5 Birth of an empire Ch 4 settling in

5 Birth of an empire Ch 4 settling in

5 Birth of an Empire ch4: Settling in c  

22 July 2020 

15:36 

Percival and Ebenezer walked down to the mill, in time for clocking on time. Robert was already there with the door open. 

"I didn't expect to see you so soon this morning, I thought you would come down later with the ladies. 

The ladies will be coming later; Mrs Stubley will bring them down, with their luggage later" 

"Do you have any idea of the time, when they should be due? 

"No Robert, there is no schedule, they will come as and when it suits them, David will bring them down; We will be required to carry in the bags. What do you suggest for Mrs Wards luggage? Off load here and fetch a cart? Or, take the carriage round to off load, can you have a thought and sort how you think? 

"I will see to that; Sir" 

"No Sir here; Mr Ward, or Percival, will do, according to circumstances, just keep the sir's for strangers"    

  

 The coach arrived at ten o'clock, Robert met them "Good morning Mrs Stubley and ladies! I have a cart here for the luggage to go round to Engineers and two men to take it there for you; I also have a man to valet the coach for David , he can show them how it should be done; then on any visit he can have it done here; there is a stable for the horse,: I will be in my office if you require me further"  

  

When he had left Mary asked "Who is that? 

Beatrix replied "He is the door man or time keeper as some people call them; He has an office in the entry, The main responsibility is to greet visitors and direct them to, or find the person they are here to meet with; or find an excuse to divert them if we don't wish for their visit;

Mary "He sounds to be a treasure to have

B "Yes he is indeed, He is an ex Sergeant Major in one of the guards Regiments; he knows lots of useful people, also he can communicate with any one, at any level.  - Hear in the entrance the floor has been laid with quarry tiles from near Howley Hall; they right the way through the ground floor; we think it much more appealing than plain concrete, also they don't give off any of the dust" 

  

Beatrix lead the way through the house "Hear we are in the Boardroom, it is multi-purpose; boardroom, a place for visitors to wait for a meeting, you could separate the table parts round the room for a party; Oh the doors, from the entrance may be opened from either side, but can be bolted from the inside; leading out into the lobby, this door can only be unlocked from the lobby; This lobby opens into your kitchen. Should you want you can use this room for, say, a large family party" 

M "Oh! I am going to like this; It is like the one at home, A new wooden table, the one in Apperset was my mothers, and indeed her mothers, and the same wooden chairs; I could wish for a better outlook, fields to replace the mill yard"  

B "Lets go upstairs, the wood work here was done by Holroyd's joiner, he works on all the public buildings and up market private works.

 The stairs and five-bedrooms; floors are stained and varnished; we have left the choice of rugs to you"

The had a look through the bedrooms

B "let's go back downstairs"

"We were unsure. Should we have layed a linoleum surround, or left it like this with the quarry tiles surrounding the carpet square, I can arrange that for you, you have dining room, lounge and a library"

"Your house Alice is very much the same, but without the boardroom" 

"Can I leave you to sort out your luggage and get settled in? I have a meeting in Dewsbury, I am late now, but they can wait for me. Bye for now, I will try to call in on my way home"   

 

A " All my stuff is here in the house, so shall we all go round to yours and make sure it's all inside, Frank and Angela can help carry thing in" 

A "Yes that's a good thought, I want to see what my new home is like. Oh, she didn't show us the flushing toilet, did she?

 

As they left Mill House Robert came from the entrance lobby 

 

R "Are you getting sorted ladies? I have had your luggage taken round to Engineers; do you wish me to walk along with you just to make sure it has been taken inside for you? 

