Mrs Carthy Remembers
It is rare to find first hand accounts of working for an ESCC establishment, but here is one found in a book about the history of Skipton. Extract from "Looking Back at Skipton" by Margaret Lancaster published by the author in 1990. Page 89. "Mrs Dorothy Carthy records her experiences of working for the firm [Dewhursts]. In March 1939 I went to work at John Dewhurst & Co Ltd, part of the English Sewing Cotton Company in Skipton. When vacancies at local firms occurred, they often rang the Girls' High School to see if they had any girls who were interested - I went for an interview and on entering the building was greeted by a commissionaire complete with gold braid, and eventually I was informed that the job was mine. I was the shorthand typist in the Thread Office, starting work at 7.45am and finishing at 5.30pm and working on Saturday morning until mid-day, one hour for lunch and the wages were £1 per week. Fares to Skipton had to be paid out of this, but the f