AD 1750-1900 The Industrial Age

During the 18th and 19th centuries AD, improved communications brought northern England within easier reach. The introduction of turnpike roads in the 18th century meant a three days’ journey between York and London now took just over 24 hours. The canal system transformed industry and trade. The Liverpool to Manchester canal halved the price of coal in Manchester. The coming of the railways in the 19th century opened up even wilder areas like that crossed by the Settle-Carlisle line.

Industrialisation produced the greatest change. The textile industries of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire benefited from 18th-century inventions like Hargreaves’ ‘spinning jenny’ and Crompton’s ‘mule’. Steam power in the 19th century increased productivity and the output of huge northern coalfields. The factory system led to an expansion of towns and labour, but brought terrible conditions which helped to radicalise the workforce. Liverpool was the most important Atlantic port for cotton, while Newcastle was a centre of mining, engineering and shipbuilding.

The countryside still retained areas of great beauty. The Lake District, made famous by Wordsworth and the Romantic Movement, became a national tourist area. Local pride was expressed in the great industrial cities in important civic building programmes and the establishment of new universities, museums and galleries, symphony orchestras, and newspapers like the Manchester Guardian.