The story of the cotton industry is woven into the rural and urban landscapes of Lancashire. The Places theme explores the environmental and cultural impact of industrialisation. It includes a section on the Rural scene which focuses on cotton manufacturing at Helmshore in Lancashire and Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire; a section on the busy North West Cotton Towns and the cotton districts of Manchester Cottonopolis, the first manufacturing and commercial centre of the Victorian world. Increasing demand for cotton also shaped the regions Transport Links, firstly through the building of roads and the canal network and later the railways.

Today the millscapes are entering a new phase in their history. In Regeneration find out about the resulting conflict between development and conservation.