WE were all thrilled when our school won a Lancashire Evening Telegraph Newspapers in Education competition to find the best school newspaper of 1997.

But the best bit was the prize of a visit to Helmshore Textile Museum by all year six pupils.

We were shown around everything in the museum and learned all about the weaving and spinning industry and why it was so important in the Lancashire area.

Many of the old machines, including a Lancashire loom and spinning mules, have been kept in good condition and we were able to see them working.

The machines are really big and very, very noisy. We saw a pair of spinning mules that were as long as the big room they were in. We were amazed to find that it took only a minute to spin three miles of cotton thread on these.

I thought that the most interesting part of the visit was when we were shown how to spin sheep's wool ourselves.

I also enjoyed going into the cellar to see the huge waterwheel that was used to power the mill before they had electricity.

This was worked by water pouring on it from the lake at the side of the mill.

We all enjoyed our visit to the museum and learned a lot about Lancashire's past.

KATRINA SMITH, year six, Griffin Park CP School, Blackburn.

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