A "Yes please! that is where we were just heading for" 

  

The luggage had been left in the entrance hall; seeing them Robert said 

"Let me carry them upstairs for you" As he picked up the bag nearest to the stairs 

 

Alice looked through the cupboards, she found the kettle, a jar with an unopened packet of tea, sugar and finally the cutlery drawer. She turned to tap on to run the still water through the tap before filling the kettle, 

 

"Do you like being the doorman, and being given all these jobs to do? Asked Alice 

R "Yes, but not quite what people expect from a doorman; They expect a person in uniform standing by the door and being polite, Now I am a general factotum, rather like an RSM; not quite an officer and yet above the normal ranks. I had to organize all sort of meetings, social functions and events; never a dull moment; same here so far; I am enjoying it. I must go now. Anything you want" 

A "No not at present, but who knows what we will want, as soon as you go out of site," "I expect that you will have been moved around by the army" 

R "Yes, very much like this, when you arrive it is all new furniture, all that you have to do is unpack your bits and bobs, every house is the same wherever you are moved to, the same layout, same furniture, I must go back to my duties now, make a list of things you need, Happy unpacking" 

  

When he was gone Alice and Mary went for a good look around the house 

A "It looks as if we have moved into an army house, the layouts are so much the same, do you think they sell houses in packs in that J&B's place? 

 

M "Yes, It looks that way. Do you know, this is the first time I have had any new furniture; when we married, we moved into my granny's house with all her furniture. Oh, we had a new bed, it wouldn't surprise me if you said the same, Arthur and Ma, err his intended when he finds one, will have our farm and furniture. Oh just take a look at these comfy new armchairs, the lads will be rushing to get home and relax in these after a day's hard grafting, I think she says your house has heating from the firms boiler house, but there is a fireplace, presumably to make it feel more cozy" 

A "Were you going to say Martha? Did you look in any of the drawers upstairs?"

"No! I don't go around rummaging in other people's drawers, you never know what you might find; Yes I was going to say Martha; the look to be together most of the time, or is it me putting two and two together to make three?" 

M "'Ger'away' with ye, you  know what I meant, they were full of sheeting, bedding and such; she has thought of everything, and no expense spared; aye they do seem to turn up together, don't they" 

A "It all comes at cost from that J&B's she has" 

M "Aye, I know that but someone has to pay for it somewhere along the line. 

A "Yes, she does the accounts for both JB's and here, so there will just be the auditors to satisfy" 

M "An' if they are like our Elizabeth, when it comes to balancing the books, she won't allow them to be out by one half pence. Hey this tea is going cold, are you coming back over with me or staying here, to do more sorting out here?  

  

  

The three children had managed to slip away and were exploring the site. Robert found them investigating the cart. He told then that it was not safe to explore the site "It is a work place not a playground" Frank wanted to know about the cart, who did it belong to why was it left there, was it going to be collected and removed, was it going to be repaired "You had better ask your father about that, Now go back to your homes and help put your things away" 

  

When asked about the cart Percival said he had no plans as yet, they had to give the original owners time to collect it, if they did come to collect it they could claim rental for the time it was left.  

Eventually it could classed as abandoned by the owners, then it could be repaired and used for the firm, sold on to pay storage costs, or scrapped altogether.

  

  

With the line shaft installed work now turned to the machines. First the spinning machines. The dyers now had a few large wheeled wicker baskets with ready, washed and dyed wool, carded into a long ribbon of fibres ready to wind onto cones for the machines. 

The first material off the loom was a length (60yds) of Lovat Green. 

That was passed onto the finishing department, inspected, weighed and measured for width 

Ebenezer called Robert over "I am going to take a sixty-yard piece down to Issacs tailors for you. they will take your measurements and make you a sports work jacket, the remainder from the piece they will keep in store, so that we can just send the person in with a note, you could do with trousers to match later. When we have produced some, possibly mid grey colour. We want people to see our products in use; they look better if people are wearing them, than they do in pictures. You can wear it out to places like the mechanics institute, after we may give you a more formal one to wear at functions" 

  

Mary an Alice thought it would be nice to be given a tour of the mill before it became too busy 

Ebenezer agreed as production manager to take them on a tour, the three children were to be included.  

"We will begin where the raw wool enters the yard, then work our way through"  

Mary saw the baskets of coloured and soiled wool "what is this? She asked 

Ebenezer explained, they only wanted white wool the coloured scraps would not take the dyes, so this material was being allowed to build up, once there was enough it could be washed and processed, possibly adjust one of the spinning machines to a coarser setting the use it for rugs. 

