The Cotton Industry in Whittle-le-Woods
By the end of the 19 th century, three quarters of the world’s cotton textiles were being produced in Lancashire. The majority of those textiles were manufactured in the south-east corner of Lancashire, in a triangle roughly bounded by Manchester, Preston and Burnley. There were several reasons why this little area became so dominant. It had easy access to the port of Liverpool, where most raw cotton was imported from North America. It had a moist, cool climate which was ideal for working cotton. There were fast-flowing streams and rivers that in the early days powered waterwheels and plentiful supplies of coal that later fuelled the ubiquitous factory steam engines. Perhaps most importantly, there was a long history of textile production in the area. The predominant form of agriculture was pastoral, which was not labour intensive. Farming families had the time and motivation to boost their income by making cloth from wool, linen and fustian (which had linen warp and cotton weft). T