Renowned documentary photographer Daniel Meadows recreates lost early work in a new exhibition at Four Corners.

Free admission | Open Wednesday - Saturday 11.00am - 6.00pm 

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In 1975 Daniel Meadows began a two-year post as photographer-in-residence to the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire. Here, he found himself drawn to Bancroft Shed, the last remaining steam powered cotton weaving mill in the district.

Against the backdrop of a declining industrial landscape, Daniel began documenting the life of the mill and speaking to the people who worked there. From retired weaver Bessie Dickinson, to engineer Stanley Graham, flue cleaner Charlie Sutton and steeplejack Peter Tatham, he created a remarkable portrait of Bancroft Shed’s workers and their disappearing trades.

Shuttles, Steam and Soot was first exhibited in 1978, as part of the Half Moon Photography Workshop’s radical programme of affordable, portable, plastic-encapsulated touring shows. Sent from galleries to community centres, from the Shetland Islands to Germany, the exhibition was eventually lost.

Fifty years on, Daniel has been working with Four Corners to recreate the original touring exhibition. A rarely seen body of work by a leading figure in British documentary photography, we are thrilled to bring Shuttles, Steam and Soot to new audiences. It is made possible with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

After its debut at Four Corners, Shuttles, Steam and Soot will return to Lancashire where it will be displayed at sites across the district organised by Mid Pennine Arts, to include the Bancroft Mill Engine Museum. It will remain available to hire as a Four Corners touring exhibition.

Daniel Meadows says: "In the time of Johnny Rotten, James Nutter & Sons at Bancroft was like something out of Dickens.  Vaporised oil hung in the air like incense.  It was a place of unholy clatter with a language all its own: slasher sizing machines, flying mice, left-hand frogs.  And busy women in dusty alleys who heard you with their eyes and talked back with their hands.  How could I not be entranced?"

Interested in hiring this touring exhibition? Get in touch. 

Photo above: Disused city incinerator chimney, Salford. September 1976
150 feet up, atop of the stack and shortly after starting the demolition process, steeplejack Peter Tatham, poses for his portrait.

ABOUT DANIEL MEADOWS 

Photographer, documentarist and digital storyteller Daniel Meadows (b. 1952) has spent a lifetime recording British society, working in a collaborative way to capture extraordinary aspects of ordinary life through pictures, audio recordings and short movies.

He is probably best known for his 1973-74 journey around England in the Free Photographic Omnibus, when he travelled 10,000 miles in a converted double-decker making portraits in 'free studio' sessions on the streets of 22 different British towns and cities. Also his digital storytelling work, which the BBC developed as Capture Wales for which he was creative director (2001-06), won a BAFTA Cymru in 2002.

His work has been exhibited with solo shows at the Institute of Contemporary Arts London (1975), The Photographers' Gallery (1987) and a touring retrospective from the National Science and Media Museum (2011).  Group shows include Tate Britain (2007) and Hayward Gallery Touring (2008). His work has been widely published, at home and abroad. His books in print include: Book of the Road (Bluecoat Press 2023) and Now and Then: England 1970-2015 (Bodleian Library 2019) as well as a number of Café Royal Book zines.

danielmeadows.co.uk

PARTNERS 

Thanks to the generous support of Mid Pennine Arts and Super Slow Way, Shuttles, Steam and Soot will continue its tour back to Lancashire over the next 18 months.

The National Lottery Heritage Fund
This exhibition has been made possible through a National Lottery Heritage Fund project, which is helping build Four Corners’ archive collection and opening up its history to new audiences. 

Spectrum Photographic
Four Corners is grateful to the expert team at Spectrum Photographic who have created the replica exhibition, which is based on the Half Moon Photography Workshop’s original laminated touring show.

The Bodleian Libraries
The Daniel Meadows archive, his life's work including all the work done for Shuttles, Steam and Soot, was acquired by the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford in 2019. Four Corners is indebted to The Bodleian for its contribution to the making of this exhibition, especially by providing high resolution scans of Daniel's negatives.