  

In the spinning room Alice saw a basket containing some cones with bit of unspun fibres on, she asked what happened to them. 

"They are left until we do another batch of that colour, then they can be mixed in". 

She picked up one of the cones and began to pull the fibres out, spinning them between her fingers 

"Or I could bring my spinning wheel down and spin some yarn to knit you a jumper, next time we go home I will bring my wheel back" 

Angela and Gail had little interest in the mechanics. Frank was intent on watching how the wool changed from the raw dirty fibres into the clean yarn; Angela became interested in the chemical testing and dyeing "Think I would like this" she remarked   

When the entered the weaving floor, the sound was deafening "How do the work in this noise? asked Mary "You can't hear yourself think; How do they talk to each other? 

"They get used to it and the learn to lip read Also the weavers have a sign language" Explained Ebenezer 

The last call was in the developing dispatch area 

Gail wanted to know details of how they knew the customers names and addresses and what  they had ordered, how they paid 

"All that is Beatrix's; Mrs Stubley's area. She will be able to explain everything" 

  

Monday morning Beatrix arrived early Can I see the children please; get them out of the way first. Frank you can work with Mr Green on the door, listen to how he greets people, you can act as go between; take them to the person they are here to see; or bring then down here; after a while you will be moved to work in the millwrights and engineers departments Remember Mr. Green is now your supervisor, so call him Mr Green at all times. 

Angela, I think you could go to the dyers and chemical testing 

Gail can work on the books with me. 

Off you go they are expecting you 

You will all have to attend night classes at one of the further education courses, when they begin in autumn" 

  

Beatrix then went to talk to Mary in Mill House "How are you settling in,? Have you time to go over to Engineers and see Mary? Are you coming along? have you time? 

   

Frank went to the doorman's office "Good morning Mr Green, I have been sent to work with you" 

"Good I am Mr Green from now on when there are others around, understand" "Yes sir" 

"No sir, just Yes Mr Green" "Yes Mr Green" 

"I will call you Frank, or, if it is one of those people who go around asking questions of junior staff, then I will just call you 'Boy' to give the impression that you dont know the answers before they ask, that will be a signal to you to take care what you say" 

"That sounds complex" 

"You will soon get used to it your here to learn the way around and get the feel for regular work, also how to get along with strangers, eventually you will get to know a few of them.

First thing to learn is how to make a good pot of tea" 

  

Angela reported to the dyers department "Ah you must be Angela, so you want to be a dyer? I am Mr Boothroyd, the head dyer, there is Helen the head tester, the only tester until now, you will join her to check the colours and strength of the dyes and also check the dyed yarn to keep it to the required standard. We have two men who do the actual dyeing. The standard has been set we uphold that standard. Have you done any chemistry at school? 

A "Only a little. I passed the entrance exam to Northallerton Grammar School, I should have started last September, but dad said we were going to be moving so we put it off until we got sorted here. 

Mr B "You must be clever to be able to pass the entrance exam; I get so many who can't do simple arithmetic, they leave school so early. It is too late to start a course this year, I am head of chemistry in the local night school and Helen is one of the lecturers, she teaches colour chemistry; between us we can work out a curriculum for you to follow now, then you can sign up next September. I will take you to Helen now" 

"This is Angela; 'Miss Ward'; she is coming to work with us, I hope she will want to become a dyer and stay with us; I will leave you now" 

H "Call me Helen here, but if you are in one of my classes Miss Martin, So you want to be a dyer? We are the testing department, Mr Boothroyd; me and now you 

We have two men who do the dyeing of the wool. The colour shade has to match with the standard for our firm, so that every piece of cloth in say light blue matches with one produced last week or next week.

We have some sealed boxes, which are the standard shade required for each dye colour; we take a sample from the prepared dye batch, and check the sample against the standard in this machine. It is called a 'Colour Spectrophotometer', It doesn't matter that you know how it works, only that you can use it now with accuracy, the mechanics of how it works comes later on in the colour chemistry course." 

