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Looking Back: Bolton's Baracuta factory made garments exported round world

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karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

Looking Back: Bolton's Baracuta factory made garments exported round world 18291186

In 1974, rainwear made in Bolton was being exported all over the world.

The town was home to the famous Harrington jacket, much loved by style gurus even today.

This photo takes us inside the Baracuta Clothing Company and its factory on Fletcher Street where garments were made.

You can see all the machinists surrounded by piles of material and garments all in need of finishing off. There’s hardly space to walk round the machines are so tightly-packed together. cables hang from the ceiling to power the overlockers and sewing machines

And all those industrial sewing machines working away must have made quite a noise.

Source

Sluffy

Sluffy
Admin

My mam worked in a cotton mill, I remember the skyline of Bolton full of mill chimneys, but where I'm going with this is that you couldn't speak in the mills because it was simply too noisy, so the people there got to be good lip readers.

I assume the people in the picture above probably became good lip readers too.

I remember my mam could hold conversations with other neighbours across the street without saying a word - they were that good back then.

Norpig

Norpig
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

Did your Mum work in the mill on Gaskell St Sluffy? I remember you saying you grew up round there i think? My Gran worked there for many years.

Sluffy

Sluffy
Admin

Norpig wrote:Did your Mum work in the mill on Gaskell St Sluffy? I remember you saying you grew up round there i think? My Gran worked there for many years.

I went to Gaskell Street County Primary School (the old one which was knocked down, not the new one that you probably know of).

The school was almost directly across the road to the mill (but they offset each other if you see what I mean - if you think of a cross roads they were on the diagonal corner to each other)

I found this photo and think it shows the mill in the background and if I right the picture is more or less where my old Gaskell Street school stood, albeit it fronted Gaskell Street, but with the entrance in Wallace Street.

Looking Back: Bolton's Baracuta factory made garments exported round world 2880171
https://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/11021577.gaskell-street-school-memories/

There used to be a ginnel at the side of the mill and every week we used to have to walk up to Sheppard Cross Street playing fields to play football or cricket.

I was frightened to play cricket because we played with real cricket balls and there was never a session when some kid or other got injured - true story.

To answer your question, no my mam worked in a mill near where she lived with her parents, around the bottom of Derby Street, close to the town centre (I might be misremembering a bit but I think the ground floor of it turned into a snooker club for a short while?).

I think she might have carried on working there before my brother and I were born and she became a full time housewife while we grew up but when we were old enough to look after ourselves she went to work at Roocrofts, Brownlow Way where they made these -

Looking Back: Bolton's Baracuta factory made garments exported round world S-l1200

I bet your granny must have been an excellent lip reader too, working in the mills as she did.

Happy days, eh?

karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

Are the Tic’s black a bit like pellets? I’ve always wondered what they taste like!

Sluffy

Sluffy
Admin

karlypants wrote:Are the Tic’s black a bit like pellets? I’ve always wondered what they taste like!

Yes, liquorish, never bothered with them much myself.

They did turn your tongue black though!

My mam used to bring home bags of misshaped nougat sweets and macaroons, which were much better but after a while we just got sick of eating them.

I'm more of a chocolate fan myself than packets of sweets.

karlypants

karlypants
Nat Lofthouse
Nat Lofthouse

Sluffy wrote:
karlypants wrote:Are the Tic’s black a bit like pellets? I’ve always wondered what they taste like!

Yes, liquorish, never bothered with them much myself.

They did turn your tongue black though!

My mam used to bring home bags of misshaped nougat sweets and macaroons, which were much better but after a while we just got sick of eating them.

I'm more of a chocolate fan myself than packets of sweets.

Thanks for that. I don't believe you can buy Tic's anymore.

I always like cherry lips myself. Most people said they tasted like soap but they were nice in a weird way for me. Very Happy

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