A Long Bed Lathe from Coalisland Weaving Company Situated now at the Coalisland Enterprise Centre, the long-bed lathe was designed specifically for processing long shafts and tubing where deep-hole drilling and boring are involved. After the American Civil War of 1861-1864 the cotton exporting Southern ports, blocked by the Northern forces, were causing a severe shortage of cotton. A Manchester cotton tycoon named Ledlie Clarke foresaw a demand for cotton goods would arise after the war. He got together with John Steveson of Stevenson’s yard, to whom he was related by marriage, to build a weaving factory in Coalisland