Sound recording of a) spinning jenny, and b) improved spinning jenny, a machine invented by James Hargreaves c.1764, which allows a number of ends of cotton fibres to be spun simultaneously. Recorded at Helmshore Textile Museum. 

MISCEL/1206/12

Spinning Jenny

The Greater Manchester Sound Archive is available at Manchester Central Library. The collection includes hundreds of oral histories, radio and music recordings.

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Unlocking Our Sound Heritage (UOSH) is an ambitious partnership project led by the British Library and supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to address the threat facing the UK’s sound heritage. Sounds held on physical formats risk being lost as the carriers degrade over time and the equipment to play them is no longer produced. The project aims to transform access to and preserve the nation’s sound heritage, to create sustainable centres of excellence in digital audio preservation and to involve new audiences in engaging with their audio heritage in innovative ways.

Archives+ at Manchester Central Library is the hub partner for the North West region, which covers Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The hub will digitise around 15,000 recordings on 5,000 cassette and open reels held all over the region. The British Library will archive the digital files and provide access to a proportion of them online. The project will recruit volunteers across the region who will spend time learning how to sort, catalogue and promote the region's sound heritage.

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