"Now let us go down to the dyers, where the action is and collect some samples, they mat have the ready, or we m at have to collect them ourselves" 

  

They went downstairs to a room full of large steaming vats 

"These vats are full of wool fibre being dyed, there are twenty in all, some are ours, a few are from other firms, they pay us to do the dyeing for them, but we still test the dye colour, and keep a record, John and Harry are the two dyers; (Helen called one of them over) This is our new girl Angela, Miss Ward to you; Have you any samples for us? or do we have to collect our own? 

Dyer "Hello, Miss Angela Ward, so you are joining the ranks of the colour policemen and women then, come to check up on us and keep us straight. We have some samples ready for you now. Next time you come I wills how you how to take them. Dont worry it isn't hard, else I wouldn't be able to do it. Come down any time and we will show you how and what we do. Here are the samples" 

Angela "I may be called Angela Ward, but here I want to be just plain Angela" 

Dyer "Is it right that you are Mr Percival's daughter" 

Angela "Yes I am. but here I work for Helen, my dad is the engineer and nothing to do with dyeing; so you just treat me as you would any other girl worker; before you ask, I have two brothers and a sister, who still live in Wensleydale"   

Helen picked up a box with six sealed jars in, each one a different colour. "That told you John she works with us and that's it" 

Angela "Oh and another thing, I am not looking for a Tup" 

Helen "That told you John; and for your information a Tup is a male sheep"  

Upstairs she took the jars from the box, then added details for each onto a form each. "You put John in his place there, what do your brothers and sister do back in Wensleydale? 

Angela "John is now the area Blacksmith, he has taken over from dad; Joseph is an apprentice coach builder, almost finished his time; Martha is a Legal secretary in town" 

Helen "Back to work; The samples each have a code for the colour and date, so these are recorded onto the form, now place them over here. Keeping the sample and form together. Now we, make a test sample, then sort out the colour standard; I will go and get you a note book so that you can jot down what we do as we go along, then tomorrow you can do the work while I supervise"   

  

Next day Helen sent Angela to collect any samples John saw here arrive "Here are your samples Angela, I didn't mean to upset you yesterday" 

Angela "Yesterday, don't worry about that I got it of my chest, I just don't want to be known as Mr Percival's daughter, I have been called that for too long; best sorted out to begin with" 

John "Understood, 'Angela from the dyers', that sounds Welsh" 

  

  

  

  

Beatrix "Good morning Mary! Its Alice and Beatrix here we have come for a chin wag, see how you are getting on" 

M "Oh getting sorted, like Alice, trying to remember where I have put things" 

B "Yes I understand, Actually I was wondering if you were interested in joining a couple of ladies groups, that I have an interest in, it might be a little bit too soon, but keep the offer in mind, One is the 'Batley Towns Ladies, that is mostly business ladies, they have the interest of the town as a whole place in mind; they meet every first Thursday evening. The other is a general group for the area 'Heavy Woollen Wives' they call it, mostly for the welfare of working women, a sort of natter place, educational courses; they meet every Wednesday evening, tonight in the Wesley Chapel Rooms in Batley Carr " 

A "We could go to the Heavy Woollen Wives for a start, so that is tonight.  

B "I will get David to drive me down, let's say, half past six, quarter to seven, they start as seven, until nine o'clock, David will pick us up and drive us home; I will walk back over to the main door and get hold of Gail, and give her some work 

  

B "Right Gail do you have a neat writing2 

G "Yes" 

. 

I have some record cards can you make a card for each of our customers. I want two categories People and firms who supply us and people and firms we supply; it would be better to use Hand printed capital letters 

Those who supply us can be written in black; those we supply in red, For the name headings that is 

The Master card holding information about that customer; Name, Address, customer number, that can be added later, once they have been put into alphabetic order, by surname or firms name. just do one card for each person or firm, use the ledgers that I have been using to record daily sales and purchases. 

