By John Baron
Excited conversations over tea and cake, friendships rekindled and a steady flow of fond memories resonated around the gallery at Farsley’s Sunny Bank Mills.
Dozens of people attended the Workers’ Reunion Party for free drinks, remind swing over old photos with other former workers, games and a look around the Mill’s first major group photography exhibition.
The event, part of the Mills’ Heritage Festival, also offered a chance to watch a new film containing footage from the Mills’ final cloth pressing in 2008.
For 83-year-old Anne Staniforth (nee Illingwater) Friday’s reunion brought back memories of starting at the mill as a 14-year-old, where she was in burling and mending.
These were two distinct, skilled textile finishing processes in the textile industry, where burlers remove imperfections like burrs, foreign matter, knots, and loose threads from newly woven fabric, while menders then repair any damage such as holes, tears or broken yarns by hand.
“All my family worked here at one stage or an other,” Anne said. “Even my son worked here.
“Today brings back memories of happy times – we used to know its at Woodhouse’s back then. It was the camaraderie that I remember the most. You used to know everybody here and you made a lot of friends.
“Being back here today brings back a lot of happy memories.”
For people like Bryan Thomson coming back to Sunny Bank on Friday was even more special – he even held his wedding reception there.
Another former worker added: “It was all about community. It wasn’t always easy work, but you were really close to people. They’re what p.uled you through I have some good memories from here – particularly the people.
“You were always happy to work here as it had such a good reputation across the world, not just Yorkshire. Farsley had a huge reputation far beyond Yorkshire.”
The Workers’ Reunion Party was part of the Mills’ Heritage Festival this weekend.
Sunny Bank Mills is now a creative space for business, arts and textile heritage.
- More Farsley news and views from WLDÂ can be found here.
- More articles on Sunny Bank Mills can be found here.
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