Chapter Eight
'Leaving the Mill'
Beth stayed working at Harrison Gardner's for almost nine years and remained their shop steward throughout this time. Year after year, she became a much respected member of the firm. The workforce respected her and trusted her to deal with the management fairly on their behalf. The six working foremen gave her the courtesy she deserved and she acquired their gradual admiration by the way she stood her ground whenever she was in negotiation with Mr John.
As for the mill owner, Mr John had come to like her tremendously once he had grown to understand her ways better. You see, Beth was a most unusual shop steward. It was as though she was capable of seeing the much bigger picture and never allowed her vision to be constrained by sheer partiality of her working class credentials and a misguided form of parochialism for her fellow worker.
As for the mill owner, Mr John had come to like her tremendously once he had grown to understand her ways better. You see, Beth was a most unusual shop steward. It was as though she was capable of seeing the much bigger picture and never allowed her vision to be constrained by sheer partiality of her working class credentials and a misguided form of parochialism for her fellow worker.
Whenever a worker was in conflict with the management and it was the worker who was in the wrong, Beth refused to make excuses for them, yet would represent them and fight their corner as fairly as she could. Just as she had managed to get industrial compensation for the loss of Jack Downs' arm, after Fredd Rhodes suffered a massive heart attack at work and his widow had been left in considerable debt, Beth persuaded the Harrisons to stand the full funeral cost as a good-will gesture to the workforce. However, given that Fred had a pre-existing heart condition and had refused to give up his job, whatever the risk, Beth did not press for industrial compensation as Mr John was doing him a big favour allowing him to stay on and die in post whereas other employers wouldn't have.
Mr John would never forget one occasion when he was approached by Beth in her capacity as shop steward with a view of changing the rates of pay that had been awarded to each of the vats over the years. On the face of it, Beth seemed to be asking for a reduction in some of the vat rates and a modest increase in the rate of other vats. Quickly scanning the figures that Beth presented to him, Mr Frank said that he'd look them over and let her know what he thought.
Three days later, Mr John readily agreed to the proposed changes in the rate of pay allotted to each of the 36 vats in his dye house. On the surface, Beth seemed to be striking a bad deal with the management; a deal that would witness a reduction of the pooled weekly earnings instead of any increase for processing exactly the same amount of work. Mr Frank on the other hand, was certain he was on a sure winner.
However, it turned out as a result of the changes that the workforce increased both their weekly production along with their weekly wages; effectively producing winners all round. For the life in him, Mr John could not fathom how that could possibly have come about.
Three days later, Mr John readily agreed to the proposed changes in the rate of pay allotted to each of the 36 vats in his dye house. On the surface, Beth seemed to be striking a bad deal with the management; a deal that would witness a reduction of the pooled weekly earnings instead of any increase for processing exactly the same amount of work. Mr Frank on the other hand, was certain he was on a sure winner.
However, it turned out as a result of the changes that the workforce increased both their weekly production along with their weekly wages; effectively producing winners all round. For the life in him, Mr John could not fathom how that could possibly have come about.
Beth on the other hand knew precisely what she was doing. For years now, the 36 dying vats had proven to be as much a source of division with the workers than they'd been a source of contentment. The workers who operated the lower numbered vats that paid the highest rates would invariably strut around as though they were cock of the walk each week as the pooled figures and their breakdown were produced and shown to the workforce. These weekly figures identified these vat operators as having earned the most money for their work mates and the firm, whereas those operatives that worked the higher numbered vats, and who'd worked every bit as hard as all the rest, would be identified as having earned the least to be pooled. By reducing the rates on the highest paid vats and increasing the rates on the lowest paid vats, she still enabled all the workforce to earn as much as before and many to contribute much more to the weekly pool; thereby increasing the pride of many at a simple stroke.
Over the remaining years at Harrison Gardner's, Beth was obliged to revise the way she looked with her butch hair style and reluctance to wear skirts and dresses. After she'd been sexually approached a number of times by women who were obviously of lesbian inclination who thought that she was also, Beth decide to allow her locks to grow back to both a length and look that clearly identified her as being feminine.
Over the remaining years at Harrison Gardner's, Beth was obliged to revise the way she looked with her butch hair style and reluctance to wear skirts and dresses. After she'd been sexually approached a number of times by women who were obviously of lesbian inclination who thought that she was also, Beth decide to allow her locks to grow back to both a length and look that clearly identified her as being feminine.
