This week I’ve done two more interviews and am about half way through collecting data. I’m starting to think about how to construct the film and what to do about the stories that have no image.
Yesterday I interviewed David, who worked in Salts Mill from 1968 – 1980, he is the youngest of my subjects so far. He worked for the company that managed the mill, and a number of others around the country, and was responsible for managing the changes in technology that were introduced in that period. He was what used to be called a ‘time and motion’ man, watching the work (and the workers) to see how it (and they) could be made more efficient. But towards the end of his time there, he could see the writing on the wall for the British textile industry and got out, moving into the financial sector.
On Thursday, I had my most successful interview so far. It was with Anthony who worked for 51 years as a plumber in Saltaire. He never worked at Salts Mill, but as he said, he worked ON Salts Mill for 3 days, fixing the flashing on a new connecting bridge between the old and new mill buildings. But he lived in Saltaire and had lots of connections with the Mill, neighbours, friends and colleagues who worked there. As he said, there were many things he didn’t take any notice of at the time, as they were just the background to everyday life. But he was also aware of the changes that were happening and was involved in some of them, for example, changing the lighting in the houses from gas to electricity and installing inside toilets. He collected items that were becoming obselete such as the butchers weights, and washboards, bakelite fuses housings, and kept the in his own ‘museum’.
Anthony also trained as a draftsman, so was very comfortable with drawing. When he arrived for the interview, he presented me with a watercolour painting of the famous Congregational Church in Saltaire that he had done in the week between receiving my letter and our interview. He knew the church intimately, having worked on it over many years, repairing the roof, recasting some of the lead decorations, clearing the gutters. As he said, much of the detail can’t be seen from ground level, but he knew exactly what it looked l like.
Anthony made some wonderful drawings, to accompany his stories, of life in the village and the characters he knew as a child and a young man. I am really looking forward to starting to work on the film and listening to the recordings again.
