Friday 3 February 2012

Dollshouse village Life


After all why do we put dolls in dolls houses unless they have a place, a story and want to be seen?



Life in a Miniature Village- by Vera Brierley.



It was a wet and windy November day when a vicar arrived in the village; he was taking up his new post as the resident vicar He was quite excited about it all. It wasn't a small village as there seemed to be quite a few houses and shops so he should have a full church this Sunday.



He parked his car outside the vicarage and glanced around, he could see the curtains moving across the road and a elderly lady was trying to peep to see what was going on

The van removal people arrived so he left them to it and was about to make his way down to the church to have a look round, when a voice shouted "Are you the new vicar"? I am Granny Duckles I live across the road "where is the family" she said "are they coming on afterwards” she could not breath for trying to ask so many questions.

"Oh I am not married" the vicar told her, she butt in and shouted to the postman who was passing "Morning Mr Postie how are you today any gossip?” “no granny Duckles no news" off he went as quickly as he could.

Granny Duckles seemed as though she knew everything!" I must go now vicar and see my friend she lives next door to me they call her Granny Wareing, speak another day" and off she ran, she could not get there quick enough you could hear her shouting "Granny Wareing I have something to tell you ".














The vicar decided to take a walk round the village after he had been in his church ; he walked down the road and found the first shop which was a second hand shop above the door it said 'Dottie and Nora’s second hand goods' He popped in to introduce himself, pushed the door open and the bell rung which nearly frightened him to death "Hello " he shouted "anyone there?" two ladies appeared from a door at the back "Hello" the vicar said " I am your new vicar just moving in today hope I will see you in the church on Sunday" they both looked at him and never said a word. The vicar said "you have a lovely display of things in your shop




Granny Wareing was soon passing on news of the new vicar's arrival to Granny Sumner over a little tea time treat.


The vicar said good bye to Dottie and Nora who owned the second hand shop,

“See you in church ladies” they just nodded he wondered if they could talk or not as no words had been exchanged between them.


He walked up the hill passing small cottages and big houses and more shops and was curious as to who lived in them. He arrived at the vicarage just as the removal men were just finishing. “Well that’s all done now vicar we will be on our way hope you will be happy here” the vicar thanked them and watched the van go.


He entered the kitchen to make a drink, he looked around - 'how on earth am I going to get all this tidy' the removal men had done what they could but it was all over the place he sat down to drink his tea.

The doorbell rang ''oh dear who on earth could this be' he went to the door and granny Duckles from across the road was stood there “hello vicar” she said “do you need any help as I used to clean here for the last vicar I am available if you need it”. He really did need the help so said “yes when can you start” she pushed her way past him and headed for the kitchen. “My goodness what a mess you have here” she said “it won’t take me long to get sorted but first I always have my cuppa” she made her tea and her mouth never stopped talking or asking questions “have you no family then” she said stirring her tea “No “

The vicar said “only a sister and she lives far away” “Oh and what do they call her and is she married” “her name is Sophia and she lives in London!” “Oh I see” granny Duckles replied.


The vicar asked “do you know who does the flowers in the church” She said “now look vicar I will come back in the morning to see you and get this place all ship shape for you don’t worry it won’t be looking like this tomorrow it will be lovely “ and off she went again.


Granny Duckles seemed to be here, there and everywhere, just now she was making him quite dizzy! After closing the front door the vicar went back in the kitchen and sat down to drink his tea. 'When I have had this I will go to bed as I am quite tired, what a day it’s been'

 

The Morning came round so fast, the sun was shining through the window because there were no curtains but it was very cold, it was November. He climbed out of bed and looked out of the window  there were a few people walking about, making their way to work, the milk man  was delivering milk, the postman had his mail in the basket on his bike, they all seem to know one another.


The vicar also spotted Dottie and Nora pass going to open their shop up, lots going on and not quite 8am.

The vicar had seen enough from the bedroom window; this is not going

To get my work done he mutters to himself as he made his way down stairs.

 He looked around all boxes piled high everywhere. He had to write out his sermon for the coming Sunday. But there was not enough room to swing a cat so he decided   to go into the kitchen and

Make him a drink along with some toast and then he walked around the rooms looking at what had to be done. He had expected the nosey grandma Duckles there but she was nowhere to be seen, at least he could have 5 minutes to himself.

