Threads of Labour: Tapestry of an ex-industrial West Yorkshire community

In Threads of Labour, Lisa draws on personal and communal histories to examine the socio-cultural impact of industrial decline in Bailiff Bridge following the closure of Firths Carpets. Through a collaborative art-based project, the book explores how textile heritage and creative practice can foster social renewal where state interventions have failed. Combining archival imagery with ethnographic interviews, it illuminates the enduring significance of collective memory and the dignity of labour. This interdisciplinary study offers a compelling model for reimagining post-industrial healing and repair.

Dr Lisa Taylor is Reader in Cultural Studies in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Leeds Beckett University. Her work on the ‘Landscapes of Loss: Revaluing Labour, Remaking Community ’ project- funded by an ISRF Mid-Career Fellowship—brought together a former textiles community and artist Catherine Bertola in an innovative reflection on heritage and belonging.

Leeds Cultural Conversations is a series of public lectures organised by the Centre for Culture and Humanities at Leeds Beckett University. The series is run in partnership with Leeds Central Library and each event showcases a different piece of leading research being undertaken by our academic colleagues to a wider public audience, with discussion and debate encouraged by all that attend.