Workforce Leaving Smith & Coventry Works, Ordsall Lane, Salford (c.1901)

Men and lads spill out at the end of their shift at a Lancashire iron works.

While the men rush out to get home after a hard day's labour, boys stop and show off for the camera, despite getting in the way of their elders. Soon the wonder of the camera attracts a larger audience - probably at the invitation of one of Mitchell and Kenyon's showman partners. Some of the men, and a passing young girl, join the throng. Close by, another young lad eagerly sells newspapers.

Smith and Coventry of Gresley, established at Ordsall Lane in 1859, manufactured machine tools. The company later moved to new premises in Timperley, Manchester, and was taken over by John Hetherington and Sons in 1929.