The Mill Workers and their Lives

Many of the residents of the village of Harbertonford in the 200 years up to the 1950’s either worked in the mill, or had close connections with it. The klaxon calling people to work and the sound of the machinery were a constant reminder of the mill’s important influence in the local resident’s lives. A job in the mill was thought to be a good one with the only other work prospects being mainly service or agriculture.

There were all sorts of different specialisms in the process of making the mill’s products which included a good trade in serge for military uniforms. All of our participants in the oral history project have stories about their experiences working at the mill, or memories of their relations working there. Often several members of the same family would be employed at the mill.

Here are a few snippets from our archive.

Wedding blanket

One of our interviewees had this blanket that was given to her by her employers at the mill on the occasion of her marriage.

Staff at Churchward mill in 1902

This photograph was taken in 1902 shortly before the a fire which started in the engine house of the mill. Caps, moustaches, waistcoats and hob nail boots seem to be the fashion among the men working at the mill.
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The manager and his family

In the early 1960’s the mill was bought by Glanville agricultural suppliers. This is the new manager and his family standing in Factory Lane (now Woodland Road) outside the mill office block.