Then when you have done that one card to go with each of the master card 

Top is the customer name; Number, Leave a line blank on the next line title for columns Date: Item code; Item description 

So we should have two cards for each customer 

G "Right Mrs Stubley; I understand" 

B "You may call me Beatrix in this office; if you wish; Mrs Stubley when we go to the Dewsbury shop. I will call back tomorrow and see how you are getting on" 

  

  

Beatrix arrived at six thirty "Are you ready?  

Alice and Mary put on their top coats then joined her in the trap "When he leaves us David can return home until time to pick us up" 

 

David pulled up outside the Wesleyan chapel, he held his hand for the ladies to alight, "Should I call back just before nine o'clock madam?   

"Yes David, that would be excellent, Thank you" 

Beatrix led the way into the hall; there were about twenty women, standing in groups, with two on the platform, they were looking at some papers on the table. The table had a modesty cloth covering the top, and hanging across the front. 

Beatrix waked over to them with Alice and Mary following on "Good evening ladies, I have brought you two new members Mrs Ward, Alice; and Mrs Worth, Mary. They are new to the area, they are here from the Yorkshire Dales, near Hawes. Alice and Mary this is Mrs Brown our secretary and Mrs Burrows our Chairlady" 

 

Mrs Brown "Welcome to our group, we are thinking of changing the name, we have only been going for one and a half years, at present we are open to suggestions for names; Do you have any skills in craft making? It is a problem to keep members interest, we have had cakes and such things, also to find lecturers with interesting topics"  

Alice "We both do various crafts. I have a spinning wheel and a table loom back at the forge, We will have to bring them down with us next time" 

Mrs Brown " You said forge, as in a blacksmiths forge or something? 

A "Yes my husband and son are both blacksmiths, as were his grandparents, Mary lived on a farm in the village, we both have spinning wheels, we spin yarn for knitting and weaving, Mary's husband is a handloom weaver and sheep farmer, we have family back in the Dales keeping the family firms going" 

Mrs Brown "You sound like you have your life full of crafty things that you could teach us. You will be most welcome to join with us" 

  

The meeting opened, with a welcome to the new members. When the official part was over Mary and Alice were both surrounded, by people eager to hear about life in the Dales and the type of craft work they did 

Mary agreed to scrounging a raw fleece for an evening, so they could see and feel, how a woolen garment began life, No promises but she might be able to arrange an evening, or afternoon visit to the mill. 

It was five minutes to nine o'clock when David looked in the hall, He gave Mary a wave, she waved back, then apologized to her audience, our lift has turned up, sorry but we must go, then went to find Alice and Beatrix. 

  

  

Beatrix arrived next morning " I have come to take Gail to work in Dewsbury; Now remember they do not know you have anything to do with this mill, as far as they are concerned you are here because you father came here for work, just say in a mill if they ask, you don't remember the name. 

I want them to show you how an office should be run, then you could adapt it to suit the mill" 

"Yes, Mrs Stubley, tomorrow I will go by bus"  

   

In J&B's office she was introduced as 'Miss Worth' who's family had just moved from the Dales, Try her in various department to see where she fits in, we can sort out her papers and pay later, I was asked to take her on as a favour, by a friend" 

They set her off with the boring job (as they called it) of making out new customer mater cards from the Purchase Ledger for the previous week, at the same time to make out and add the customers purchases onto the second sheet for each one 

Just as she had been doing back at the mill 

  

At lunchtime one of the girls asked her first name "I'm called Gail, I'm sixteen"  

"Which school did you go to? Where do you live now? 

"You won't know it, it was in Hawes in Swaledale, we live in Batley somewhere called Healy, it is a walk to the bus stop" 

"Have you got a boyfriend? 

"Not now he is still in Hawes, and I can't get there to see him, it takes all day, we had to keep changing coaches" 

"What does your dad do? 

