The pottery pay dispute in 1914

In 1914 the pottery industry followed the same procedure for pay discussions that had been developed in the 1890s and it had a very set annual pay round – every company in the industry followed exactly the same routine. Prices that were to be paid to the potters for the following 12 months were set… Continue reading The pottery pay dispute in 1914

The 1921 census is here

The 1921 census will be the last census publication for some years to come – the 1931 Census of England and Wales was destroyed in a fire at the Office of Works in 1942, the 1941 Census was never taken due to the outbreak of the Second World War, and the 1951 Census is not… Continue reading The 1921 census is here

Your dog ate my tripe!

Tripe is simply a type of edible lining from the stomachs of various farm animals and most of it is from cattle, pigs and sheep but it can be from any ruminant so you might find venison tripe. It is an offal product – offal is a general term for the edible entrails and internal… Continue reading Your dog ate my tripe!

The origin of the word ‘loo’

If you are going to write about the history of Armitage potbank how can you resist looking up the origins of the word ‘loo’? The word itself first appeared in print in the 1922 book, Ulysses, by James Joyce so it was obviously already in popular use by that time. There’s all sorts of claims… Continue reading The origin of the word ‘loo’

Murder in the Church

Sir Simon died in 1373 leaving a widow and three young daughters – as you can imagine, with so much land, money and power up for grabs, the vultures gathered.