A01=Paul L. Dawson
Art Architecture & Photography
Author_Paul L. Dawson
Business
Business & Economic History
Category=KN
Category=WQH
Cultural History
Economics
Engineering & Technology
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
History
Industries
Local & Urban History
Photography
Product details
- ISBN 9781445698304
- Weight: 306g
- Dimensions: 165 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 15 Nov 2020
- Publisher: Amberley Publishing
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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Wakefield was a prosperous market town in the Middle Ages, but it was transformed by coal mining during the Industrial Revolution. Mining dominated the local economy until the last pits closed in the 1970s and 1980s.
Trade in cloth and cloth finishing were also cornerstones of Wakefield’s economy, drawing in merchants from across the north. Local families – the Milnes’s and the Naylors – dominated the trade until the economic depression of the 1820s and increasing mechanisation. Cloth production started on a small scale and many houses in the area had a weaving shed until the arrival of the first steam-powered mill in 1781 and the rapid expansion of fulling and scribbling mills in Wakefield.
Yarn spinning was more successful, and the huge Plumpton Park complex on Westgate became the largest employer in the town. Heavy industry also came to Wakefield. Steam engines were constructed at Fall Ing Foundry from 1791 and the railways became a major employer. Greens Economiser Works were a major concern until the 1960s.
The city has been transformed once more, with the major employers today being warehouse distribution bases, retail parks and shopping outlets. Wakefield at Work explores the working life of this Yorkshire city and its people, and the industries that have characterised it. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Wakefield.
Paul L. Dawson is a historian and horseman, and holds a degree of Master of Arts by research in History from the University of Leeds. He has written over 20 books ranging from equine nutrition, training of the war horse in the regency era, as well as on local history subjects concerning the city of his birth, Wakefield West Yorkshire. He is a Unitarian, and holds the post of Director of Music at Westgate Chapel, where he also is a service leader.
