (1900)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1900
Victorian Manchester mill workers enjoy the novelty of a moving picture camera.
3

Co-operative Wholesale Society Clothing Factory in Manchester (c.1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
Worshippers in their Sunday best file out of the Church.
4

Congregation Leaving St Mary's Church, Dumfries (c.1901)

  • Dumfries
  • 1901
A well-dressed church congregation gathers on the elegant portico.
5

Congregation Leaving St Mary's Dominican Church in Cork (1902)

  • 1902
Well-to-do of Cork worshippers leaving St Patrick's Church.
6

Congregation Leaving St Patrick's Church in Cork (1902)

  • 1900
A view of Mansfield's Bridge Street, as worshippers emerge from chapel.
7

Congregation Leaving Wesleyan Chapel in Mansfield (c.1901)

  • Mansfield
  • 1901
Staffordshire parishioners stream home after a service.
8

Congregation at Hanley Old Church (c.1901)

  • Hanley
  • 1901
Preston's great and good gather outside the magnificent St. John's church.
9

Congregation at Preston Parish Church (c.1901)

  • Preston
  • 1901
Grimy miners head home at the end of their shift in the days before pithead baths.
10

Creswell and Langwith Miners, Mansfield (1900)

  • Mansfield
  • 1900
Bradford boys wait eagerly for the picture show at the famous St George's Hall.
11

Crowd Entering St George's Hall, Bradford (1901)

  • Saint George's Hall
  • 1901
Bustling scenes in Edwardian Lancashire, outside the mill gates and on the street.
12

Darwen Factory Gate (1901)

  • Darwen
  • 1901
Young lads are out in force on the crowded streets in Edwardian Lancashire.
13

Darwen Street Scenes (1901)

  • Darwen
  • 1901
An Edwardian Leeds crowd enjoys a spectacle of wanton destruction.
14

Demolition of a Mill Chimney in Leeds (1901)

  • Leeds
  • 1901
Rare film of Manningham FC's days as a rugby club, in a hard-fought contest at Dewsbury's Crown Flatt ground.
15

Dewsbury v Manningham (1901)

  • Dewsbury
  • 1901-10-19
Edwardian textile workers leave a Dundee mill.
16

Employees Leaving Baxter's Jute Works, Dundee (1901)

  • Dundee
  • 1901
Workers are marshalled past the gate of one of Yorkshire's biggest steel firms.
17

Employees Leaving Brown's Atlas Works, Sheffield (1901)

  • Sheffield
  • 1901
This Manchester 'factory gate' film has one mysterious addition...
18

Employees Leaving Crossley's Works, Openshaw (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
A beautifully composed film of Edwardian factory workers as they rush for home.
19

Employees Leaving Fowler's Ironworks, Leeds (1901)

  • Leeds
  • 1901
An all-male Edwardian crowd is filmed leaving work in the north western town.
20

Employees Leaving Furness Railway Works, Barrow (1901)

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1901
Edwardian workers file out of a naval shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness.
21

Employees Leaving Messrs Vickers, Sons & Maxim in Barrow (1901)

  • Barrow-In-Furness
  • 1901
A tide of flat-capped rail factory workers is ushered past the camera after a day's work.
22

Employees Leaving North Eastern Engine Works, Gateshead (1901)

  • Gateshead
  • 1901-02-27
Exuberant scenes of engineers and machinists at the famous Cornwall works near Birmingham.
23

Employees Leaving Tangyes Engineering Works, Smethwick (1901)

  • Birmingham
  • 1901
A drizzly street scene outside one of south Yorkshire's major employers.
24

Employees Leaving Vickers, Sons & Maxim Works, Sheffield (1901)

  • Sheffield
  • 1901
Lancastrian workers spill out of a huge textile factory. 
25

Employees Leaving Williamson's Factory, Lancaster (1901)

  • Lancaster
  • 1901
Victorian ironworkers emerge from the grand entrance of a long-established South Yorkshire firm.
26

Employees Leaving Yates, Haywood & Co. Foundry, Rotherham (1900)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
Could the newspaper boy tell us where this factory was?
27

Employees Leaving a Factory (c.1901)

