Remarkable Documentary From 1971

[tyke1962]

The life of a textile worker and his family in West Yorkshire made by the World In Action team in 1971 .

Over fifty years ago since this was made but it's a remarkable piece of social history .

https://youtu.be/zS1gdn6vAWc?si=vDOvPjH8BBtRM1Dx

[Sprotyrover]

Strange how prices have changed, a pack of 10 fags from a vending machine was 12.5 p ,so he could buy 80 packs of 20 for his £20. Beer was 20 a pint so he could buy 100 Pints in the Pub. A Kit Kat or Mars bar was 7p. Chips were 3p Cod was 10p and Haddock was 12.5p in the chip shop. So fish n chips were circa 15p.

[scawsby steve]

The life of a textile worker and his family in West Yorkshire made by the World In Action team in 1971 .

Over fifty years ago since this was made but it's a remarkable piece of social history .

https://youtu.be/zS1gdn6vAWc?si=vDOvPjH8BBtRM1Dx

Thanks for that, Tyke. Brilliant documentary. If the guy's still alive, I'd assume him to be in his early to mid 80s. I wonder what he thinks to working class life now, compared to then.

There's no doubt that the standard of living is higher now, with fancy new cars, widescreen TVs, holidays abroad etc. However, working class pleasures such as beer, fags, fish "n" chips, and football were incredibly cheap back in the 60s and 70s.

Swings and roundabouts really. I doubt that life will ever be Utopia for the working class, under any government.

[SydneyRover]

In youtube comments 

''Hi everyone, my name is Andrew and I am the grandson-in-law of Jack Walker. As some people in the comments have pointed out Jack did pass in 1997 from a heart attack, long before I ever could have met him. Audrey remained in their home until her health began to fail 2018/19 when she moved to more sheltered accommodation, before ultimately passing in January 2022. Beverley herself married a man called Tom, an electrician from Gravesend in Kent, who was up in Shipley for work and never went back! She struggled with her own health and ultimately passed in 2012, I also never had a chance to meet her, but she was also a wonderful, working-class, union woman herself by every account. The family that remain all still live in Shipley/Baildon, my brother-in-law lives in Jack and Audrey's house now, we were able to keep it in the family!''

[SydneyRover]

The Up series gives great commentary on social mobility and bears out what has already been said on the difficulty of traversing the british system.

''Britain’s top jobs still in hands of private school elite, study finds
This article is more than 4 years old
‘Scandalous’ figures show extent of domination in politics, media and business''

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jun/25/britains-top-jobs-still-in-hands-of-private-school-elite-study-finds

 

[tyke1962]

The life of a textile worker and his family in West Yorkshire made by the World In Action team in 1971 .

Over fifty years ago since this was made but it's a remarkable piece of social history .

https://youtu.be/zS1gdn6vAWc?si=vDOvPjH8BBtRM1Dx

Thanks for that, Tyke. Brilliant documentary. If the guy's still alive, I'd assume him to be in his early to mid 80s. I wonder what he thinks to working class life now, compared to then.

There's no doubt that the standard of living is higher now, with fancy new cars, widescreen TVs, holidays abroad etc. However, working class pleasures such as beer, fags, fish "n" chips, and football were incredibly cheap back in the 60s and 70s.

Swings and roundabouts really. I doubt that life will ever be Utopia for the working class, under any government.

What really struck me more than anything in the film was the pride that existed .

He did a tough job in that dyehouse but he took pride in it even though he probably knew deep down he was getting exploited .

Suit and tie on when out and about with his wife which was the thing in those days .

He wanted to aspire to owning his own home rather than rent from the council but he knew it would be almost impossible to save for a deposit on the families income .

I found that very telling too because by the end of that decade Thatcher would give him the opportunity to buy his house from the council .

[Colin C No.3]

In 1959 we lived in a pre-fab in Dunscroft. Dad had a ‘good job’ as a fork lift truck driver at Cementation in Bentley.

