The United Kingdom experienced a huge growth in the cotton industry during the Industrial Revolution. The factories that were required to produce cotton became a legacy of the time – Sir Richard Arkwright at Cromford built the world’s first true factory to produce cotton. With an ever increasing population and an ever-expanding British Empire, there was a huge market for cotton and cotton factories became the dominant feature of the Pennines. <span>The north of England had many areas around the Pennines that were perfect for the building of cotton factories. The original factories needed a constant power supply and the fast flowing rivers in the Pennines provided this. In later years coal provided this power – this was also found in large quantities in the north of England.</span>
