Workforce Leaving Salt's Works in Saltaire (1900)

Mill workers swarm into the July sunshine to enjoy a well-earned lunch break.

The cameramen evidently positioned themselves right up the hill to gain a good vantage point from which to capture these workers as they stream out of Salt’s Works. The unusually high camera angle distinguishes this film from other Mitchell & Kenyon ‘factory gate’ films and allows a good view of the mill's attractive surroundings, and the diverse headwear of these Victorian workers.

This film was shot on 24 July 1900 and ubiquitous advertising in the form of posters and newspaper inserts would have encouraged locals to come and see themselves and their friends and family when the film was screened a few days later at the annual Shipley Feast.