We had a car that mum got dad to sell so we could use the money to put down as a deposit on a 3 bedroom semi with a front & back garden in Wheatley Hills which cost £2,400. The family (5 kids) went on to achieve position’s in later life that I believe would never have been possible had we stayed in Dunsville.

A hard working father & a mother who wanted a ‘better life’ helped us climb a few important rungs.

[Sprotyrover]

The mind set was different in most working class households back then, social housing was cheap and folks liked that, plus 40 fags a day and 10 pints of beer in the Pub was acceptable. Folks who didn’t drink or didn’t smoke could save and get on!

[Filo]

In 1959 we lived in a pre-fab in Dunscroft. Dad had a ‘good job’ as a fork lift truck driver at Cementation in Bentley.

We had a car that mum got dad to sell so we could use the money to put down as a deposit on a 3 bedroom semi with a front & back garden in Wheatley Hills which cost £2,400. The family (5 kids) went on to achieve position’s in later life that I believe would never have been possible had we stayed in Dunsville.

A hard working father & a mother who wanted a ‘better life’ helped us climb a few important rungs.

Dunscroft or Dunsville?

[scawsby steve]

What a shame that Jack and his daughter both died prematurely. In Jack's case, I wouldn't be surprised if working in the dye-house all those years amongst the toxic fumes he talked about, contributed to his health deteriorating over time.

[danumdon]

Very powerful and insightful documentary, id say Jack was very typical of his generation and class, a modest hard working man who accepted his fate and did his best for his family with what was available to him. His life savings of £100 (around £1200 in today's money)was something that he was quite happy to leave to his daughter in the hope of giving her a better start in life, that she died relatively young was a shame but probably not unknown for working class folk living in industrial towns, The fact Jack lasted as long as he did working in an industry that would be very highly regulated today due to the chemicals and H&S issues was probably testament to a hard upbringing.

When you fast forward to today and the general equivalent working class, in comparison, if you can compare would never be so humble and accepting of their fates, can you imagine people wanting to do this type of work today when they can get a better life on benefits?

In an age when unions were very much more powerful its a shame they could never(or would not want to push) further education opportunities for working class people and specifically people in their unions, that it took another 20 years for adult education to really become a serious possibility for working class people like Jack to me was a failing in the Labour and union movement.

Fast forward to today and the equivalent to Jack would never have the resoluteness, determination and pride to stick at a job that just about kept a roof over their heads. Expectations today are very much grander and it looks like pride and resolve has deserted the working class. we now have an underclass who in effect are below the standards that Jack had to endure, a life on benefits to these people seems a better choice.

About the only thing Blair got right was his education mantra, its just a great shame that his and subsequent governments managed to devalue and reduce it to profits based enterprise that now produces very few graduates with a clear and definable pathway to a meaningful career but equips many with meaningless and useless degrees that ill prepair them for a lifetimes employment.

If we can get this right then we stand a chance, the alternative is to see generations condemned to the scrapheap and destitution or a life of subsistence in a AI dominated world.

[SydneyRover]

Very powerful and insightful documentary, id say Jack was very typical of his generation and class, a modest hard working man who accepted his fate and did his best for his family with what was available to him. His life savings of £100 (around £1200 in today's money)was something that he was quite happy to leave to his daughter in the hope of giving her a better start in life, that she died relatively young was a shame but probably not unknown for working class folk living in industrial towns, The fact Jack lasted as long as he did working in an industry that would be very highly regulated today due to the chemicals and H&S issues was probably testament to a hard upbringing.

When you fast forward to today and the general equivalent working class, in comparison, if you can compare would never be so humble and accepting of their fates, can you imagine people wanting to do this type of work today when they can get a better life on benefits?

In an age when unions were very much more powerful its a shame they could never(or would not want to push) further education opportunities for working class people and specifically people in their unions, that it took another 20 years for adult education to really become a serious possibility for working class people like Jack to me was a failing in the Labour and union movement.