By the time Beth had gone twenty five, she was looking once more as attractive as she had ever looked before and while she always wore slacks to work, she might be seen occasionally out and about in a skirt or a dress and high heels.
After the incident with George Munt following the work's dinner dance some years earlier, whilst Beth and George had generally maintained a decent distance at work, when they did have occasion to speak to each other, it was always polite and cordial. While Beth feared that George still carried a torch for her, she was eventually pleased when one year later, George and Sally Owens from the packing department, who had always been a close work mate of Beth's, got married and obtained a two bedroomed house nearby on Windybank Estate.
After the incident with George Munt following the work's dinner dance some years earlier, whilst Beth and George had generally maintained a decent distance at work, when they did have occasion to speak to each other, it was always polite and cordial. While Beth feared that George still carried a torch for her, she was eventually pleased when one year later, George and Sally Owens from the packing department, who had always been a close work mate of Beth's, got married and obtained a two bedroomed house nearby on Windybank Estate.
Sally was pregnant on the day of her wedding which Beth attended, but overall they seemed to make a very happy couple. After the birth of George's and Sally's first baby, Sally asked Beth to be the Godmother for her newborn daughter Elizabeth. Beth sensed that she had been Sally's choice as one of the Godparents and not George's.
While Beth didn't start up any ongoing relationship with another man during her years at Harrison Gardner's, she would be occasionally seen out and about in some pub lounge, picture house or walking the high street on a weekend in the company of some man. While never having a more permanent boyfriend, she never experienced any difficulty in acquiring an escort each December to accompany her to the work's dinner dance. She also rented herself a house in nearby Hare Park Lane and when she looked out of the top window she could see the glass works and Harrison Gardner's in the distance.
Between the ages of twenty five and thirty years of age, Beth became a woman of established routine whenever she finished work for the day. Upon arriving home, her first action would be to pour herself a gin and tonic and while she never ate a lot for tea and would often make do with something light, it would always be accompanied by a glass of red wine. By ten pm Beth would take herself off to bed with a book and a glass of milk, but not before wrapping up the emptied wine bottle in some paper to conceal it and leaving it bagged and ready to be put in the bin next day. In the event that she had more than one empty bottle to dispose of, Beth would simply also make use of her neighbour's bin.
Like many an alcoholic before her and since, Beth didn't realise how dependent she had become and would never in a thousand years have considered herself to be addicted. She never arrived at work the worse for drink the following day and like all secret drinkers who view the odd glass as a relaxant, Beth lived in denial and to all intents and purpose, social acceptance.
Between the ages of twenty five and thirty years of age, Beth became a woman of established routine whenever she finished work for the day. Upon arriving home, her first action would be to pour herself a gin and tonic and while she never ate a lot for tea and would often make do with something light, it would always be accompanied by a glass of red wine. By ten pm Beth would take herself off to bed with a book and a glass of milk, but not before wrapping up the emptied wine bottle in some paper to conceal it and leaving it bagged and ready to be put in the bin next day. In the event that she had more than one empty bottle to dispose of, Beth would simply also make use of her neighbour's bin.
Like many an alcoholic before her and since, Beth didn't realise how dependent she had become and would never in a thousand years have considered herself to be addicted. She never arrived at work the worse for drink the following day and like all secret drinkers who view the odd glass as a relaxant, Beth lived in denial and to all intents and purpose, social acceptance.
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After Beth had spent her first Christmas Day and birthday inside her flat and locked away from the world after attending the firm's dinner dance with George Munt, the very next Christmas she was determined not to spend her birthday alone. So instead of staying at home, she took herself off to Oldham and spent the day working in a soup kitchen that was visited throughout the day by tramps, vagrants with alcoholic and drug problems and other homeless people who were hungry and destitute. Initially the place had opened ten years earlier serving coffee and doughnuts to the unemployed, but had changed over the years to providing full cooked meals for anyone who couldn't afford to eat properly.
She spent three days in succession at the charity soup kitchen and when she eventually returned to work, she didn't feel that she had wasted her birthday that year. Every year thereafter, Beth was to return to the charity soup kitchen in Oldham where she would dish out food for three days running and talk to some of the men and women who frequented the place.
