Describe the main features of the process of industrialisation in Britain.

The main features of the process of industrialisation were as follows:
(i) cotton and metal industries: cotton and metal were the most dynamic industries. Cotton was the leading sector in the first phase of industrialisation up to the 1840s. It was followed by iron and steel industry because with the expansion of railways the demand for iron and steel increased rapidly. By 1873 Britain was exporting iron and steel worth about £77 million which was double the value of its cotton export.
(ii) Role of traditional industries: The traditional industries could not be displaced because a large portion of work even in the textile industries was being done within domestic units’ Even at the end of the nineteenth century, less than 20 percent of the total workforce was employed in technologically advanced sector.
(iii) changes in the ‘traditional’ industries: The pace of change in the traditional industries was not say by steam-powered cotton or metal industries. Only ordinary and small in innovations became the basis of growth in many non-mechanised sectors such as food processing, building, pottery, glass work, furniture work etc.

(iv) Slow technological changes: Technological changes took place slowly because it was expensive. Merchants and industrialists were cautious about using it. The machines often went out of order and repair was costly. They were not as effective as their inventors and manufacturers claimed. For example, there was no buyer for steam engine for many years. At the beginning of the 19th century there were no more than 321 steam engines all over England. So even the most powerful new technology that enhanced the productivity of labour manifold was slow to be accepted by the industrialists.
In view of the above features, it has been recognised by the historians that the typical worker in the mid-nineteenth century was not a machine operator but the traditional craftsperson and labourer.