Holdsworth Family History

Holdsworth's Cyclopaedia & Glossary: Events, People, Terms

Home Intro. Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V WX Y Z FF Names

N

Netherside Hall, Wharfedale 1924

Netherside Hall, Threshfield, Nr. Grassington

Clement Holdsworth bought a country mansion, Netherside Hall at Threshfield near Grassington, and moved there from Shaw Lodge in 1912.
He shot grouse on Conistone moor and fished for trout on the Wharfe.
Clement's lifestyle as a country gentleman was sustained by his considerable personal wealth.

Netherside was eventually turned into a preparatory boarding school for girls, which was attended
by Clement's granddaughter Anne Doyne Holdsworth from the age of 7 to 11. (1940-44)

Wire-Loom Shuttle and Cop/Pirn, still in use, 2005

Northrop; J.H. Northrop Pirn Changer

The Northrop Pirn Changer; a mechanical device which provides automatic supply of Weft in Looms by changing the contents of the Shuttle without stopping the Loom.

This device changes the pirn and threaded the weft in the Shuttle automatically over the course of the first two Picks after the change.
The Pirn is held in two sprung jaws with grooves which matched the rings on the butt of the pirn.
At the other end of the Shuttle is a brass casting fitted with a slot such that the weft is drawn into it on the first Pick, and then down into the eye of the Shuttle on the second pick.
Full pirns are loaded in a rotating Magazine / Hopper. The change is activated by a weft feeler which detects through contact on every second pick when the metal sleeve on the pirn has become exposed. The pirn is then changed after the next pick.

John Nuttall in 1950, and again in 2000

Nuttall, John L.

John L Nuttall joined John Holdsworth & Co Ltd in 1949 after he was de-mobbed from the RAF. He became a weaver in 1953, where he worked on shifts, opposite Teddy Breaks until he left in 1959. He returned to Shaw Lodge Mills as a loom tuner on 3 Jan 1978, after gaining his experience in Luddenden Foot and at John Crossley's of Dean Clough. (Crossley's closed in 1982.) On the transfer of Peter Hepworth, into the sales department, John became manager of the mending and finishing departments, where he remained until his retirement. He was succeeded by Kevin Wilman.
John stayed on at Holdsworths after his 65th birthday, to continue working on final piece inspection.

Malcolm Nutton, 2007

Nutton, Malcolm

Malcolm Nutton joined John Holdsworth & Co Ltd in March 2005 as Yarn Preparation Supervisor having spent the previous 22 years in the concrete manufacturing business at Marshalls PLC of Southowram.

This was a brave move at the time as Malcolm had no experience in the textile industry.
Malcolm was firstly asked to take control of some of the problems in the yarn twisting as it was obvious that the costs involved in this process were spiralling out of control.
Malcolm said at that time it was almost like being thrown 'out of the frying pan into the fire'.

This was at a pivotal time in the Company's history, as it struggled to cope with cheaper foreign imports, eroding margins and stiffer corporate and employment regulation. It was not long before Malcolm took on additional responsibilities in managing the finishing and warehousing operations where he improved the processes and improved the unit costs, regrettably not substantially enough to secure the future of the manufacturing business.
He was never afraid to help out in any field of operations, and latterly became involved in the income generation through the rental of storage space in the wire-loom production area (D Shed) after the looms had been relocated to the main production area.
He was retained at the time of the closure to manage the mill site.