T62 – Summary – Ramsbottom Heritage Society

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

Florence Carter (later Nadin) was born on 12 October 1929 at Fairfield Hospital, Bury.
She attended Holcombe School, then Failsworth Senior Girls, and finally St. Paul’s before leaving school at age 14.

First worked briefly in a dress and hat shop in Ramsbottom but soon moved to factory work like most of her peers.
Began at Chatterton Stubbins as a Jacquard weaver.
- Wove curtain fabrics (e.g., for Kendal Milne) using looms with multiple shuttles and punched cards (similar to pianola rolls).
- Environment was extremely noisy and dangerous; workers often relied on lipreading and gestures.
- No formal health and safety measures; training was “on the job.”
- Wages were piecework-based (“you made your own wage”) with no sick pay. Hours were long: 7:30 am–5:30 pm weekdays, plus Saturday mornings.
- Holidays were initially one week, later two, with shutdowns during “Wakes Week.”
Later worked at Holdens (a towel mill in Ramsbottom), which was dirtier and dustier. Looms sometimes caught fire due to cotton fluff. She disliked it and left after her first child.
Total weaving career: ~15 years (ages 16–31).

Married, had her first daughter, then worked part-time.
Later employed as a medical receptionist at Ribblesdale Medical Centre, Bury, for ~18–20 years until retirement.
Reflected that she preferred this to weaving, finding mill work too noisy when revisiting later.

Did not recall hunger, though food choice was limited; rationing affected meat, but offal was more available.
Shopped locally in Ramsbottom and Stubbins.
Remembered important mill-owning families and that cars were rare except for doctors.
Washing before washing machines: used dolly tubs, possers, and washboards. Washing machines only became common in the late 1950s.

Cinema: Two in Ramsbottom – The Royal and The Empire. Tickets cost about a shilling. Films changed twice weekly and were very popular before television.
Church life: Attended Presbyterian church on Dundee Lane (later demolished). Churches were well-attended; some put on pantomimes.
Whit Walks: Annual religious parades with brass bands – Florence disliked them as a child, saying the music made her cry.
Severe Snowstorm (c. 1940): Huge drifts, up to six feet, closed schools for weeks.
Local landmarks:
- Peel Tower still stands.
- Grants Tower fell during or soon after the war; she recalled it as ornate but smaller than Peel Tower.
Shops & Buildings: Many old houses (e.g., on Carr Street) and businesses have since disappeared. She noted big changes on returning after living ~20 years in Tottington.
Cottage Hospital: Handled small operations (e.g., appendectomies); major accidents went to Bury General.
Transport:
- Ramsbottom had its own Urban District Council and maroon-colored buses with a ram’s head emblem.
- Buses mainly ran to Bury and Rawtenstall.
- Trains were heavily used, especially Saturdays for shopping trips to Bury. There were lines to Accrington and Bacup, with stations at Ramsbottom and Stubbins.

Felt people in earlier times were happier and less money-driven than today.
Remembered local community events like VE Day celebrations, dancing near the Civic Hall clock.
Thought weaving likely contributed to some deafness in later life, though she considered herself lucky not to have had major accidents.

T62 – Summary