Workers' leisure time increased throughout the 19th century as successive Factory Acts were passed. The first two public parks in Manchester were opened in 1846 to 'provide pleasant places' for Sunday afternoon recreation. However workers also needed other pastimes to amuse themselves.
Click on the sections below to find details of holidays, sporting activities, music hall and theatre, literature and cartoons. You can also send a 'Spinning the Web' postcard.
Originally mills closed only on Sundays and Christmas Day; later also for annual Wakes (fairs) Week. Whit walks and day trips held during Whit Week.
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Many mills and factories had their own sports teams. Manchester United began life as a football team at the Newton Heath railway maintenance depot.
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Cheap popular forms of entertainment until moving pictures began in early 20th century. Some public houses had their own theatres. Puppet shows were also common.
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Books and newspapers freely available to all in public libraries after 1850s. Social conditions portrayed through novels and satirical verse. Writers like Elizabeth Gaskell popular.
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Widely used to show popular feeling about local and national events. Oldham cartoonist Sam Fitton published many cartoons about North West textile industry.
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Postcards, common from 1900 onwards as travel became easier and cheaper were almost all scenic until 1920/30s and the advent of saucy and cartoon postcards.
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