"He works in a mill; I don't know where. But he has gone when I get up, and he's always late getting home, I never see him now, he used to be fun and read to me. I hate it here, I wish we had never come, It was quiet and I had friends" 

"You can be friends with us; I'm Gwen and this is Josie" 

"Thank you; I would like that" 

Lunchtime over they got back to work 

One of the shop girls came in with a pile of papers "I have brought these sales documents for the new girl to enter in the customer files; these are last weeks sales documents, keep them in date order"  

Gail looked through them; some names came up regularly; she removed all the repeating ones out of the filing system and placed them at the back of her desk space, then proceeded to work her way through the pile of papers, 

By home time she was only part way through, So she put one of the files on top. 

  

Next morning, she was asked why she had left them like that "I was only part way through, there is nowhere to put then safe so I put a weight on to stop the falling off, and I can commence where I left off. These should be done daily to keep up with them" 

"Are you the office junior telling me the office manager, how to do things? 

"No I was just saying why I did what I did, and that I think it would be better done more regularly, better daily, than in such a huge pile. 

"I will have a word with Mrs. Stubley and have you removed miss know it all Worth" 

As he left one of the girls came over "You are for it now, he can be really nasty, you will be sacked" 

"I don't know what will happen, I don't know what Beat; err, Mrs. Stubley will say or do, but I am here to learn how offices are organized, I have some idea; my sis is an accountant and sis in law is a Solicitor, I have learned things from them, like see to things as they need doing not keep them hanging around, any way we will see" 

  

It was about one hour later the office manager (Mr Wilson) came in "I don't know who you are but Mrs. Stubley says that we should consider your idea and see how it works out, just give it a few weeks to see how things go" 

When he had gone one of the girls asked "How did you manage that? who are you? Do you know Mrs. Stubley, you were going to call her Beatrix, and you knew how to fill in those record cards without being told, you already knew the system? 

"Lets say Mrs. Stubley is a sort of Aunt, Yes she was showing me record cards like these at her place" 

"So who are you? 

"My dad met them when they were on holiday they were lost, dad climbed up with the driver and showed him the way. Dad was working on a farm, belonging to Grinton Lodge, they called it, the new owners were nasty people and dad said he was leaving. Mrs Stubley found him this job"  

 

In the evening Mrs. Stubley called in on her way to a meeting "Gail I think you can manage to do the office work; You seem to be able organize it better. So, hand in your notice so you finish on Friday. I will go in and see how things are being run, oh we could do with another girl to work with you, possibly two. I will show you how the accounts are run for now, you can work on those; the two girls can do the customer records" 

  

Next morning Gail resumed her work, When the Mr Wilson came in she went to his office and gave him her letter of resignation, "What's this? Don't expect me to give you a reference" 

"I have another job already" 

"Who would employ you? Where is it? What are you doing"  

"I am office manager, I will have two girls looking after customer records, I am doing the accounts, my sister taught me accounting, she is a qualified accountant, Mrs Beatrix offered me it last night, she was happy that I can run an efficient office. I will finish what I began and will leave on Friday" 

  

"What was that about? 

"I have resigned, I start a new job on Monday as office manager at Stubley's new mill" 

"Its Mrs Stubley who owns this place, not the same one, is it?"  

"Yes, I live at Mill House, dad is production manager, I will be looking for two girls shortly" 

"Will you keep me in mind" 

"Yes, hand in your notice next Monday; start the following Monday; Oh! I have to warn your I can be nastier than Mr Joe Wilson. You will be keeping customer records, same as here basically it is Mrs Stubley's system, we can go to night school together"  

  

  

  

  

Back in Apperset 

The two grandmothers, Lydia and Margaret thought they could do more to help the younger family members, they called Martha and Elizabeth to a meeting  

Margaret "We have been thinking! We could help out, with things like doing some cooking. You are all out at work all day, then the girls have to cook for their brothers. Why don't we do the cooking for you, we could have a meal at each other's homes on alternate days, me and Lydia, share the cooking between us. So that you can come home to a ready meal. We may be passed working days, but we are quite capable of cooking good food. Both of you have asked us to teach them how to cook our food, so let us feed you some good old-fashioned meals. What do you say? 

Both girls agreed "We cannot refuse an offer like that, and a daily communal meal would be great, we will tell the boys what we have agreed. Do we begin tomorrow? 

