Frequently Asked Questions about Spinning Wheels
A pirn winder (1810)
The large hand cranked wheel drives an intermediate wheel to step up the speed, which in turn drives a spindle (which shows up badly) on an upright between th large and small wheels. The girl is filling a pirn (shuttle bobbin) with silk possibly from the reel on the floor at the right side of the picture. She has a filled tray of pirns at her feet, ready for the silk weaver .
A lot of children worked long hours in the silk weaving industry at the turn of the century, but they got Sunday off to go to church and school! Boys were taught the 3 Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic), and girls were taught to read the bible (writing and arithmetic being neither necessary nor suitable subjects).
(Picture copyright of the Macclesfield Museums Trus and reproduced with their permissiont. Similar pirn winders can be seen at the Paradise Silk Mill in Macclesfield - which I highly recommended for a visit)
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