This is a state of the art Darling washing machine from the early 1920s. It can twist, mangle, and tangle clothes.
It was marketed as "the Housewife's Darling" by the London based company which made it. The user had to crank the handle, which moved a flat paddle inside the tub and gently forced the washing backwards and forwards.
It wasn't plumbed in like today's machines are, so it had to be hand filled and drained using buckets of water.
The Wick Society
18 - 27 Bank Row, Wick, Caithness, KW1 5EY