BOB KING ON JOHN SAYERS METCALFE
Posted: 20 Apr 2012, 14:38
Great stuff. I'll put it on the site as well as index it. Send as much as you like. Glad you like the tapes, that's why I made them.
You're right about the old textile men, mention anything to do with the trade and they're like old fire horses who have heard the bell. I once asked an old manager what the attraction was and he looked at me and said 'It's the cloth Stanley, the cloth!'
Best, Stanley.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob King
To: stanley@barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 4:54 AM
Subject: John Sayers Metcalfe
Hi Stanley,
I enjoyed your tape done with John Sayers Metcalfe from the Clough Mill. I knew John quite well, his eldest son Norman went to school with me and he ended up as a violinist with a top orchestra. His other son John went to Nelson and Colne Tech with me in the early 1950s, he took Final City and Guilds and I took both that and Higher National Certificate in Cotton Weaving. I was a night student and John went during the day. Old John was quite upset that young John was not awarded a HNC, but the rules were that you had to do it over a number of years, with little and no absenteeism and get thru. without a failure. It took me 5 years and young John, who was a brilliant student tried to do it in 2 years and the Textile Institute would not look at him. Young John went to work for Courtaulds and I believe that he did end up as a director of that firm.
When I was Mill Managing at Victoria Mill, Clough Mill was in difficulties and I persuaded our Manchester Office to give them some commission weaving in 1955/1957, they had run down their weaving shed and although we got some good cloth from them, they didn’t seem to be able to weave some of our heavier double three shaft Jeans 45” cloth, 96 ends per inch and 62 pick per inch of 24s/24s. 3 ends in a 62 Stockport reed. Yes a right old banger when you got enough in a weaving shed, like the brass band coming down the street with the big drum going. Most of our clients wanted this cloth and you couldn’t put more than one into a set of 8 or 10 looms..
John Sayers Metcalfe would be the last of the old time mill managers, he watched every penny, was a stickler for time keeping and knew his stuff. Like us all we suffered with old looms, modern looms with an electric motor per loom picking 450/500 picks per minute would have eaten some of the cloths that we wove, BUT and the word is BUT you would have needed the best of twist in the warps and cones of weft yarn with no knots in them and all joins welded. I have used some longer staple Indian Yarns in NZ which both knitted and wove well and our looms were Sultzers 18ft wide in the reed space and picking over 300 picks per minute. The weaver needed roller skates on on a set of 6 looms!!!! There are air jet and water jet looms capable of 800/900 picks per minute but everything must be right for them, I had 24 water jet Nissan Looms in Christchurch weaving Polypropylene fertilizer bag material and they could fly, one weaver looking after all 24 looms. We kept 2 spare looms and when one wanted repairing, we took it out with a fork hoist and slipped the spare in place. I even developed them to weave lenos (cross weave) for the manufacture of onion bags, so they were versatile.
The trouble with this textile game, Stanley is that we veterans are like the old war horses smelling a battle, open a subject like weaving or taping and we go on for ever and think of nowt else, even though our memories are getting dimmer and dimmer.
I also like the tapes with Horace Thornton, we had no end of trouble at Victoria Mill with warps being under sized and wouldn’t weave, we were on the third floor of the Mill. I borrowed a starch refractor meter from Shirley Institute and we tested every half beam over a period and we found that our sow box was varying from 10% size on the first beam or so down to under 5% on the last ones,
even though the taper was topping up, Newton Pickles got into the act and there was no doubt about it we were getting as much water with the steam as we were steam. He sat down with a piece of chalk and drew a water/steam separator on the tape room floor, and I commissioned him to build it and install it. My taper (from Nelson) took the huff and left, but I was lucky and got the best taper I’ve ever had - a man from Barlick called Alf Hartley. We got a good tape labourer from Kelbrook called Rennie Fitchett to help him with the heavy work and once we got mobile and started taping again, you could almost guarantee the Starch Refractor Meter readings through the whole set of beams, I bought Alf a starch refractor meter for his own use. Believe me in a short period of time we revolutionized the weaving shed - weavers patrolled their looms and had smiles on their faces. A combination of science, good engineering and a good taper. We used nothing else but triple dressed sago flour and either NZ or Australian Tallow and the best of soft soap ,
Better shut up and think about going home, I have to get the tea ready for the missus, Bye BobK (Hatepe)
You're right about the old textile men, mention anything to do with the trade and they're like old fire horses who have heard the bell. I once asked an old manager what the attraction was and he looked at me and said 'It's the cloth Stanley, the cloth!'
