Richard,s contribution about the mill closing made me think about the half timers. Around 1900 inside Hilden mill was a school for employees children who attended three days and Saturday being a workday worked the other three . Thus half timers. Rough conditions. Anyone know any more? I heard this from my Grandparents and other old hands in my youth.Before her marriage my grandmother walked from Derryiaghy each morning to start work in the Mill at 7.00am. Another Hilden person Joe Marmion told me he saw women coming barefoot to work, but fortunatly that was before my time. In 1959 I saw spinners and doffers working barefoot in the wet spinning room, not because they didn,t have shoes but because of the damp floors created by spray coming from the spinning frames.
Donald