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The transcript is an interview with Brian Lamb as transcribed by Microsoft Word and summarised by ChatGPT and subject to errors.
Early Life & Education
- Born in Shuttleworth.
- Attended Peel Brow School from nursery through senior level, leaving at age 15.
First Job – Porritts (Textiles, 1950)
- Entered via family connection (uncle was an electrician at the mill).
- Started as warehouse boy in July 1950.
- Pay: £1 10s weekly, later rising to ~£2 5s.
- Tasks: stitching large hessian bales of woollen fabrics (including conveyor felts for papermaking).
- About 10–15 workers in the warehouse, with a clear foreman-led hierarchy.
- Used cranes/hoists for moving heavy bales.
- Enjoyed the job and stayed ~18 months.
- Attended night school (Stubbins Tech → Bury Tech), studying textiles, weaving and draughting.
Progression in Porritts
- Felting Room (1951–1953)
- Assisted foreman, handled cloth for women workers who sewed and joined fabrics.
- About 20–25 women worked there.
- National Service (1953–1955)
- Served in the Royal Army Pay Corps (clerical).
- Basic training in Wiltshire, later stationed in Leicester.
- Return to Porritts – Weaving Shed
- Post-service, joined weaving production under manager Billy Stark.
- Learned sequentially: warping → drawing-in → weaving.
- Worked mostly on large German looms (10ft–26ft wide).
- Became weaver for 3–4 years, then tackler (loom maintenance), working 3 shifts.
Shift to Cotton Side
- Moved from woollen to cotton weaving looms (larger, up to 32ft wide).
- Tackler role expanded: maintaining, repairing looms, sometimes with outside engineers.
- Workshop supported by joiners, blacksmiths, and engineering staff.
- Tacklers’ reputation: "if the looms ran smoothly, sitting down was a good sign."
Supervisor & Management Career
- Mid-1960s–1970s: supervised shifts (~10–12 workers each).
- Shift system evolved (6–2, 2–10, 10–6) → workers negotiated changes for fairer rotation.
- Oversaw transition from cotton to synthetic monofilament fabrics (used in papermaking).
- New challenges: winding, tension control, repairs.
- Fabrics costly (£7,000–£60,000 each), so damaged belts were repaired whenever possible.
Senior Role – Weaving Manager
- By late 1970s, became Weaving Manager after colleague Fred Greenhalgh’s accident.
- Responsibilities:
- Overseeing winding, warping, weaving operations.
- Ordering materials and loom parts.
- Health & safety.
- Quality control (accept/reject fabrics).
- Managed through technological change and expansion of synthetic production.
Key Themes
- Family connections important for entry into textile mills.
- Progression from manual to technical and managerial roles over career.
- Shift systems and worker negotiation shaped work–life balance.
- Technological adaptation: transition from wool and cotton to synthetic fibres.
- Strong camaraderie in workplace; many local families interconnected within the mill.
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