archaeologytea

2026 marks the hundreth annivesray of two things I hold in great affection – my mother (who’s one hundred in November), and the City of Salford (where I worked at the University for over a decade, and where I began my professional archaeology career). Indeed, today, 21st April, marks the 100th anniversary of the granting of city status to Salford. The Greater Manchest...

I’m currently doing research for a new book on the indsutrial heritage of Manchester, so any trip into the city centre gives an opportunity for some fieldwork, hunting for the surviving buildigns and structures of the city’s industrial heritager, from the 18th to the 20th century. Janaury 2026 has privided several such opportuntiies throgh two week sof Jury Sevice. Th...

One of my favourite industrial museums is Queen Street Mill in Burnley, Lancashire. This Grade I listed working steam-powered weaving factory, the only one of its type still working in Europe, is set amongst terraced streets that climb the hillside of Harle Syke. Built by the Queen Street Mill Manufacturing Company in 1895, the site is dominated by its tall chimney an...