  • 1901
Hoards of workers funnel through the great arched entrance to Robey's works in Lincoln.
28

Employees at Robey's Works, Lincoln (1900)

  • Lincoln
  • 1900
Ironfounders and engineers head home after morning shift at Pagefield Works.
29

Employees at Walker Engineering Works, Wigan (1900)

  • Wigan
  • 1900
Home time for grateful workers in a Cheshire factory.
30

Employees at White Cross & Co. Ltd Wire Works, Warrington (1900)

  • Warrington
  • 1900
Tired Edwardian workers finish their shift at a Kingston-Upon-Hull paint factory.
31

Employees of Blundell's Paint Works, Hull (1901)

  • Kingston upon Hull
  • 1901
Workers co-operate with the camera at a Manchester print factory.
32

Employees of Co-Operative Wholesale Society Printing Works, Longsight, Manchester (1901)

  • Longsight
  • 1901
Workers surge through the great gates of a Victorianengineering works.
33

Employees of Galloways Ltd. Boiler Works, Hyde Road, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
The lasses, and a few lads, surge out of a Victorian cotton mill after their shift.
34

Employees of J & E Waters, Talbot Mills, Ellesmere St., Manchester (1900)

  • Ellesmere St, Manchester
  • 1900
It's home time for men and women at an imposing but unidentified workplace - or two?
35

Exit of Clerical and Factory Workers (c.1901)

  • 1900
Victorian industrial workers leave their factory after a demanding day.
36

Factory Exit in Lincoln (1900)

  • Lincoln
  • 1900
The largely female workforce of an Edwardian Lancashire factory parades past the camera.
37

Factory Exit in Wigan (1901)

  • Wigan
  • 1901
Scenes from the summer final between the Leander and Berlin rowing clubs.
38

Final of International Cup at Cork Regatta (1902)

  • 1900
Destroyers from the Edwardian Royal Navy filmed from a ship in the Tyne.
39

Fleet in the Tyne (1901)

  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • 1901
Mourners process through the wintry streets of Edinburgh.
40

Funeral Procession in Edinburgh (1901)

  • Edinburgh
  • 1901
Countless men, women and children spill out on to the screen from "The Plant" at the heart of the Yorkshire railway town.
41

Great Northern Railway Works at Doncaster (1901)

  • Doncaster
  • 1900
A rugby league game shows the sport in transition, on a bitterly cold day.
42

Halifax v Salford (1901)

  • Halifax
  • 1901-04-23
The dinner time hustle and bustle of a Salford street at the dawn of the 20th century.
43

Howarth's Egerton Mill, Ordsall Lane, Salford (1900)

  • Ordsall Lane, Salford
  • 1900
Workers of all ages depart Oldroyd's wool mill – and the filmmakers' camera is a subject of curiosity.
44

Mill Workers Leaving Oldroyd & Sons Mill, Dewsbury (1900)

  • Dewsbury
  • 1900
Victorian cotton workers leave for their lunch break.
45

Millhands of Cheetham's Bankwood Mills, Stalybridge (1900)

  • Stalybridge
  • 1900
A black miner makes an intriguing addition to an already captivating film of coal workers up from their pit.
46

Miners Leaving Pendlebury Colliery (1901)

  • Pendlebury
  • 1901
Shift change at Edwardian Britain's most important glassmakers, at the heart of the Merseyside town.
47

Operatives Leaving Messrs Pilkington Bros. Works, St Helens (1901)

  • St Helens
  • 1901
A glimpse of early filmmaking showmanship as James Kenyon marshals Lancashire textile workers.
48

Operatives of Acme Spinning Company, Pendlebury (1901)

  • Pendlebury
  • 1901
Edwardian miners are filmed leaving their Lancashire pit at the shift's end.
49

Workers at St George's Colliery, Tyldesley (1901)

  • Tyldesley
  • 1901
An assortment of Edwardian workers, including many mischievous children who are far from camera-shy.
50

Textile Workers Leaving a Factory (c.1901)

  • 1901
Some infectious youthful high spirits outside an engineering factory in Victorian Manchester.
51

