3-102-252 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Preparing for the weaving: drawing-in, 1909. 'A Record of Forty Years. Drawing-in, in the case of plain fabrics, is a simple, yet difficult, matter. Considerable nimbleness of hand is needed to place the warp threads, one after the other, through the eyes of the healds on each shaft, from the front to the back, or vice-versa. Among the Manchester firms engaged in the manufacture of woven coloured cotton fabrics, a prominent place is held by the house of Burgess, Ledward and Co., Ltd., which was founded in 1869. That is exactly forty years ago, and the direction and control of the firm is to-day still in the hands of its original founders, Mr. George Burgess, J.P., and Mr. Hugh Davenport Ledward...by enterprise and industry, they have built up a trade for their manufactures in all parts of the world, and the vitality of the firm to-day is shown by the fact that its veteran principals are now carrying out an extension of their premises. In order to cope with increasing business, and to provide permanent accommodation for departments which have so out-grown their buildings - that they have been recently removed to temporary quarters in the neighbourhood pending the completion of the enlargement.' From "Illustrated London News", 1909.