Did you know ...

that the first person in the world to build a textile factory was a former wigmaker?

In 1771 in the village of Cromford, not far from Nottingham, a British citizen and former wigmaker by the name of Richard Arkwright invented a machine called the water frame. He harnessed the water from the River Derwent to drive the water wheels of a spinning frame that, until then, was only operated by hand. The water frame, as it was known, was able to spin fine yarn at breathtaking speed. The site of the factory is now an Anchor Point on the European Route of Industrial Heritagqe.