Workers Brooks and Doxey, West Gorton Works, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
The all-male workforce heads home from a factory in Victorian Birmingham.
52

Workers Leaving Bamford's Works, Moseley (1900)

  • Moseley
  • 1900
Very early footage of a vast industrial site in Ripley, and the folk who manned the machines.
53

Workers Leaving Butterley Ironworks, Ripley (1900)

  • Ripley
  • 1900
Workers emerge from a huge ironworks in Edwardian Salford with some relief on a hot and sunny day.
54

Workers Leaving Craven Ironworks, Ordsall Lane, Salford (1901)

  • Ordsall Lane, Salford
  • 1901
Widnes workers take a well-earned dinner break.
55

Workers Leaving Gossage's Soap Works, Widnes (1901)

  • Widnes
  • 1901
Employees of a South Yorkshire brassworks walk or cycle past the camera.
56

Workers Leaving Guest and Chrimes Brassworks, Rotherham (1901)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
Hungry and cold, Lancashire cotton workers trek home through the snow at dinner time.
57

Workers Leaving Haslam's Ltd., Colne (1900)

  • Colne
  • 1900
Filmed at a production plant for Edwardian ale, thisunique footage carries a powerful scent of malt and hops.
58

Workers Leaving Nuttall's Brewery, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
An orderly exit from one of the biggest hat factories in Edwardian Stockport.
59

Workers Leaving T & W Lees of Stockport (1901)

  • Stockport
  • 1901
An unidentified factory is the setting for some lively Victorian characters.
60

Workers Leaving a Factory (1900)

  • 1900
Workers in Edwardian Lancashire become ghostly thanks to an odd camera effect.
61

Workers Leaving a Factory in Droylsden (1901)

  • Droylsden
  • 1901
Another shift ends in Victorian Lancashire, while children play in the street.
62

Workers Leaving a Factory in Leyland (c.1900)

  • Leyland
  • 1900
Operatives heading out of Berry's Blacking Works.
63

Workers at Berry's Blacking Works, Manchester (1901)

  • Manchester
  • 1901
Athletic young Lancashire cotton weavers show off outside their Victorian mill.
64

Workers at Bradley Shed, Nelson, Lancashire (1900)

  • Nelson
  • 1900
Royal Warrant biscuit-makers released after their shift.
65

Workers at Carr's Biscuit Works, Carlisle (1901)

  • Carlisle
  • 1901
A rare snapshot of the daily routine of the workers of a Lancashire textile mill.
66

Workers at Dickens & Heywood, Middleton (1900)

  • Middleton
  • 1900
Spinners and weavers jostle through the exit of one of Stockport's largest textile mills.
67

Workers at India Mills, Stockport (1900)

  • Stockport
  • 1900
Victorian ironworkers leave their Derbyshire factory in carefully stage-managed fashion.
68

Workers at Jesse Crossley & Sons Ironworks, Ripley (1900)

  • Ripley
  • 1900
A rich impression of a vibrant Midlands works, in an unusually elaborate 'factory gate' film.
69

Workers at Kynoch Ltd Lion Works, Birmingham (1901)

  • Birmingham
  • 1901
Weary glassmakers head home after morning shift.
70

Workers at Pilkington Glass Works, St Helens (1900)

  • St Helens
  • 1900
Where was this Edwardian paper works?
71

Workers at Ross & Hardy Paper Works (1901)

  • 1901
Lively Lancashire millworkers, including young boys and girls, at themill gates.
72

Workers at Spring Bank Mill, Nelson (1900)

  • Nelson
  • 1900
A Mitchell and Kenyon film of workers in their home town, intriguing despite (or because of) the poor lighting conditions.
73

Workers at Yates's Foundry, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
A flood of Lancashire cotton workers and their children at the end of another shift.
74

Workforce Leaving Alfred Butterworth and Sons, Glebe Mills, Hollinwood (1901)

  • Hollinwood
  • 1901
Victorian women workers (and a few men) hasten through the gates of the hosiery works after their shift.
75

Workforce Leaving Cartwright & Warner Hosiery Works, Loughborough (1900)

  • Loughborough
  • 1900
Edwardian laceworkers hasten home at dinner time.
76

Workpeople and Girls on Stoney Street, Nottingham (1900)