Best, Stanley.
----- Original Message -----
From: Bob King
To: stanley@barnoldswick.freeserve.co.uk
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 4:54 AM
Subject: John Sayers Metcalfe
Hi Stanley,
I enjoyed your tape done with John Sayers Metcalfe from the Clough Mill. I knew John quite well, his eldest son Norman went to school with me and he ended up as a violinist with a top orchestra. His other son John went to Nelson and Colne Tech with me in the early 1950s, he took Final City and Guilds and I took both that and Higher National Certificate in Cotton Weaving. I was a night student and John went during the day. Old John was quite upset that young John was not awarded a HNC, but the rules were that you had to do it over a number of years, with little and no absenteeism and get thru. without a failure. It took me 5 years and young John, who was a brilliant student tried to do it in 2 years and the Textile Institute would not look at him. Young John went to work for Courtaulds and I believe that he did end up as a director of that firm.
When I was Mill Managing at Victoria Mill, Clough Mill was in difficulties and I persuaded our Manchester Office to give them some commission weaving in 1955/1957, they had run down their weaving shed and although we got some good cloth from them, they didn’t seem to be able to weave some of our heavier double three shaft Jeans 45” cloth, 96 ends per inch and 62 pick per inch of 24s/24s. 3 ends in a 62 Stockport reed. Yes a right old banger when you got enough in a weaving shed, like the brass band coming down the street with the big drum going. Most of our clients wanted this cloth and you couldn’t put more than one into a set of 8 or 10 looms..
John Sayers Metcalfe would be the last of the old time mill managers, he watched every penny, was a stickler for time keeping and knew his stuff. Like us all we suffered with old looms, modern looms with an electric motor per loom picking 450/500 picks per minute would have eaten some of the cloths that we wove, BUT and the word is BUT you would have needed the best of twist in the warps and cones of weft yarn with no knots in them and all joins welded. I have used some longer staple Indian Yarns in NZ which both knitted and wove well and our looms were Sultzers 18ft wide in the reed space and picking over 300 picks per minute. The weaver needed roller skates on on a set of 6 looms!!!! There are air jet and water jet looms capable of 800/900 picks per minute but everything must be right for them, I had 24 water jet Nissan Looms in Christchurch weaving Polypropylene fertilizer bag material and they could fly, one weaver looking after all 24 looms. We kept 2 spare looms and when one wanted repairing, we took it out with a fork hoist and slipped the spare in place. I even developed them to weave lenos (cross weave) for the manufacture of onion bags, so they were versatile.
The trouble with this textile game, Stanley is that we veterans are like the old war horses smelling a battle, open a subject like weaving or taping and we go on for ever and think of nowt else, even though our memories are getting dimmer and dimmer.
I also like the tapes with Horace Thornton, we had no end of trouble at Victoria Mill with warps being under sized and wouldn’t weave, we were on the third floor of the Mill. I borrowed a starch refractor meter from Shirley Institute and we tested every half beam over a period and we found that our sow box was varying from 10% size on the first beam or so down to under 5% on the last ones,
even though the taper was topping up, Newton Pickles got into the act and there was no doubt about it we were getting as much water with the steam as we were steam. He sat down with a piece of chalk and drew a water/steam separator on the tape room floor, and I commissioned him to build it and install it. My taper (from Nelson) took the huff and left, but I was lucky and got the best taper I’ve ever had - a man from Barlick called Alf Hartley. We got a good tape labourer from Kelbrook called Rennie Fitchett to help him with the heavy work and once we got mobile and started taping again, you could almost guarantee the Starch Refractor Meter readings through the whole set of beams, I bought Alf a starch refractor meter for his own use. Believe me in a short period of time we revolutionized the weaving shed - weavers patrolled their looms and had smiles on their faces. A combination of science, good engineering and a good taper. We used nothing else but triple dressed sago flour and either NZ or Australian Tallow and the best of soft soap ,
Better shut up and think about going home, I have to get the tea ready for the missus, Bye BobK (Hatepe)