Part of working life
I was interested to read, in your Christmas issue, that Hardman and Holden Works has finally disappeared. I lived in Joynson St during the 1950s and we often saw huge carthorses pulling ‘heaving’ wagons. Their silky fetlocks were bright blue instead of creamy white. The workers themselves were deep blue from head to foot. They went home each day covered in dye, no one batted an eyelid at such sights; It was accepted as part of working life.

Women who came out of the Mill in Lord Street, at the end of the day, were covered in flecks of cotton. Their hair and clothes, stockings and shoes looked as if they’d been in a snowstorm. They were always laughing and chattering, no one bothered.

We always took great care over the outside of our houses. Pavement were swept regularly and the front steps cleaned and coloured with a cream stone received from the “Rag and Bone” man in exchange for old clothes. My dad regularly painted the front door with varnish, which he streaked with metal combs to give a grained effect. Unfortunately, after a few weeks, the varnish became grey-blue and spoilt.

My dad tried to campaign about the emissions of the dye works and the gas works but he had no success at all. We were all used to the smells of the area and never noticed them until visitors commented on them.

Yours sincerely
Angela Curran (nee Kavanagh)