T31a – Summary – Ramsbottom Heritage Society

The transcript is an interview with Jack Holden as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.

Interview Context

Early Life & Family Background

Parents:
- Mother: Annie Holden (née Farnworth), a weaver at Steads Mill.
- Father: Samuel Holden, warehouseman at a bleaching, dyeing, and printing works in Stubbins.
Grandparents: Lived nearby. Grandfather Farnworth had been a mill manager and chemist in bleaching, with notebooks of old formulas.
Childhood home at Carr Street was originally three one-up, one-down houses, shared with neighbours (Baileys) and grandparents.
Childhood playmates included Clifford Bailey.

Childhood Environment

Play areas: Old mills, Springwood Lodge, “tub lodge,” fields, and waste ground (later library, health centre, youth club). Played cricket and football there.
Home life:
- One room downstairs with coal fire, pantry under stairs.
- Toilet was primitive (“night soil” system emptied weekly by council).
- Used newspaper squares for toilet paper.
Gardens: Had a front garden; grandfather grew vegetables. Children raced caterpillars on nasturtiums.

Social & Economic Conditions

Depression years: Father often unemployed, trade “slack.”
Family diet was heavy on potatoes, limited meat. Holden was underweight as a child but survived common illnesses (mumps, measles, scarlet fever).
Times improved from 1936 onwards.

Education

Saint Paul’s School (from age 5):
- Teachers: Miss Whittaker, Miss Hassell, Miss Metcalfe, Mrs. Crook, Mr. Lindley, Miss West.
- Headmaster: Mr. Price.
- Discipline included caning; accepted as normal.
- Attended associated church events but family were Methodist.
Peel Brow School (from age 8):
- Teachers: Mrs. Wood, Miss Warden, Henrietta Broadly (strict but often absent).
- Subjects: English, arithmetic, geography, French, chemistry, art, PE.
- Enjoyed geography and French; loved reading.
- Failed 11-plus, but later passed entrance exam for Bury Grammar—parents couldn’t afford fees, so he went to Bury Technical School instead.

Religious & Social Life

Family Methodist, attending United Methodist church at Peel Brow/Bury New Road.
Active in Sunday school and church activities: pantomimes (he acted as dwarf, teddy bear, later worked spotlights), badminton, social events.
Father was trustee and presented with Bible at marriage (1925).

Work & Youth

Joined Air Training Corps (ATC) in 1941 at age 14; played football with them.
Worked from young age, influenced by father’s strong union and political involvement.

Mills & Industry (Family Experience)

Mother began weaving as a half-timer at 12½: mornings at school, afternoons in mill. Learned weaving from her mother.
Mills were cramped, noisy, dangerous. Weaving sheds packed with looms.
Grandfather on father’s side had been a weaver and carter, but died young (46).
Holden recalled the dangers of cotton dust, fires in mills, and child labour (children sweeping and stamping cloth).
Father had chronic chest problems likely linked to mill dust exposure.

Housing & Living Standards

Family moved from Carr Street to Saint Paul Street in 1935 (paid £210 through Co-op mortgage).
The co-op dividend (“divvy”) helped towards repayments. House deeds dated 1889.
Holden compared rising house prices across decades.

Community & Union Life

Strong presence of unions in Ramsbottom’s cotton industry.
Father deeply involved in trade unions and politics, which shaped Holden’s lifelong interests.

Key Themes

Working-class family life in interwar Lancashire.
Harsh living conditions: poverty, poor sanitation, child illness, industrial hazards.
Strong role of religion, Sunday school, and community activities in social life.
Education shaped by discipline, limited opportunities, but also love of reading and geography.
Influence of unions and political awareness from father.

T31a – Summary