 

The doorbell rang that must be, granny Duckles but when he opened

the door Mr Postie was there “Hello and welcome vicar to the village, I have a registered letter it needs signing for” “are you sure it’s for me?” the postman nodded, said “yes sure” he replied so the vicar signed for the letter and said “thank you” to the postman who wheeled his bike as quick as he could, went straight across the road to Granny Duckles house.



The vicar could see her as he was closing the door; she was looking out of the window. The vicar was a bit curious as to why the postie had gone straight across the road.



Looking at his letter, the vicar just could not think who had sent the letter? maybe it was from the bishop.

 

He sat down, opened the letter, “Oh no!” he spoke out loud “No No No” it was from his sister Sophia saying she may be paying him a visit. But he had fallen out with his sister 3 years ago over her going to live in London. Sophia was a very 'flighty girl' which the vicar did not like, especially with him being a vicar!


Everyone was beginning to talk about them that is why he had to move to another village. He hoped it was not going to start again; He popped the letter down on the settee and said a prayer. In walked granny Duckles without knocking and said “morning vicar, had a good night’s sleep did you oh and who is the letter from?” how on earth did she know I had got a letter? Bet it was the postman; he had never in his life known a nosier lot. “Oh none special” replied the vicar. “It’s from London isn’t it vicar or so Mr Postie told me.”


The vicar kept quiet grabbed the letter and pushed in his pocket “I have to go out  now granny Duckles, so here is a list there for jobs that want to be done “ he grabbed his coat and hat and went out of the door. He walked very quickly and went into the church, he was greeted by a few people from the village one of them was Granny Waring and another was Dottie from the

Second hand shop.  Also there was a new face “hello” the vicar said “and who are you?” “I am Mrs Pearce from the big house across the road, pleased to meet you vicar, so what have we planned for today “ “well carry on what you all usually do and I will go into the vestry have a look around” and off he went .


The 3 ladies started to chitter and chatter to one another wondering what was wrong with him, “he didn’t seem so friendly to me” Dottie said “He may be a bit tired” Granny Wareing said “any way if something is wrong Granny Duckles will let us know, come on let’s get these flowers done and then we can go to the cafe for our coffee, we have to meet Nora and Granny Duckles there at 11 o'clock.



Life in the village was starting to settle down at last the vicar was starting to get to know all about the people who lived there his sister Sophia had arrived and had settled in as well not a lot was said much between her and her brother but at least they was talking a little to one another and it was a bit of company for the vicar as well, as it was a big house the vicarage and it did feel a bit more like home now.

The vicar was on his walk round the village like he normally did and came across one of the shops it had been taken over by new people he could see that they were doing it all up there was new paint on the windows and door it looked very smart a bit more up market, he then  glanced as above the door was the name of Asquith and Alder selling Edwardian clothes he peeped through the window but could not see any one around so went on down the hill they will most likely introduce themselves to me when they move in  it looks a fine shop

The vicar got to the bottom of the hill and popped in to see Nora and Dottie who now was so friendly with him as at the beginning never spoke a word but now could not stop chatting Hello vicar do you want a cup of tea Nora asked No it ok just on my rounds but thank you all the same he said Now we are having a competition he told the two ladies will you be joining in Nora got a bit excited about all this and could not control herself ,Oh tell us all about it please well I would like all the village to decorate their house or shop up it can be either inside or out it’s up to them  and the best one will win a prize well the ladies was so excited about all this now think about it and let me know as pictures will be taken and displayed and the winners name will be called out at the Christmas party we will be having in the hall he said goodbye to them they was too excited to even see him leave

The next call was at the Duckles house now what would granny Duckles think to all this and not knowing the first we will see the vicar lifted his hand to knock on the door but the door opened come on in vicar she said your cup of tea is all ready for you Oh cannot stop long granny he sat down and began to tell her about the competition and he did mention that he had told Nora and Dottie about it ,which I don’t think went well as she is always the one to know first but she soon bucked up and said put my name down vicar I will do it she asked what the prize was he said oh and that’s a big secret.

The days and weeks passed by and it seemed that everyone in the village was talking about the decorating up of the houses and shops in the village, the vicar was pleased that every Sunday he was getting a full congregation in church even if there was a lot of whispering about what they was going to do for Christmas the vicar could hear all this through his sermon but let it go as at least the village was all getting together.

The church service was over and he shook everyone’s hand as they left and had a natter with each of them and then decided to make his way back to the vicarage for lunch I wonder what Sophia had made something nice I hope

He then  passed Mrs Jones on his way home  she had just picked  her two children  Debbie and William  up from  school and pushing her baby Kelsey in the pram  Good day vicar how are you are you settling in alright she asked Yes fine Mrs Jones and you are you ok yes vicar she spoke but looked a bit sad anything wrong  he asked Well my hubby has to go away for a while on business and these children are a real handful just now and he may be away until after Christmas so I am going to be kept very busy now if you need any help I am sure my sister will help out with them just let us know by the way will you have time to decorate your house up Oh don’t know about that she said the children was running around never stood still in fact they was making the vicar quite dizzy , must go speak later he said to her .

As he opened the door he could smell the dinner well that smells good he shouted yes I have made us a roast dinner Sophia replied she had her hair all up and a pinafore on it was funny to see his sister in a pinafore never had he seen that before she was always the one to be dressed up to the nines , they sat down across from one another he did  wonder if he dare ask what her life had been like this last few years in London he didn’t have to ask as she started to tell him she said you know when I said to mum I wanted a better life and went to London well t is not all it was made out to be I ended up being a mistress to a gentleman  he set me up in a house and he used to pop in every now and then , well the vicar was sat with his mouth open he could not believe what she had just said you what he shouted no don’t shout let me tell you it all the vicar sat down again in his chair and listened to what she had to say well the long and the short of it is she stopped speaking go on tell me he said well I am having his child the vicar got up and went upstairs please listen to me she said to her brother I have heard enough you can pack your bags and leave I have nowhere to go she cried well just go anywhere you are not staying here and slammed the door behind him .

He could not believe what she had just told him he said a prayer as if that would do any good.





Christmas had come and gone so quick all the villages had pulled together and had trimmed their houses up so lovely it was a shame to see all the trimmings taken down and everyone getting back to a normal village life again Granny Duckles was as busy as before trying to get to know everyone’s business again the vicars sister had just confined herself to her own room and not a word was exchanged between them he did notice how much weight she was putting on though ,He made his way down the road to the church exchanging a word with the early morning people going to work He waving as he passed the second hand shop as they was always up and around early morning he shouted to the sisters it’s a cold one this morning Nora looked up and glanced at the vicar she did like him a lot but not a lot of words was ever spoken between them other than Morning she did want to get to know him a bit more but that was  not to be as vicars did not do that she thought .

The church looked so cold and dismal after all the festive things had been cleared away but it would soon be Easter the next holiday so the daffodils and tulips would be put in to make it a bit more brighter .

What on earth is all that noise outside he could hear the shouting come quick vicar he dashed to the door and there was granny Duckles running down the hill so out of breath quick vicar What on earth is the matter he said it’s your sister I let myself in to do the cleaning and found your sister on the floor she has given birth to a baby come quick he ran as fast as he could and ran straight upstairs and saw his sister sat there in her chair holding a baby are you alright he said she  started to cry yes ok now I am so sorry for bringing this trouble on you she said he said don’t worry we will get it all sorted out he went over and looked at the baby what a pretty baby it’s a girl she said granny Duckles looked so happy what you going to call her she asked I think I will call her Maria, Sophia said that’s a pretty name  granny Duckles said she is a lovely baby and who is the father she asked the vicar ushered her out of  the room have you some work to get done .

Thursday 2 February 2012

my work

I am enjoying working on my latest project it keeps my mind busy I usually end up all full of glue by the time I have finished

Sunday 22 January 2012


Looking Back

The story of a Yorkshire girl looking back on her life

By Vera Margaret Powell



It was a lovely morning and all the hustle and bustle in the kitchen was terrible we had a newspaper shop and my hubby Harold and my daughter Julia  ran the business with the help of me my son who  was still at school so he was up and running around doing his homework which should have been done the night before this was the first morning we had slept in and what a morning this was turning out to be I got hubby and daughter of down stairs as we did live above the shop and got my son on the school bus so now it was my time to have my drink In peace.

I sat there in the kitchen and thought back to my childhood it was so different.

I was born on the march 1943 in a small village in Yorkshire the village was called Flock ton and was near Wakefield it was mostly a mining and farming village and not a lot of houses as I remember there was a few pubs and churches so whatever religion you was you could take your pick I was church of England so it was St James church that I attended, but there was the Zion chapel further up the road and 2 small chapels so plenty of every kind to choose from.

My mother Grace Lillian Caroline Brewer /Powell was born in November  1910 in Essex and married my dad Sidney Daniel William Michael Powell dad was born in  June 1908 they married and then in 1936 my sister Anne Grace Patricia was born in London I suppose they had a wonderful life in London and a nice house until the war broke out and then that was that Mum and my sister was sent to live in Yorkshire while dad was helping out in London he was a joiner by trade and so he was there to help to mend the roofs that’s if there was anything left to mend so he stayed on in London .

My mother and sister were met at the station by a lady called Mrs Schofield who announced that they would be staying with her and her family Mum did say that there wasn’t a nicer family to live with but she did feel alone having no husband there with her just her and her young daughter who was only 4 years old  but she lived through that bit and was offered a little cottage down near the church it wasn’t much she told me but it was a home for when dad came from London  to Yorkshire.

Dad was sent home to live in Yorkshire where mum had settled with her young daughter and made friends as well so felt it better to stay put.

The cottage was a middle one of 3 in a yard and behind those was a couple more cottages , leading up to the cottage was 2 large stone steps and the biggest wooden door you had ever seen the key was a big one  it must have been so heavy to carry around you entered the sitting /kitchen room with a big black leaded fire place it nearly touched the ceiling it was so tall with a large mantel on top there was no electric lights only some gas mantles on a few walls ,in the corner where the stone sink was and no hot water just a cold tap was a set pot mum used to call it which you would make a fire under it and fill with water and that was the hot water for use for all things but mum used to just fill it on wash days and boil the kettle on the fire we did have a gas ring at the side of the sink but mum did a lot of her cooking over the fire .

I was born on  1943 and weighed in at a massive 11 pounds that must have been a problem for mum having me as she was not a big woman at all The lady next door delivered me they called her Mrs Lambert The things I am writing is what I have been told through the years as up to the age of 4 I do not remember a lot.

After I was born my dad had a lot of trouble with his back and was sent to Oswestry in Wales and was in an iron lung He did have TB and also a diseased spine so he was away for a few years Mum was finding it very hard to cope what with bringing me and my sister up and having to work scrubbing floors for nearly all the people in the village it used to get her down My sister Anne was 7 years older than me and was a good help to mum looking after me and running errands for the neighbours to earn a few pennies which she gave to mum for her purse.

Washday well it was like we had everyone’s clothes in the neighbourhood mum used to take in all the well to do people in the village and wash and iron their clothes mum would say well that’s a few more shillings and food on the table for us, poor woman it was hard work for her and My sister had to help out as well turning the mangle and that was every Monday, when dry mum would iron it all and put into piles which clothes was for who and then next day it was her job to hand out to Mrs Whittle in the big house and the Vicar at the vicarage and the school master at the school house and this carried on for months and months .

Until mum was offered a better job with a colonel Wright in Kirkburton but the trouble was she would have to walk there through the lanes and fields but she took the job as it was good money some morning the farmer would pass on his tractor and give her a lift to lane ends and then she walked the rest of the way.

I started school at 5 it was the school in the village St James Infant School it was right next to St James Church which I attended at 5 as well That was one thing I did not like Sundays going to church and also Sunday school in an afternoon School I did not mind at all as I had a few friends not many but a few all the posh children kept to themselves and the children who was less fortunate like me we all played together My Sister Anne went to what we called big school which was on a bus ride it was a free bus and the school was at Skelmanthorpe which was a long way away from where we lived  .

The school days I did not care for at all when I was small ,wit my parents being what you called hard up we used to have our clothes given to us by the Salvation army I ofton Wonder later in life why my mum always put a bit of money in there collecting tins now I know why it was a way I think of saying thank you , The salvation army used to come to the school every now and then to  what Yorkshire people say rig you out it was some thing I hated we used to be taken into a empty classroom me and my sister and they would measure the clothes near us and say you will look a bobby dazzler in that , we was fitted out with vests ,liberty bodice , those used to go on top of the vest to keep you warm , we also was given 2 skirts and  blouses and 2 jumpers if it was winter and socks and shoes these was all wrapped up in brown Paper tied up with string and given to mum when she collected me from school .

The big highlight of the day was trying them on when we got home they was either to big or to small and mum had to alter them and then wash them all My mum would then with what we called last years clothes UN pick the cardigans or jumpers and  we would have to sit there with our hands out to wind it into skeins so she could wash it and knit it up into some thing else but then we did have extra garments .

Our winter coats would be passed down from a lady who my mother used to clean for twice a week as her daughter was my age and went to the same school as me we called them money folk as they had a big house and owned the public house in Flockton so yes they was well off , so we well i had her daughters passed down coats they was very well made and very fashionable but I hated it as she used to tell all her friends that vera Powell was wearing her old coats which was not nice but mum said never you mind girl you do look very smart yes I may have looked smart but hurt inside terrible .

Time went by and we was happy living in the little cottage Mum my sister Anne and Me  as dad was still in Hospital as a child it seems strange not have a father around to play with you but I got used to that idea. Mum was always working to earn that bit extra and it was my sister Anne who played with me and took me for walks she was 7 years older than me and she never complained of having to drag her little sister around with her every where she went ,we would go for walks in the corn fields and go and pick blackberries mum would always say now dont eat them they have grubs in them we would shake our heads and say no we wont mummy but always did ,she did know when we got home as it would be black all round our mouth or on our clothes she was ok about it but mum could always put a stern face on at times .

sarah jane estall / Brewer
b 1836
My Mother had a hard life she was one of 16 not all of  her brothers and sisters survived but I think she ended up with about 13 brothers and sisters they lived in Plaistow in Essex in two up and 2 down terrace property her mother was called Sarah Jane Estall before she married and was born in 1872 in old ford London she was the daughter of Henry Estall b 1838 and sarah Jane Rice b1836  my grand mother married Frederich Charles Brewer I never knew any  of my grand parents which was a shame but a lot of people did not either as I was saying My mothers mother had a hard life as well all those children to cloth and feed I dont know how she did that her husband Frederick Brewer used to work on the docks in London as  a Builder and used to only come home on a weekend a friday night so grandma brewer would have to look after all those children day and night ,which she used to be a match lady for Bryant and May a home worker they called them ,.
They would deliver the match sticks to her home and the sulpher and she would put the sulpher on the end ( that is the bit which you strike ) and she would do that all day .

When we was small my mother used to tell us some lovely tales , we would take our bath in front of a lovely fire and we would play a game of what we saw in the flames in the fire the bath time seemed to pass a bit quicker when we did that then when we was settled in our nightdresses and a cup of cocoa mum would tell us the stories we thought she was making them all up and thought how good mum was at doing that but later on we relized that it was all true .

Mum told us how all her brothers and sister would fight for the top of the bed there was 3 in a bed and then she told us how her mum would take her fathers best suit to the pawn shop as soon as he had left for work on the monday morning and then friday morning would go and get it back out of the pawn shop hang it up in the cupboard for when he came home , and he never knew about that at all it made me and my sister laugh .

It was so much fun in the days when I was young we had not a lot but we made fun out of a small thing not like today .

Sidney Powell and
Annie elizabeth Starkey
My Father
Sidney D W M Powell
b 1908
My Father who i did not know a lot about as he was always in hospital he was born Sidney Daniel William Michael Powell my goodnes what a mouthful the vicar would have had when he was christened he was born in 1908 in London he was the first child to Sydney Powell b 1882 chelmsford essex and annie elizabeth Starkey b 1882 essex his father who I never met was a Joiner by trade and my father followed him by doing the same work , my father had five sisters and one brother but some died early in life , My mother told us how dad got his illness it was when the  war was on in London and he was staying with his mother and father as I have said at the beginning my mum and sister was evacuated to Yorkshire .

He was working with his father and was called out during the night as one of the goverment buildings had been hit by a bomb he was on a roof trying to fix it and it gave way and he fell and hurt his back he was there for quite a while until someone found him and took him to hospital he was wet through as it had rained heavy that night  after that he was in hospital in a iron lung .
I do remember going to see my dad in hospital I think I may have been about 4 Mum took me on a train to Oswestry which was paid for by the salvation army it was a long way and mum had packed some sandwiches for the journey she told me we was going to have a picnic on a train it was the first time i had done any thing as exciting as this I dont remember a great deal about it all just a few things that stay in my mind but I do remember looking at my daddy in a called a tin hut he was laid there on his back in a tin box , he had a big red apple the biggest I have ever seen waiting for me I never let go of that apple when it was time for us to leave we was late getting to the railway station and had missed the only train we could catch for home we sat on the station and mum was crying the station master asked what was wrong and mum explained it all to him I was not a bit concerned with all what was happening but a child at that age wouldnt be .

to cut a story short we spent the night in a police cell and that was exciting as well , all this excitement in one day I wont forget that ever .


