lady winders....

[dannyday5821]

I had a random memory the other day - when i was at school me and another kid wondered out into the field and found in a puddle of mud a wierd looking mechanical thing that had printed on it "lady winder" - now, being adolecent, you can imagine what we were both thinking! but now, with the net and everything, i thought id try and figure out What The Funicular it actually was!!!

alas... nothing. but this... heres the link...

http://www.thisisleic...322-detail/story.html

and heres a quote from the link...

"I was a yarn boy feeding the lady winders and knitters with bobbins of yarn"

now What The Funicular is this about?! what actually IS a lady winder?! i thought id put the question here didnt know which other topic it would fit into!

[Mosaic]

No idea - it might help if you could recall more of the scene eg was the machine resting, or rusty and broken....rough geographic location and approximate date.
Meanwhile here's a website that might help jog your memory:
http://www.internatio...uk/mills/turkey05.htm

[Quizmonster]

A winder was someone employed in a textiles factory to wind wool, lace or other threads/yarns as part of the production process. Presumably, a lady-winder was an adult female version of that.
I'm not sure why a mechanical item should have been given the name, unless it was a piece of early automation. In other words, it may simply have been given that name, as it was designed to do precisely what these women had done previously on the same lines as a "spinning Jenny".