The English Sewing Cotton Company Scrapbook

 Have you ever read a Sylko label and wondered what on earth the mercerised cotton thread bit is all about? I only recently discovered that the mercerisation process was named after an actual person - John Mercer. On delving more into his life, I've found that there is much to be admired in Mr Mercer. John Mercer was born around 1791 in Great Harwood, Lancashire. He began working as a weaver at a young age, so obviously he was an ordinary boy and not from a wealthy background. But it seems that he showed great promise, as a teenager he managed to obtain an apprenticeship to a printer in Openshaw. He met with a temporary setback, when the apprenticeship was cancelled due to trade depression. He went back to the loom, but he had an enquiring mind, and he was interested in the dyeing process. He began to experiment... His early discoveries in the dyeing process led to him obtaining a job as an experimental chemist at the age of 25, and in just 8 years he was a partner at the firm. He ...

Hansard notes from a parliamentary debate, 11th December 1985. Representation from Matthew Parris MP (Derbyshire West) and Phillip Oppenheim MP (Amber Valley). The discussion centres around English Sewing Ltd and their plans to take a government grant to move dyeing operations from Belper to Scotland. Throughout the debate, much is made of Derbyshire workers' loyalty to English Sewing and their good work ethic. The point is made that money for job creation in Scotland would result in more government money having to be spent on redundancy payments in Derbyshire. English Sewing Ltd are therefore held up as being underhand. Parris states that having spoken to the MD of English Sewing, he remarked that the company would be moving to Scotland anyway, and were in fact considering transferring all textile operations away from the UK. This is despite receiving £300,000 in grants to modernise the Belper mill. The UK textile industry was plummeting throughout the early 1980s. Production at E...

 The Stanhill Ring Spinning Company was a latecomer to the English Sewing Cotton Company, joining just after the end of World War Two in 1946. Their premises were as eye-catching and dominant as any mill - especially as ring spinning machinery was heavier than the standard looms so required very sturdy housing. So, what is ring spinning? Good question - I have read descriptions but am not much the wiser as they all assume a background knowledge that I don't have and I'm just not technically minded. I can relate that the system was perfected in the US in the mid 19th century and was brought back to Lancashire, where initial experiments had taken place in the 1820s. Although it was quicker and required less skilled workers to operate the looms, the finished product was no good if you wanted a fine yarn - a 40 count was the best you could get.  Also, because the work was less skilled the pay was lower, so there was a labour shortage as people preferred the higher wages to be got ...

"Good Needlework" Magazine projects, April 1933: A traycloth, an antimaccassar, a breakfast set Luncheon mats with a blue daisy design A tea cosy with a shy lady in a crinoline motif An afternoon tea set with a gingham and tulip design A cushion cover with a flower ring design A floral workbag All projects for the domesticed lady with a penchant for flowers, the ideal housewife of the day. Imagine having the time on your hands to do all this...to have luncheon at home and afternoon tea. You might need: D285 Tea Rose D306 Gladiole Red D332 Saffron D344 Duck Egg Blue

The WW2 colours are numbered around the D400 mark, so we can therefore surmise that D395 dates from the late 1930s. The colour name of Bracken speaks volumes to me of the craze for hiking that dominated the leisure aspirations of the 1930s city dweller. Bus and trainloads of Manchester cotton workers and Sheffield steel workers fled the factory for the Peak District, finding fresh air and another life among the bracken and heather. Shell Guides and posters idealised the natural environment of England. It became so ingrained that writers began to incorporate it into their stories.  " He looked again at the ad posters. He really hated them this time. That Vitamalt one, for instance! 'Hike all day on a slab of Vitamalt!' A youthful couple, boy and girl, in clean minded hiking kit, their hair picturesquely tousled by the wind, climbing a stile against a Sussex landscape" George Orwell of course, "Keep the Aspidistra Flying"(1936). What with this quote and the en...

Marsland and Son were members of the ESCC, but they are spinning down the whirlpool of history. So little trace remains they they can barely be pinned down. Research into the company throws up red herrings. There seems to have been another cotton spinner of the same name in Stockport.  A newspaper report in 1895 tells of a Manchester cotton mill owner by the name of Marsland committing suicide because he thought his business was in trouble. However according to the 1947 history of the ESCC, Marslands has been bought out by Wallers in 1887. So it couldn't be the same company. Could it? The same history book ("Through they Eye of a Needle") gives a potted history of the Marslands that joined the ESCC. They were established in 1798 at a mill on the corner of Chester Street and Oxford Road in Manchester. In 1850, they moved to another mill on Blackfriars Street. Finally, in 1880, they moved to Albert Mills on King Street West. I don't think that any of these mills are sti...

 "Through the Eye of a Needle - The Story of the English Sewing Cotton Company" by H E Blyth (1947) marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the combine. It is a trumpet blowing history of the first 50 years. I have condensed part of the setting out of the story of the roots as a found poem: We are companies of usefulness And we will consolidate our prosperity To be precise we have resolved We will lay foundations of solidarity Our confidence is commanding It is the hallmark of our potential  With pride we give our assurance Our prestige will be essential  You can download a pdf of the book from my Etsy shop, SewSylko.  This letter accompanied my copy of the book