In our final episode, we explore the legacy of the Cotton Famine. Ruth-Anne meets Jenny Harper from the University of Reading to learn about a working-class feminist writer, Ethel Carnie Holdsworth, who carried on the political activism of the Cotton Famine poets into the 1920s. And the literary legacy continues in Lancashire today with autodidact Sid Calderbank. 

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi

Ruth-Anne travels to the Cotton Famine Road in Rochdale, one of the lasting monuments to this turbulent time in working-class history in the North-West. We speak to Alan Rawsterne from the Rooley Moor Neighbourhood Forum and playwright Mick Martin about what the Cotton Famine road symbolises for them today. 

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi 

What was daily life like for those experiencing the Cotton Famine? Joined by Charlotte Craig from the Craven Museum in Skipton, this episode explores the extraordinary diary of cotton weaver Richard Ryley to understand the impact of the American Civil War on working-class people in Lancashire.  

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi 

In the golden age of newspapers and print media, working-class poets spoke about their experiences of the Cotton Famine and expressed their political opinions. Ruth-Anne talks to Dr Alison Chapman from the University of Victoria and Dr Andrew Hobbs from UCLAN about Victorian periodicals and provincial presses in nineteenth-century England. 

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi 

Ruth-Anne sits down with Dr Onyeka Nubia from the University of Nottingham to unpick the connections between slavery and the cotton industry. We learn how the Cotton Famine intersects with questions about empire, colonialism, economics, and abolition. 

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi 

Have you ever heard of the Lancashire Cotton Famine? Presenter Ruth-Anne and Professor Simon Rennie from the University of Exter introduce this often-neglected period of the UK’s history and the incredible working-class poetry produced by those impacted by the crisis. 

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi 

Interested in Weaving History? Listen to our trailer to learn what this series has in store...

Written and presented by Ruth-Anne Walbank

Produced by Daniel Woodburn

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi