James Smith And Co: Workers were looked after by Derby clothing factory

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Recent articles about clothing manufacturer James Smith & Co (Derby) have brought back happy memories for Yvonne Foulke, of Horsley, who worked there as a machinist twice in the 1960s and 1980s – as she recounts here.

On show: James Smith staff, plus dummies, pictured taking part in a trade exhibition at the Drill Hall, Newlands Street, c1961. Yvonne Foulke (then Glegolski) is second from the left. Behind her is Audrey Johnson

Party time: back row, from left, Olive Cox, Jean Bradley, Brian Turner, Yvonne

Smith’s Girls: far left, Rose Pyket, Yvonne next to Olive Cox at the front and Rita Clarke with the glasses

I WORKED at Smith’s at the same time as Kay and Stuart Ratcliffe. Then later, in 1983-4, I was to work with their daughter, Jane.

The trade exhibition photo above was taken at the Drill Hall in Newlands Street, Derby. Most of the firms around Derby were there. It was either 1961 or 1962.

I can’t remember the name of the man on the first machine; the lad in the background was called Terry.

I am the first girl on the left. My name was Yvonne Glegolski then. Audrey Johnson is behind me; the other girls’ names escape me.

I recently had a chat with Audrey. It was lovely to meet her after all these years.

My first visit to James Smith’s was with my school in my final year – 1959. We were shown everything from the rolls of cloth to the finished garments.

After that, there was nowhere else I wanted to work. Reenee Moran took me under her wing, along with Winnie. I can still hear Winnie now telling me that if I didn’t stand up straight and pull my tummy in, I would regret it later in life.

Most of the units were conveyer belts, with garments attached to lines, so we had to be quick for the next girl.

When I was being trained on the button hole machine, the girl who was teaching me the job, said: “Watch it, the cotton is running out.”

I didn’t realize that she meant I should tie another bobbin on before it did. I never made that mistake again. It took the mechanic ages to rethread the machine.

James Smith’s really looked after the health of their workers. A doctor would visit every Wednesday. We were checked out because of all the fluff. If we had other health problems, we were allowed to visit him with them. It saved time instead of going to our own GPs.

The canteen was fantastic. The meals were very good value.

When I returned to work there in 1983, some of the same people were still there. Things had changed a lot. The conveyer belts had gone; the girls were on piece work, so they had the opportunity to work at their own pace.

The machines had automatic cut off, so we didn’t have to use scissors so much.

In October 1986, I moved to SGM in Agard Street. The receivers moved in six weeks before Christmas and I wondered why I had left Smith’s.

We closed on Christmas Eve, after we had all been to Jimmy’s in St James’ Street, thinking it was the last time we would all be together.

I received a phone call from Peter Hewing, who said he was buying SGM and would I ring the girls and offer them their jobs back! Was he for real! Father Christmas had come early.

We started back after Christmas to learn that James Smith’s was closing, so I had done the right thing!

Some of the girls, along with Alan Physick, came to work with us at SGM. It is very sad when we see all the young people out of work – all those skills going to waste. At least we were appreciated, though we didn’t always know it.

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This article is from the Derby Evening Telegraph and is reproduced online here.