At Work – serie

Wrexham is the largest town in North Wales and since 1996 has been the centre of the county borough. There is evidence of settlement and industry in the county borough since before Roman times. Significant later development took place in the fourteenth century with the growth of a small town and establishment of a market. The county borough has a rich heritage of industry, including coal and lead mining, iron and steel production, and brick and tile making, which developed in the Industrial Revolution. Wrexham town’s main industries in the past were brewing and leatherwork, but today it is an administrative, commercial and educational centre.Wrexham at Work explores the county borough’s industrial heritage and the working life of its people from its preindustrial beginnings to the present day. The author examines how the massive changes in the patterns of work have affected the area. During the late eighteenth century much of the county borough was heavily industrialised. In the last century Wrexham entered the post-heavy industrial world and the author looks at how the county borough adapted to these changes. Illustrated throughout, with colour and archive material, this book will appeal to local people and those interested in the industrial heritage of North Wales.

Farnham in Surrey, with its Norman castle and lying on a major route, was an important market town in the Middle Ages. The town’s prosperity was also based on its proximity to Winchester and its trade in wheat, wool and pottery. Wool was also woven and fulled in Farnham. A large-scale brickworks used the ample supply of clay in the town. As the wheat market declined in the eighteenth century, hop growing took over and wealth generated led to the building of the Georgian streets that are still a feature of Farnham today. Farming and basket weaving with local willow continued to provide a living for many working on the land around Farnham, but the coming of the railways in the nineteenth century brought more people and new trades into the town, and some of the shops opened at that time still exist today. Farnham was home to early motor car manufacturing and also developed as a craft centre. The town is now a popular centre for visitors and has provided the location for a number of feature films in recent years.Farnham at Work explores the working life of this town in Surrey and its people and the trades, businesses and industries that have characterised it through the ages. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Farnham.

Coventry has been a major centre of trade and industry since the Middle Ages. Medieval Coventry was known for making tiles, cloth, buckles, statues and stained glass. Other textile industries followed, the dyeing of cloth with the famous Coventry true blue and silk-weaving. Much later, in the twentieth century, Coventry became a pioneer of synthetic fibre manufacturing. Clock-making grew from the sixteenth century, and later watch-making – Dickens carried his Coventry watch until he died – and in the nineteenth century Coventry also became known for bike manufacture. This also led to Coventry becoming the hub of car manufacturing in the twentieth century. It was Coventry’s expertise in this area, as well as aircraft, military vehicles and armaments, that led to it being targeted by enemy bombing in the Second World War.Coventry at Work explores the working life of this city in the East Midlands and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the ages. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Coventry.

The market and university town of Loughborough has a long, varied and often unexpected history. In the medieval period many people worked the land or provided services necessary for everyday life, such as blacksmithing, millwrighting and stonemasonry. The town’s prosperity was due to its sustained involvement in the woollen industry, while later locals were hugely influential in the Agricultural Revolution. However, the Industrial Revolution changed the landscape, providing new and different employment through the canals and railways as well as large hosiery factories. New industries came to Loughborough, such as bell founding, locomotive manufacturing and electrical generators, and the town’s female munitions workers played an important role during the First World War. In recent decades the town has moved away from manufacturing to retail and education, though the Covid-19 pandemic has made it difficult to predict how work will look here in the future.Loughborough at Work explores the working life of this town in Leicestershire and its people and the trades, businesses and industries that have characterised it through the ages. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Leicestershire.

Brighton was a relatively small town on the south coast of England until its transformation as a resort in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Fashionable visitors led to the development of hotels and new housing and the population grew rapidly. The arrival of the railways brought more visitors, as well as a large locomotive engineering works, and the town became known as a major commercial centre. Neighbouring Hove, originally a small village, grew alongside its larger neighbour and today the city of Brighton and Hove is one of the largest conurbations in the south of England.Brighton at Work explores the working life of this city on the south coast of England and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the ages. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Brighton.

The London Borough of Newham was created in 1965 by the merger of the County Borough Councils of East Ham and West Ham. At first, industry was concentrated on the banks of the River Lea (or Lee). The coming of the railways coupled with the rise of new technologies in the Victorian era, and legislation prohibiting many of the smellier and noisier industries from operating within London, led to the rapid growth of industry and population within Newham from the 1840s onwards. The area grew rich from industry, with famous names such as Tate & Lyle and Trebor Sweets, railway engineering at Stratford and the docks. Marshland south of Plaistow and East Ham was drained to create the docks and the industrial areas of Canning Town and Silvertown, the latter named after a local entrepreneur. Much of this industry fell into decline from the late twentieth century. When the docks closed in 1981 and relocated to Tilbury, the London Docklands Development Corporation was set up to regenerate the Docklands area with London City Airport and a new University of East London campus taking their place, and retail became the major employer in the area. Following hosting the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic Park area of Stratford has since been redeveloped with new cultural and educational facilities.Newham at Work explores the working life of this borough in London and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the years. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Newham.

