Wigan Album

This was originally a Cotton Mill before Thomas Crompton took it over and wasn't designed to house the heavy machinery he installed for making Locks and Hinges this was the cause of the buildings demise they literally shook the building to pieces. There was some reference to this building in a very early copy of Past Forward.

My mother worked at Cromptons right out of school in 1939. She did piece work - and because of her youth and personal drive - did too many pieces for the company's taste - so they moved her to a different part of the factory so it wouldn't cost them as much! She only worked there for a brief time then stayed home to take care of her little brother during the war.

I have done a history of hinge making in the Ashton-in Makerfield area which some may find interesting - http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/12/ashton-hingemakers.html

John thank you so much for sharing that its fantastic. Thomas crompton was my great great great grandfather and I have found out so much thanks to your history. Cheers

I worked for GKN in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Record Mill was used by a GKN subsidiary to make prototype building panels licensed from a Scandinavian company called Steni. The panels were made on a pilot plant machine in Record Mill - I visited sometime around 1970-72 if I recall.

I did a short spell at the Record Mill early in 1969 .
At that time , the premises were occupied by Injection Moulders , a midlands outfit that were somehow connected with Guest Keene & Nettlefold .

Operating a three eight hour shift system they produced plastic components for the likes of Vauxhall motors and Hotpoint , among others .

This was followed a number of years later by a period spent delivering Crompton’s finished products to hardware outlets the length and breadth of Scotland .

Out all week returning Friday , sometimes Saturday ….What a top job … which to a degree helped compensate for the lousy wage I was earning …

Still … given the opportunity , I’d go back tomorrow and do it all again … this time for nowt !

Thomas Crompton & Sons … the acceptable face of road haulage .

I didn’t work there but attended St Edmund Arrowsmith High School. We used to get the bus home from the bottom of Ashton (Garswood bus). It was manic with crowds of children vying to get on the bus with crowds of workers who finished at the same time. I was tiny and many a time literally got swept onto the bus amidst a huge group of the women. I often was literally picked off my feet and carried in. It was terrifying!!