Burnley is remarkable for the recent increase of cotton manufacturing within its borough, and has a most extensive trade in Burnley printers and shirtings, with a few heavy twills—ranking second to Blackburn in quantity produced.
Accrington, Harwood and district have a plain trade, but in yarns the goods are of a much finer character than other plain districts. A large business is done in the better classes of printers for the supply of the local print and dyeworks.
The spinning of medium fine yarns, 40/200’s, from Egyptian cotton, seems to be centred in Bolton, as is also the manufacture of heavy fancy goods, especially Alhambra, Marseilles, and other counterpanes and towels, with some finer fancies—leno, damasks, and velvets; although many mills are to be found engaged in Blackburn goods.
Haslingden, Bacup, Rawtenstall, and many smaller districts in East Lancashire are engaged on manufactures of coarse and heavily-sized goods, shirtings, T-cloths, Wigans, and domestics.
Manchester, while being pre-eminently the English market of the manufactured cotton goods, is also known as the locality where the finest yarns known to commerce are spun—i.e., yarns from Egypt, and Sea Island cottons, 80/200’s in twists, and 80/350’s in weft. The finer numbers, however, are not used for the ordinary purposes of manufacturing, their consumption being divided between the lace curtain manufactories of Nottingham and the great sewing thread factories. The weaving trade of Manchester consists of checks, ginghams, Harvard and Oxford shirtings.
Oldham is, it is needless to state, the spinning town. Here the coarsest yarns, 4/24’s, made out of the waste from finer mills, have their spinning centre, and here the spinning of medium yarns from American cotton has made the name of the town familiar wherever English cotton yarn is known.
Rochdale depends mainly on the coarse trade, 12/24 warps (water T) made from Indian cotton, together with some mule spinning up to 30/40’s. The weaving of the heaviest cotton goods from waste, twills, sheets, T-cloths, velveteens, fustian and cords, is here carried on.
Mossley, 30/50’s, warp yarn; Shaw Lees, Royton, Dukinfield, Ashton, Heywood and Hyde, may be placed in the same category as Oldham, minus the waste trade.
Stalybridge spins 30/150’s.
Stockport has good trade in spinning, as high as 150’s gassed and doubled yarns with varied weaving, including the well-known Turkish towels.