The town of Northwich in Cheshire has been known for its salt production for centuries. The salt mines beneath the town were exploited by the Romans through to the modern era and the vast excavations have caused major subsidence in Northwich. By the nineteenth century Northwich was also a centre of the chemical industry in the north-west of England. Brunner Mond started the production of soda ash in 1874 at Winnington and the company later became ICI, building a huge industrial railway network in the area and growing into one of the largest manufacturers in the UK. Among the other industries in Northwich were shipyards. W. J. Yarwoods & Sons Ltd built over 1,000 vessels including small warships, one under the direction of Lawrence of Arabia, and Isaac Pimblott & Sons also built small craft including canal vessels, both closing in the 1960s/70s. The town also had steelworks and many other industries.Northwich and Around at Work explores the working life of this town and surrounding area in Cheshire and its people and the industries that have characterised it through the ages. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Northwich.

Founded in 1903, Letchworth Garden City is one of the world's first new towns. It was the realisation of the principles of social reformer, Ebenezer Howard, who sought to combine the best of town and country living. One of the first industries to arrive in the town in the early years was the manufacture of corsets by the Spirella Company, from 1920 till the 1980s when corsets fell out of fashion and the factory closed. During the Second World War, the factory was also involved in producing parachutes and decoding machinery. The biggest employer in town was British Tabulating Machine Company, later merging with Powers-Samas to become International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) and finally part of International Computers Limited (ICL). At one time the 'Tab' as it was known occupied over 30 factories in Icknield Way.In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations, Letchworth Garden City At Work explores the life of this unique Hertfordshire town and its people, from its beginnings when people would come to marvel at this strange social experiment, through the trauma of German bombing in the Second World War and into the technologically advanced world of today.

Bradford is rightly proud of its industrial heritage. This West Yorkshire city rose to prominence during the nineteenth century as an international centre of textile manufacturing, particularly worsted. It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, becoming known worldwide as ‘Worstedopolis’. The area’s access to a supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated the growth of Bradford’s manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacturing grew, led to an explosion in population.Bradford at Work explores the life of the city and its people, from pre-industrial beginnings through to the present day. In a fascinating series of photographs and illustrations it takes us from the city’s early days as a major steel town and then a growing centre of the wool trade, through the Industrial Revolution, the traumas of the war years, post-war industrial decline and into the technologically advanced world of today. It shows how Bradford has transformed itself from a textile town into a centre of education and innovation, as well as a burgeoining tourist destination, becoming the first UNESCO City of Film with attractions such as the National Media Museum, Bradford City Park, and the Alhambra Theatre. The book also covers industry in neighbouring Saltaire and Shipley, chapters on the often forgotten local cotton industry, the industrial village of Ripley Ville and Leeds Bradford Airport.

The small market town of Bungay, situated close to the River Waveney on the Norfolk-Suffolk border, has been continuously settled by Iron Age, Roman and Saxon communities. The town achieved considerable prominence and prosperity when the wealthy Bigod family, Earls of Norfolk, established a castle fortress here in c. 1165. By the eighteenth century it had grown into a thriving market town and became known as ‘Little London’. The river navigation increased with the supply of timber, coals, malt, and dairy products to British troops during the Napoleonic Wars. Brewing became an increasingly important trade and in the nineteenth century a local printing business flourished, benefitting from innovations in technology and the production of affordable Bibles. In 1877 it was taken over by the London firm of Clay’s, and continues today as one of the world’s largest producers of books. A silk factory provided work for 300 employees. Rail goods and passenger transport commenced in 1860, but had partly an adverse effect, encouraging locals to shop in the larger towns, and by the early twentieth century agricultural depression brought economic decline. With the outbreak of war and conscription, pubs also suffered and many closed – only eleven of the original thirty-three survived at the end of the century. The Waveney silted up, so navigation and contact with the Broads and local ports ceased.In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations, Bungay At Work explores the life of this East Anglian town and its people, from its pre-industrial beginnings, through two world wars and into the twenty-first century as Bungay reinvents itself as a tourist destination.

Though often seen as the smaller twin of Manchester, Salford – its neighbour across the River Irwell – boasts a rich industrial heritage. Cotton and silk spinning and weaving in local mills attracted an influx of families and provided Salford with a strong economy. However, it was the completion of the Manchester Ship Canal in 1894 that triggered the town’s development as a major inland port, and Salford expanded rapidly from a small market town into a major industrial metropolis. The population rose from 12,000 in 1812 to 70,244 within thirty years. By the end of the nineteenth century it had increased to 220,000, mostly housed in low-quality and overcrowded Victorian terraces, leading to chronic social deprivation.Salford at Work explores the life of Salford and its people, from pre-industrial beginnings through to the present day. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations, it takes us through the dramatic rise and fall of the textile industry and the town’s role as a major inland port, the trauma of high unemployment between the wars, post-war industrial decline and into the twenty-first century, showing how this ‘Dirty Old Town’ has successfully transformed itself from one of the country’s most deprived areas into a thriving post-industrial city.

