Ancoats in Manchester city centre was recently dubbed one of the hippest places in the world to live, but it hasn’t always been that way. Here, curator Katie Belshaw looks at the area’s industrial past; you know, before it was cool…
Katie Belshaw is Curator of Industrial Heritage here at the Science and Industry Museum. She looks after the museum’s industry collections and is working on the development of a new gallery about Manchester’s growth into the world’s first modern, industrial city.
One of the most poignant objects to be added in to the textiles gallery is a tiny pair of leather children’s clogs dating from around 1870.
As cotton spinning returns to the region, here at the Museum of Science and Industry we are gearing up to re-tell the astonishing story of Manchester’s growth into the world’s first modern industrial city.