It surprised Beth to discover just how many of the soup kitchen patrons were estranged from their families along with the vast number who were dependent upon alcohol, which they used in copious quantities to drown their sorrows. During the time Beth spent at the soup centre, she lost track of the number of young girls she came across who'd been abused in their childhood (often by family members) and who'd been forced into the role of unwanted motherhood long before they possessed the wherewithal to cope.
She spent three days in succession at the charity soup kitchen and when she eventually returned to work, she didn't feel that she had wasted her birthday that year. Every year thereafter, Beth was to return to the charity soup kitchen in Oldham where she would dish out food for three days running and talk to some of the men and women who frequented the place.
It surprised Beth to discover just how many of the soup kitchen patrons were estranged from their families along with the vast number who were dependent upon alcohol, which they used in copious quantities to drown their sorrows. During the time Beth spent at the soup centre, she lost track of the number of young girls she came across who'd been abused in their childhood (often by family members) and who'd been forced into the role of unwanted motherhood long before they possessed the wherewithal to cope.
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Each December that Harrison Gardner's broke up for the Christmas holidays, the bulk of the workforce either went to 'The Hightown Liberal Working Man's Club' nearby or across the road to the 'Shoulder of Mutton' for a few celebratory drinks. By and large, the married men went to the 'Liberal Club' and the younger workers frequented the 'Shoulder of Mutton' that was on the doorstep so to speak. By 2pm, it could be guaranteed that the pub would be filled to the rafters with Christmas revellers. The piano would be playing and the entire pub of patrons would become the noisiest choir of bawdy songs you'd ever heard outside a stag night at a rugby club.
The pub would usually be filled with the single men and women who were out for a jolly old knees up before going home for tea and then after having a bath and changing, going out on the town for the night. This was the one day of the year when friendships would be tested and relationships of both a regular and irregular type would be started or ended. Middle class folk might have regarded it as being akin to 'the office party' of the city worker.
Most of the married men who worked at the mill would usually go to the 'Hightown Liberal Working Men's Club', where it was frowned upon for women to enter during the day. They chose this drinking establishment because it was the one place where they knew that they wouldn't bump into their wives!
Most of the married men who worked at the mill would usually go to the 'Hightown Liberal Working Men's Club', where it was frowned upon for women to enter during the day. They chose this drinking establishment because it was the one place where they knew that they wouldn't bump into their wives!
It was 1.30 when Beth entered the 'Shoulder of Mutton'. She had come to work in her slacks that day, but had also brought a sexy skirt and a pair of heels to put on after she'd knocked off for the holidays. She tied her long hair in a plaited pony tail. As she entered the pub, she was instantly accosted by a good number of her workmates who rarely saw her out and about. They all bought her a drink and before long, the party was swinging with jokes being told and gossip being exchanged amid the singing and the laughter.
By 3.30 pm the pub had still not stopped serving for the afternoon and Beth was starting to feel inebriated. She visited the lavatory and was giggling so much that she wet herself. With wet undies, the only thing she could do was to remove them along with her stockings and suspenders.
The other girls laughed their heads off that she'd pissed her pants and one of them couldn't help but tell the others that Beth had decided to go commando for the rest of the afternoon. Unfortunately, a few of the chaps also overheard this comment that their female shop steward was knickerless.
Before long Beth was legless and seeing her inebriated, one of the company spiked her drink and a few of the women decided to play a joke on her that would provide ample gossip after Christmas when the mill returned to work.
They took hold of Beth and walked her across the road as she leant on the shoulder of one woman and threatened to throw up on the other one who supported her. Beth was simply too far gone to know what was happening or where they were taking her. In fact, apart from wanting to shut her eyes and go to sleep, she couldn't care two figs or a fiddler's fart.
Her two work mates helped her across the road and walked her down the narrow passage at the side of the mill that led towards the bottom of Mirey Lane. Half way down the narrow passage they turned right towards the hanking shed that was deserted. Once there, they found a corner and dumped Beth down on some slubbing before placing a bottle of pale ale in her hand. Then they laughed and giggled loudly and left her there. They intended to call back and collect her at the end of the afternoon's drinking session in the pub.
Beth was well and truly drunk and out for the count. She was in the shed for around two hours during which time she felt as though she was paralysed. For some reason her mind started playing tricks on her and she found herself mentally transported back seventeen years early. She could feel the heavy body of Martin Meggins on top of her as he pawed her breasts and started to rape her only this time his face was hooded. She struggled to stop the experience of being stripped and raped, but found herself completely helpless and unable to move. Though her eyes were open they were unable to focus properly. It was as though she'd been drugged. Everything around her looked blurry. Then she blacked out completely.