Swansea’s history has been shaped by its position on the South Wales coast since its foundation in the 12th century, growing up as a trading post around the castle and exporting and importing goods from its port. From its earliest days the workforce on the ships and at the port required the town to develop supply industries, particularly food and drink. With the onset of industrialisation, a host of metalworking industries sprang up alongside the River Tawe, including a copperworks and lead works. Swansea for a time was nicknamed Copperopolis due to the vast amounts of copper that were imported around the world from Swansea. The town also became an important centre of pottery production in the 18th and 19th centuries. The last 100 years have seen massive changes in Swansea, first following destruction of large areas by aerial bombardment in World War 2 and later as the country moved away from its old industrial base and now employs large numbers in the tourism, retail and service industries, new technologies and education.Swansea at Work explores the working life of this South Wales city and its people, and the industries that have characterised it. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Swansea.

The history of Greenwich in South East London is defined by its location on the Southbank of the River Thames and its proximity to central London. Since its foundation, the people of Greenwich have worked in maritime industries and served the great metropolis, as well as everyday occupations and trades in the town. Greenwich Palace was the home of the Tudor monarchs, later becoming the Royal Naval Hospital then the Royal Naval College, and at the other end of the social scale the Greenwich peninsula has been home to many of those who worked in Londonʼs industries and in the docks nearby, accessible through the foot tunnel under the river. Greenwich Power Station was built to power Londonʼs trams and underground railways and today the old industrial area of North and East Greenwich is home to the O2 Arena and the Millennium Village built on the site of a submarine cable manufacturer. The centre of Greenwich is today a mixture of old and new, the centuries-old market continuing to attract many new visitors.Greenwich at Work explores the working life of this South East London town and its people, and the industries that have characterised it. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Greenwich.

Wakefield was a prosperous market town in the Middle Ages, but it was transformed by coal mining during the Industrial Revolution. Mining dominated the local economy until the last pits closed in the 1970s and 1980s.Trade in cloth and cloth finishing were also cornerstones of Wakefield’s economy, drawing in merchants from across the north. Local families – the Milnes’s and the Naylors – dominated the trade until the economic depression of the 1820s and increasing mechanisation. Cloth production started on a small scale and many houses in the area had a weaving shed until the arrival of the first steam-powered mill in 1781 and the rapid expansion of fulling and scribbling mills in Wakefield.Yarn spinning was more successful, and the huge Plumpton Park complex on Westgate became the largest employer in the town. Heavy industry also came to Wakefield. Steam engines were constructed at Fall Ing Foundry from 1791 and the railways became a major employer. Greens Economiser Works were a major concern until the 1960s.The city has been transformed once more, with the major employers today being warehouse distribution bases, retail parks and shopping outlets. Wakefield at Work explores the working life of this Yorkshire city and its people, and the industries that have characterised it. The book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Wakefield.

The island of Anglesey, lying off the coast of north-west Wales, has experienced waves of invasions over the centuries. Its inhabitants have worked on the land, surrounding waters and local industries through the many changes that have taken place on Anglesey up to the present day. Agriculture has played an important role on the island, but its natural resources have also been exploited and harnessed, from copper and coal mining, iron extraction, stone quarrying, to wind and tidal mills and the now decommissioned nuclear power station at Wylfa. Maritime activities have included shipbuilding, fishing, whaling, lighthouses and lifeboat stations and the island has also been an important militarily home of the Catalina factory and RAF Valley. The port of Holyhead has long been important for people travelling between Britain and Ireland, and roads, railways and bridges built on the island by Telford and Stephenson during the Industrial Revolution onwards still facilitate the tourism trade today, which is a significant element of Anglesey’s economy.Anglesey at Work explores the working life of this island in North Wales. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in the history of Anglesey.

Faversham has always been a hard-working town. Its very name, which was derived from Latin and Old English, means ‘the metal workers’ village’, and in Saxon times the area was a centre for the manufacture of jewellery. Its town market has been in continuous use for over 900 years and when King Steven established a huge abbey here it became, for a while, capital of the kingdom. With a navigable creek leading to the Swale seaway, fishermen have always plied their trade here; in fact the Faversham Oyster Fisheries Co. is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records as being the oldest. Shepherd Neame’s Brewery, which was established here, also claims to be Britain’s oldest, and many surrounding farms supply the essential raw material: hops. Faversham is best known, though, for its explosives industry, which has been based here since the seventeenth century. Faversham gunpowder blasted through rocks and tunnels to allow faster growth of the railways. They also aided extraction of vital ores and minerals from mines. An increase in demand led to enlarged works at two different sites until an accidental explosion in 1916 brought about decline.Faversham at Work explores the working life of this charming Kent market town nestled in the heart of the ‘Garden of England’. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations, it looks at the rise and fall of the explosives industry, the town’s long association with shipbuilding, the influence of brick making during the Victorian era and the continuing importance of fruit growing on the local economy.