Fast forward to today and the equivalent to Jack would never have the resoluteness, determination and pride to stick at a job that just about kept a roof over their heads. Expectations today are very much grander and it looks like pride and resolve has deserted the working class. we now have an underclass who in effect are below the standards that Jack had to endure, a life on benefits to these people seems a better choice.

About the only thing Blair got right was his education mantra, its just a great shame that his and subsequent governments managed to devalue and reduce it to profits based enterprise that now produces very few graduates with a clear and definable pathway to a meaningful career but equips many with meaningless and useless degrees that ill prepair them for a lifetimes employment.

If we can get this right then we stand a chance, the alternative is to see generations condemned to the scrapheap and destitution or a life of subsistence in a AI dominated world.

Notes.

Jack’s house was pretty good, a semi-detached and nice garden, didn't catch what the rent was.

Was he accepting his fate? Not sure about that he didn’t sound very happy with good reasons, boring, dangerous and shift work for 20 quid a week, although he would have received more for night shift.

He was hoping to save ₤500 quid to give to his daughter when she married (up) at 21, not leave her ₤100 on his death.

You say nowadays it would be a ‘heavily regulated industry’ maybe, look below at the link

There was a lockout at Denby Dyeworks, they brought in scab labour on less than they were earning.

He said in the club that they would be sacked if they didn’t renounce the union, I wasn’t sure which company they were discussing.

His main fear was losing his job.

Do you support unions and their right to strike dd?

DD ''When you fast forward to today and the general equivalent working class, in comparison, if you can compare would never be so humble and accepting of their fates, can you imagine people wanting to do this type of work today when they can get a better life on benefits?''

If this is the case, what accounts for the jobs numbers rising and falling? when there are less jobs do a whole host of people suddenly decide that welfare is a better option and the opposite where are jobs available?

DD, Please supply evidence and some numbers and evidence that supports this.

Doncaster was an industrial town in the 1970s most jobs would have been reasonably similar, hard, shifts, dangerous chemicals and machinery.

You appear to have some sympathy for Jack and yet he could quite easily have lost his job at any time, there may have been others in town that did lose their jobs, would they not deserve your sympathy also dd?

(135 workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain in 2022/23, an increase of 12 (10%) on the previous year, AND a total of 68 members of the public sustained fatal injuries, which is a decrease of 20 deaths (23%) from the same period last year.24 July 2023)

https://www.dacbeachcroft.com/en/What-we-think/hse-statistics-work-related-fatal-injuries-in-great-britain-2023#:~:text=135%20workers%20were%20killed%20in,the%20same%20period%20last%20year.

(These numbers do not include asbestos related deaths}

[roversdude]

Syd you missed out the statement that the previous years were impacted by Covid.
It is still scandalous that we are killing people at work

[BobG]

I always thought that the introduction of comprehensive schools and the Open University in the late 1960's and early 1970's were aimed at improving educational opportunities, and achievements, for and of members of the working class.

Irrespective of how succesful or unsuccesful you think these were, those who experienced rejection at age 11 and were forced into the the earlier secondary modern senior schools will always be grateful for these improvements -wrought by the Labour Party and the union movement

BobG

[danumdon]

We employ quite a few people who by their very own admission did not prosper and develop well in school. They never bought into the fact that for their future progress and aspirations they needed to have that underpinning knowledge and understanding of learning and retaining relevant information.

They were lucky to be in the employ of a business who could see they had potential and enabled them to partake in further education to build upon their undoubted hands on skills. This has allowed them all to become high earners who now have the education and skills to progress throughout their careers.

The education system failed them at a young age and left them with the possibility of being on the scrapheap at a very young age, the FE system in this country is currently failing a great many others who find themselves in a similar situation.

Our technical training of workers/apprentices is very poor and to a much lower standard than many of our direct competitors across the world. We need to develop this side of our education system to enable many to be prepared for the great many changes that will occur in the developed world.

Ive yet to see anything that looks like progress from any of the current political parties.

[BobG]

The OU?

BobG