  • Nottingham
  • 1900
Men and lads spill out at the end of their shift at a Lancashire iron works.
77

Workforce Leaving Smith & Coventry Works, Ordsall Lane, Salford (c.1901)

  • Salford
  • 1901
Victorian factory workers head for home, dodging puddles along the way.
78

Workforce Leaving a Factory in the North of England (c.1900)

  • 1900
A vibrant impression of dinner hour at an Edwardian cotton mill.
79

Workforce at Horrocks Miller & Co. Preston (c.1901)

  • Preston
  • 1901
A well-staged exit of workers from a Leicestershire manufacturer for the transport industry.
80

Workforce of Brush Electric Co. Falcon Works, Loughborough (1900)

  • Loughborough
  • 1900
An early film showing men and boys leaving a Nottinghamshire metals factory.
81

Workforce at Steel & Garland Priory Foundry, Worksop (1900)

  • Worksop
  • 1900
Lancashire mill-workers have fun in front of the camera.
82

Workforce of Haslam's Ltd., Colne (1900)

  • Colne
  • 1900
Workers of all ages emergefrom a Salford mill.
83

Workforce of Howarth's Ordsall Mill, Salford (1900)

  • Salford
  • 1900
Mill workers swarm into the July sunshine to enjoy a well-earned lunch break.
84

Workforce Leaving Salt's Works in Saltaire (1900)

  • Salts Mill, Saltaire
  • 1900
It's all sunshine and smiles for the Lincolnshire agricultural equipment makers at home time.
85

Workforce at Hornsby and Sons of Grantham (1900)

  • Grantham
  • 1900
Eager youngsters burst out of the gates of a Victorian cotton mill.
86

Workforce of Ormerod's Mill, Great Moor Street, Bolton (1900)

  • Great Moor St, Bolton
  • 1900
Edwardian workers react to the camera at one of Rotherham's major employers.
87

Workforce of Parkgate Iron and Steel Co., Rotherham (1901)

  • Rotherham
  • 1901
A surprisingly calm 'factory gate' film, shot outside a factory in the Ayrshire town, famous for its wooden furniture making.
88

Workforce of Pollock's Caledonian Cabinet Works, Beith (1901)

  • Beith
  • 1901
Unruly shipworkers defy direction from Mitchell and Kenyon's showmen partners.
89

Workforce of Scott & Co. Shipyard, Greenock (1901)

  • Greenock
  • 1901
Men and boys (and one woman) outside an Edwardian engineering factory.
90

Workmen Leaving Peacock's Works at Meal Time, Gorton, Manchester (1900)

  • Manchester
  • 1900
A visually memorable film of staff exiting a turn-of-the-century Lancashire machine factory.
91

Workmen Leaving Platt's Works, Oldham (1900)

  • Oldham
  • 1900
The hustle and bustle of Edwardian lace-workers heading home after a morning shift.
92

Workpeople and Girls Leaving Thos. Adams Factory, Nottingham (1900)

  • Nottingham
  • 1900
Victorian textile workers at a mill near Manchester
93

Workpeople from Messrs Mayall's Mills Emerging on Queen Street, Mossley (1900)

  • Mossley
  • 1900
Dinner time at a textile mill in Victorian Lancashire.
94

Workpeople Leaving Dugdale's Paradise Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Lancashire cotton workers hurry to lunch aftermorning shift.
95

Workpeople Leaving Fish's Waterfall Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Employees exit a Lancashire works on a drizzly day.
96

Workpeople Leaving For Dinner, Robinson's Iron Foundry, Rochdale (1901)

  • Rochdale
  • 1901
Male and female millworkers - young and old - spill out after their shift.
97

Workpeople Leaving Hornby's Brookhouse Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Cheery child workers, averaging around 10 years old, leave the cotton mill after a shift.
98

Workpeople Leaving Ordnance Mill, Blackburn (1900)

  • Blackburn
  • 1900
Millworkers bustle home, except for youngsters who are transfixed by the camera.
99

Workpeople Leaving Ryland's Mill, Gorton, Manchester (1900)

  • Gorton
  • 1900
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