She was half aware of what had probably taken place in the hanking shed that afternoon, but had no recollection of who it was and to what extent they had assaulted her.
Two months into the New Year, Beth still remained highly embarrassed about what had happened after her drinking session at the 'Shoulder of Mutton' and for a number of weeks the girls and a number of the men continued to pull her leg and gossip behind her back as they tried to guess who the man had been. Everyone assumed that whoever it was, it was naturally with her consent.
From having gained their trust and having been accepted as a highly respected shop steward for almost eight years now, Beth had suddenly become a figure to gossip about or feel sorry for. While none of her work colleagues thought for one moment that she'd been raped, most were prepared to think that she gave in too easily to the mysterious man's sexual advances.
Most weekends Beth now slept in and was too ashamed to show her face. She would stare out of her window for hours wishing that she knew for sure what had happened to her following her drunken session at the 'Shoulder of Mutton.' Had she been drugged and raped or had some molesting mill chap simply come across her drunk in the hanking shed and decided to strip and fondle her before her friends returned to check on her and he ran off? However, try as she may, Beth couldn't get rid of that sensation of having been violated by a masked man.
From having gained their trust and having been accepted as a highly respected shop steward for almost eight years now, Beth had suddenly become a figure to gossip about or feel sorry for. While none of her work colleagues thought for one moment that she'd been raped, most were prepared to think that she gave in too easily to the mysterious man's sexual advances.
Most weekends Beth now slept in and was too ashamed to show her face. She would stare out of her window for hours wishing that she knew for sure what had happened to her following her drunken session at the 'Shoulder of Mutton.' Had she been drugged and raped or had some molesting mill chap simply come across her drunk in the hanking shed and decided to strip and fondle her before her friends returned to check on her and he ran off? However, try as she may, Beth couldn't get rid of that sensation of having been violated by a masked man.
The two things that Beth could count upon was the pointlessness of reporting the rape to the police, along with the fact that her rapist would escape scot free with his assault on her person even if he was caught. Being masked she couldn't indentify him and being drunk at the time, she didn't believe for one moment that anyone would believe she hadn't got what was asked her. She'd been dressed like a tart so probably acted as one was the commonly held view.
Beth realised there and then that whatever she did, whether or not she gave birth to the child she didn't want or had it aborted, that staying on at Harrison Gardner's was no longer an option for her. There was simply no way that she could live with the shame of being an unmarried mother here among folk she had grown attached to. There was simply no way that they'd ever let her forget what had happened to her. Neither was she ever likely to regain her work mates' respect as either an individual or their shop steward! Indeed, she thanked her lucky stars that because of the legislation in 1967, she could now legally obtain an abortion during the first five months of her pregnancy if she chose to take this option.
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One week later, Beth handed in her notice. She used the death of a close relative across in Ireland as the pretext of her sudden departure. She had no intention of returning to Ireland and instead decided that living and working in the area of Manchester would be far enough away from Harrison Gardner's to place sufficient distance between her shame and a viable future where she wasn't known.
On the last day of her work at the mill, her workmates naturally wanted to take Beth out for a final drink, but she declined. She graciously accepted the £72, which they had collected in a whip round for her and gathered together her personal belongings before walking out the mill gates for the final time.
On the last day of her work at the mill, her workmates naturally wanted to take Beth out for a final drink, but she declined. She graciously accepted the £72, which they had collected in a whip round for her and gathered together her personal belongings before walking out the mill gates for the final time.
On her way out, she was on the verge of tears and each person who passed her and wished her well threatened her capacity to keep them in and maintain her decorum. The last person she passed was George Munt and although she said, "Bye George. Look after yourself and Sally," he walked straight passed Beth without looking her in the eye. Beth thought he hadn't seen or heard her and she was just about to call him again, but stopped in her intentions. One look at George was enough to tell her that he was avoiding her. His head was hung in shame and the colour of his cheeks was red with embarrassment.
Little did Beth know at the time, but George and his wife who was heavily pregnant again had experienced a strained relationship ever since her last pregnancy and that he had been the one to follow her from the pub to the hanking shed after the other girls had placed her there for a laugh that Christmas break-up day.
