'Shoddy' Played a Major Part in the Industrial and Social Revolutions [audio 60min]

Tony Robinson — presenter of the UK's popular archaeology TV series Time Team; better known in the USA from the British historical sitcom Blackadder, where he plays the disgusting man-servant/batman Baldrick — travels to Batley in West Yorkshire, to unweave the story of 'shoddy', which is the process of ripping apart old clothes and re-spinning the fibres to create new cloth. This revolutionary idea was devised in the town by local man Benjamin Law, but now almost all the mills have closed and 'shoddy' is no longer produced, as we've learnt to recycle in other ways. Tony delves into a local oral history archive, and walks around the town with local historian Malcolm Haigh, recalling when 'shoddy' played a major part in the industrial and social revolutions. It produced affordable new suits for the working man, it clothed the armies of the world and it even introduced a new word to the English language.