The Demise of Belper East Mill

From the collection of

MACE is the strategic lead organisation for screen heritage for the East and West Midlands regions. An independent charity based at University of Lincoln, MACE preserves and makes accessible a collection of more than 100,000 historic moving images representative of the diverse cultures and histories of communities throughout the heart of England from the Lincolnshire coast to the Welsh border.

The Demise of Belper East Mill

Media Archive for Central England
Belper
1986-04-11
Sound

Put on the scrapheap: Derbyshire mill workers lose their jobs thanks to an enterprise zone.

The textile mills of Belper in Derbyshire had been in operation since the days of Richard Arkwright in 1776, but it all came to an ignominious end 210 years later. Tootal, owners of the local manufacturer, the English Sewing Machine Company, had accepted a £4 million grant to move production to an enterprise zone in Scotland.The business move did not create any jobs; Scotland's gain was Derbyshire's loss, with skilled workers along the River Derwent being laid off. In an emotional farewell on 11 April 1986, the leader of Derbyshire County Council, David Bookbinder, attempted to rally the workforce and explain the political decision (which he did not support). Nevertheless, for the workers it was a day of raw emotion.

The end of an era as the final shift leaves the English Sewing Machine Company works at Belper in Derbyshire.

The Final Hooter: A Farewell to Midlands Industry

A reminder that the Midlands was once a global industrial force that was brought to its knees by recession and government policies in the 1980s.

The 1980s saw the industrial landscape of the UK change forever. A deep economic recession, combined with a drive to develop the country’s financial sector meant the end-of-the-line for many famous firms across the country, a fair proportion of them based in the Midlands. Nationally, there were upwards of 3 million people unemployed between 1982 and 1986 – 12.5% of the population. In the Midlands the gates closed on pits, mills and foundries - big employers that had provided work for generations of families. Smaller enterprises fared no better, with working men’s clubs and bingo halls finding themselves out of step with a younger generation that wasn’t interested in their parents’ and grandparents’ idea of a night out. This collection is an often poignant look at the final days of Victorian industrial giants and small family run businesses. It includes interviews with people about to, or having just lost their jobs, their anger and sadness palpable. In spite of this, there are some bright patches against the grey – as doors close we see the Midlanders’ innate capacity for change come to the fore, looking into the future, not the past.