  

John and Arthur were both in favour of their Grandmothers preparing their evening meal also the communal arrangement, as for Joseph "Whatever you think best will do for me" 

  

John brought round the trap the next morning "I am going to run you three to work, Grandad will sort the fire and stuff out, we don't get any work until later, Arthur will pick you up after work" 

  

The two Grandmothers were now in their element, they were now needed, someone wanted to be fed and they were doing the cooking, although it was a big change, cooking for nine instead of for two. They got their heads together to calculate the amount required. 

 

The men went around doing odd jobs. Arthur Snr, and John working in the forge;

Arthur jnr and Joseph around the farm, they set out first thing to walk up Widdale Fell, returning by Mossdale Moor.

It was mid afternoon when they returned. Lydia made a mug of tea. Arthur changed his fell boots to some more suited to driving the trap, 

"Would either of you like a lift to the shops, I will have a bit of time to wait for the girls? 

"No thank you, not today, but we can keep it in mind for other days" 

  

He harnessed up the horse and set out to town, He waited in Main Street for the girls. 

Martha walked up "Home my man" As she climbed aboard

"Wish I was your man" 

"Mmm now that could be arranged; sometime, just say the word" 

  

Following the meal, 

John as the eldest; thanked the ladies for an excellent meal "Before we leave the table I would like, no all your behalves; to say thank you to our grans, for their time and effort, It was a much appreciated, and welcome to the days end. Please may we have more of them"  

  

Margaret pushed Lydia to reply " and I, were pleased to help you out, we enjoyed planning what we were to give you and calculating the amounts for so many, cooking for two is less demanding, If we bother to cook at all; The only problem we have had was Mary find where I keep the items; or rather' where Alice kept them; it was enjoyable, we will meet you tomorrow in Mary's kitchen, come hungry" 

  

The Grandparents left for their own homes.  

They got round to the days events; the girls liked the walk to work, but preferred the lift, especially in the evening, just to be able to sit and relax after a day in a stuffy office 

  

This became the norm  

In the mornings Arthur and Joseph snr had their daily walk to inspect the flock, doing the odd repair job on the way; stones fallen from the wall tops, broken fence wires. 

 

Arthur snr preparing the forge for the days work until John returned,  Lydia and Margaret preparing the evening meal, and doing any necessary house work  

  

The Walking Machine

 

One evening Joseph jnr returned home on a wooden device. It had two wooden wheels, connected one in front of the other, fixed by a wooden beam, the front wheel could be turned by a handle, for steering; there was padded seat for the user. 

 

"It is a 'Walking Machine' the salesman has let me borrow it overnight to see what I think about it" He said "You sit astride it and push off with your foot, you glide further than one stride, and steer with this bar, the only thing is when you go downhill you have to slur your feet to stop it running away" 

John had a look, then made a sketch and took some measurements, "I will make you a metal one for you, that should be lighter, also I should be able to make a brake for when you go downhills, let the sales man have it back in the morning, just say about it running away on downhills"  

  

A few days later "Here you are Joseph; Martha has made you a seat, I just have to make the brake, but you can try it out, even go to work on it if you want" 

Joseph took it for a ride he returned to say it was lighter than the wooden walking machine also it wasn't as hard on the bumps 

 

"It has slightly bigger diameter wheels, so that it rides over the bumps better, it could do with some wooden wheels or at least wooden rims, the metal one slide on smooth hard surfaces" 

" I could make some in my lunch breaks at work, we have all the equipment, but I may have to work it around works use"  

 

Joseph asked if he could use the equipment, “Use it then in our time, it’s part of your training to make coach wheels. 

With the wheel fitted John make a brake with the hand lever on the handle bar and linked to a pad that rubbed on the front wheel. 

The others had a go in it. "Can you make one each for us girls to go to work on, give us some exercise and save you two the time to take us there and back. Joseph made four more pairs of wheels. "Why four pairs he was asked? "Well it won't be long before you and Arthur will want walking machines, I can imagine Arthur on his walking machine going to a remote part of the farm, two dogs trotting alongside him"