From 1920 onwards making a living became hard. It wasn't just a matter of employment, prices started to rise and anyone on a pension or low fixed income was hit. Then there were the families whose bread-winner came back from the war too damaged to work even if it was available. Ernie Roberts told me of his dad coming back and being permanently disabled, dying within a couple of years. They were put on what was then called Parish Relief but the man who administered this cheated them to the tune of ten shillings a week (50p.) Eventually he was found out and gaoled for six months but in the interim Ernie's family had to survive on hand outs from charity, pawning small items at Wraw's and getting support from the Salvation Army. To the end of his days Ernie never forgot who had helped them. The Roberts family was not alone, there were many in the same predicament. Local individuals and organisations helped, a local manufacturer paid for Ernie's clogs to be repaired and replaced when necessary. The Conservative club ran an annual 'frizzle' on spare ground in Butts, a barbecue where all who asked were fed.
The manufacturers were feeling the pinch as well. The local Manufacturers Association founded in 1895 coordinated efforts to lower wages, impose harsher discipline and fines and use any method that increased production without expense. The workers' unions fought against these measures but the manufacturers had the ultimate weapon, if the workers didn't come to heel they locked them out and closed the mill down until their demands were agreed to. At times this led to all the mills in Earby and Barlick being closed.
In 1929 a Burnley manufacturer called Tertius Spencer came up with a bright idea. Instead of a weaver having four looms he gave them eight but slowed the looms down so that they could manage all of them. It was quite brilliant and a good idea that eventually became universal but getting the 'More Looms System' into all the mills with the cooperation of the weavers (who would be better off) was spoiled because the employers wouldn't address the question of what would happen to the older weavers who were displaced. The unions were not strong and the Communist Party formed a branch in Barlick in 1921 They and their leader Jim Rushton were at the forefront of the disputes that started in 1929, reached a peak in 1931 and rumbled on for a few years after that. The manufacturers reacted to the strikes by bringing in scab labour and operating a black list of troublemakers who were not to be employed.
Troubles like these weren't confined to Barlick, they were countrywide and all meant one thing, making a living was hard for most and impossible for some. In the late 1930s the growth of the new car industry meant that there were well paid jobs in the Midlands and many families left the area at that time and never came back.
Jim Rushton leading a protest in Earby in 1932.
