Tops, Noils, Shoddy and Mungo

David Bridgeman-Sutton recounts the history of Tops, Noils, Shoddy and Mungo. No, not a firm of undertakers or lawyers . . . think sheep.
For a century or more, the ultimate use of much of New Zealand's and Australia's wool was decided by men who passed through the doors of Bradford's Midland Hotel (pic 1).
Discussions over lunch tables preceded deals at the city's Wool Exchange, where tops – the best wool, noils – short fibres, shoddy – recycled wool - and mungo – low quality material - were traded. JB Priestley, who worked in the city at the height of its prosperity, remembered samples - twists of fibre in blue tissue paper – arriving from all over the world. Among them were more exotic wools – those of llamas, yaks, goats and the alpaca.
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1: The Midland Hotel
Spinning and weaving ceased to be cottage industries early in the Industrial Revolution as power-operated machines were installed in rapidly-developing mills. Originally confined to valleys, where river flows provided power, these spread along hillsides as the steam engine and railways developed. Picture 2 shows Bradford in 1820, when the city was still compact. Increasing prosperity resulted in a forest of new chimneys as well as in fine civic and public buildings, many in a golden-brown stone very different from the local millstone grit. These were quickly turned black under thick layers of soot; recent cleaning has revealed their original beauty.
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2: Bradford in 1820, from the North
Beyond the murk captured by the engraver of picture 2 can be seen open country. This has always been a pleasant feature of the city. JB Priestley recalls how, in the early 20th century, a short - and cheap - tram ride took Bradfordians to clean air and open spaces. Many of these are now protected within the Yorkshire National Park. Only 10 miles from the city centre is Haworth, where the Bronte sisters lived and wrote.​
The journey from Bradford may still be made, in part, on the steam-hauled railway line where Bramwell Bronte worked as a ticket clerk, and where the 1968 version of the BBC TV series of "The Railway Children" was filmed.

Most mill owners were self-made tradesmen, not capitalists, who had worked their way up by “hard graft”. Many seem to have been even harder than the graft that had made them; “Very rich and very mean”, as someone described them. Many years ago, a New Zealander recalled how his grandfather travelled to Europe to call on a mill owner with whom he did very considerable business.
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3: The Grand ballroom at the Midland Hotel
Being a kiwi, he was much inclined to take life as he found it, but was surprised to be taken to the lowest pub he had ever seen (that was something in the time of his story!). Lunch consisted of a thick slice of bread, a piece of cheese and a tankard of ale. His host then entered into a heated bargaining session with the innkeeper for a reduction in his bill. This, he learned, was customary among the city's richest citizens.

Far more elaborate arrangements were called for when the great and good of the city met on formal occasions. The grand ballroom at the Midland, then as now, was the scene of banqueting on a heroic scale (pic 3). Successive Lord Mayors and their ladies led their fellow-citizens on to the dance floor at balls and assemblies that were features of the social life of every town in more spacious days.
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4: The Grand Ballroom, set for a conference
Today, most of the chimneys have been toppled and the mills converted to other uses. The Midland retains its old grandeur and comfort, though with cuisine adapted to modern tastes. The ballroom is now most often used as for conference purposes (pic 4). Lectures, discussions and various forums explore every facet of modern life; the words tops, noils, shoddy and mungo are seldom heard.

Occasional links with the Land of the Long White Cloud remain. The city's senior tourism marketing officer is a New Zealander – John Swinburn.
David Bridgeman-Sutton,
November, 2007
Picture credits:
Thanks to Midland Hotel Bradford ( 1, 3 and 4)
Thanks to Bradford City Libraries (picture 2).
More information about Bradford: Visit Bradford