My Father came home when I was eight it seemed strange having to get to know my dad and having a man in the house , he could not get upstairs to sleep so had a bed settee in the living room mind you the cottage we lived in was only a one up and one down the bedroom upstairs was curtained of mums bed at one end and my sisters and mine at the other so he would have felt a bit awkward with us all .

The down stairs living room was a large room in the centre of one wall was a very large black leaded fre place that is where mum used to cook from the oven and boil her water at the other side my mum and sister used to black lead that once a week I am glad I was only small and not able to do it , Near the window was a stone sink with cold water tap and a large set pot mum called it where you made a fire under it and you did your clothes in it ,She then had a mangle and a poss tub and posser ,Wasnt it a way to do work in those years it seemed a full days job just washing , Here is some simulair things that mother used to use ,

There was the dolly blue bag that she used to put in to water to make the clothes all white and they was white as well  also the mangle with its heavy rollers


















The Road Sweeper



He wields his broom in a professional way

And sweeps the road clean as he does each day

And as he sweeps from side to side

He looks on his work with so much pride



He has become a part of the scene

And the place looks better when it’s clean

He has a good name oh high repute

The humble man in his orange suit



His job to some people only merit low grade

But merit is of man and not the wage paid

To work to the full at his own steady pace

And leave everything looking a much better place
When looking through the census have you ever come across the word of a slubber where it says what job that one of your family did here is what a slubber was in the weaving trade
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Slubber and Overseer
Slubbing, a step between carding and spinning, was one of the earliest mechanized processes in the woolen trade.
After the wool is carded it is brought into a continuous strand of loosely assembled fibers with a slight twist. This process is called slubbing. Around 1786 a machine called the slubbing billy was introduced into the woolen industry. The billy was a hand powered machine until the mid 1800s.

"At one end of the "Billy" was a sloping board or inclined plane, on which the rolls or "cardings" of wool were laid side by side, by young boys or girls called "pieceners." By the action of the machine, these cardings were caught up, drawn in by means of a series of rollers, and elongated by a kind of spinning process so as to be reduced in thickness to a cord about a twelfth of an inch in diameter. Each cord, about a yard long, became lengthened to several yards. The pieceners, as the cards were drawn in, had to place new cardings on the sloping board, and to rub the ends sufficiently to enable them to cohere. This work was very arduous; the child had to watch each carding attentively, and twist another to the end of it; and woe betide him if he permitted a carding to slip through the rollers, for the "slubbers" of even thirty years ago used their "pieceners" with great severity. At the right hand side of the machine was a wheeled carriage or frame, having a row of spindles upon it. By the turning of a handle and moving the carriage to and fro, the cardings were stretched into slubbings and wound upon spindles. Fifty years ago, the " pieceners" employed on these machines were children of seven, or even six years of age, and their hours of labour were from six a.m., or earlier, to eight or nine p.m., or later, at wages varying from 2s. to 3s. per week."
Slubbing at a frame called the billey, generally containing sixty spindles, where the cardings are joined to make a continuous yarn, drawn out, slightly twisted, and wound on bobbins. By a new machine, called the condenser, attached to the carding machine, the wool is brought off in continuous silver, wound on cylinders and ready to be conveyed to the mule, so as to dispense with the billey."
Slubbers could earn twice as much as hand loom weavers. They were considered a proud lot who looked down on the hand loom weavers. In addition to operating the machinery slubbers had a squad of piecers (boys and girls who took carded slivers, joined them by hand and fed them into the slubbing billy ) working under them. Slubbers had a bad reputation for mistreating their piecers by beating them, overworking them, and paying them low wages. The piecers worked for 15 or 16 hours a day for a few pennies. Slubbers also had a reputation for drunkenness. Their wages were high enough, however, that a young woman would consider herself lucky if she was being courted by a slubber. Their good wages enabled them to live well and as a group they were strong and healthy. Information from Baines's Account of the Woolen Manufacture of England 1858
Slubber were apparently strict task masters because they had to keep up with the output of the machine. Several books mention the fact that the slubbers and "overlookers" used a strap to beat the children if they were not working fast enough. Slubblers hired their own piecers who were peputed to frequently be thier own children.
Slubbers also had a reputation as drinkers.
In the early days of the slubbing billy the slubber turned the wheel by hand.

I have changed the colours on the home page as it was very hard to read
My Mother and sister living in London before the war love the coat my sister has on she had a little fat tummy