Arqueotex oral history collection, 1997-1998

The Arqueotex oral history collection contains 44 interviews on a range of aspects associated with the hosiery industry in the Hinckley, Earl Shilton and Nuneaton area during the middle and latter part of the 20th century. There is also a paper script from a video made for the project. Over 60 years of techniques of the trade, production methods, trade union activity and working conditions are combined with the more social aspects of work, such as works outings, childcare and holidays. The everyday life of these hosiery workers is also recorded, together with more unusual experiences, such as wartime service during the Second World War.

The project was undertaken by the North Warwickshire and Hinckley College as part of a trans national, European Community approved, pilot project involving partners throughout Europe, who shared the same textile traditions and faced the same industrial crisis. Other partners in the project were Centre de Documentaci - I Museu Textil (Terrassa, Spain), Atelier (Chantemerle, France), Cork (Ireland) and the Wool Museum of Beria Interior, (Covilha, Portugal). Rhianydd Murray recorded the interviews between 1997 and 1998.

Some material may be unavailable for general access

Full catalogue available via: https://archives.le.ac.uk//calmview/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=EMOHA%2f53

Cassette; Paper

Copyright: ERDF Cultural Heritage Project and North Warwick & Hinckley College