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Workers Leaving Craven Ironworks, Ordsall Lane, Salford (1901)
Workers emerge from a huge ironworks in Edwardian Salford with some relief on a hot and sunny day.
Overview
As the huge wooden door opens, the first workers emerging clearly can't wait to get away. But it's soon clear why: hundreds if not thousands of men follow behind them, so a place at the front of the queue must have been greatly prized. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of ironwork at the time, the employees are all male. The few children appear to be opportunistic newspaper sellers.
The company based at Craven Iron Works at the time was Gresham and Craven, which manufactured sewing machines, a patent woven wire mattress, and various train components (steam boilers and vacuum brakes). Co-founder Thomas Craven was clearly a railway enthusiast, as he was also a director of Cambrian Railways.
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