0:00:02 > 0:00:07At the turn of the 20th century, Scotland's largest town was booming.
0:00:07 > 0:00:13It was a hive of industry where more than 10,000 people worked every day,
0:00:13 > 0:00:16making a product used the world over.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23We exported thread to the whole world.
0:00:24 > 0:00:28At one stage, they produced 90% of the world's sewing thread.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32For more than 100 years, the thread mills were the life and soul
0:00:32 > 0:00:35of the town of Paisley.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38Paisley was thread and thread was Paisley, you know?
0:00:38 > 0:00:40There was hardly a house in Paisley
0:00:40 > 0:00:44didn't have somebody that was employed by the mills.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48Thread built the town and provided its people
0:00:48 > 0:00:51with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53It is one of the very first
0:00:53 > 0:00:57industrial multinational companies.
0:00:58 > 0:01:01The company sent their workers far and wide.
0:01:01 > 0:01:06You had Germany, Brazil, Asia,
0:01:06 > 0:01:08India, Pakistan.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11You heard of people going to these countries
0:01:11 > 0:01:15that nobody would ever have dreamt they'd be able to go to.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Where they often witnessed life-changing events.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23My father, he saw life under the Nazis in Germany.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26We had two military coups while we were there.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29But the glory days weren't to last
0:01:29 > 0:01:34and eventually boom became bust.
0:01:34 > 0:01:36It was just so sad.
0:01:36 > 0:01:37It was devastating.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39It was a sad, sad day for Paisley.
0:01:40 > 0:01:45I think it devastated the town because what were you left with?
0:01:57 > 0:02:00- NEWSREEL:- 100 years ago, Benjamin Disraeli came out
0:02:00 > 0:02:02with the immortal phrase, "Keep your eye on Paisley."
0:02:02 > 0:02:06Prime ministers knew what they were talking about in those days
0:02:06 > 0:02:08for this is no ordinary town.
0:02:11 > 0:02:17Until the 1980s, the town of Paisley had two huge mill complexes.
0:02:17 > 0:02:21At their height they were the town's largest employer.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26- NEWSREEL:- It's the biggest town in Scotland
0:02:26 > 0:02:27if you don't count the cities.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It was the thread capital of the world for 150 years.
0:02:35 > 0:02:39The thread industry became immensely important to Paisley
0:02:39 > 0:02:45because it employed 11,000-12,000 people,
0:02:45 > 0:02:49which was a huge number for a town of about 70,000 inhabitants.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56We used to run a book.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The bet was on what colour the river would be today.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01Some days, it was bright yellow, some days it was purple,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03some days it was black.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05Every day it was a different colour.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It was quite a surprise when there was no colour at all.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12The mills stopped here forever in 1993,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15but the people who worked in them have long memories.
0:03:15 > 0:03:21This stretch along here was Atlantic and Pacific, Clark's original mills.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25And just at the trees here was a wee first aid station, which has gone.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28You used to run in there for an orange drink when you got a cold.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34Harry Green began his career in the thread mills
0:03:34 > 0:03:38as an office boy in 1949 and ended up as an assistant manager.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43We are looking at the Mile End finishing mill.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46I ended my career in here in 1983
0:03:46 > 0:03:49after having completed 34 years with J&P Coats.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53That included starting at the head office in Glasgow
0:03:53 > 0:03:56and finishing at the mills in Paisley, where it all began
0:03:56 > 0:03:58many, many years ago.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Ooh, good grief!
0:04:13 > 0:04:14What a change.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Well, from what I remember,
0:04:18 > 0:04:22we used to come down West Road and go in the turning shop gate
0:04:22 > 0:04:28along to my mill. And then I was up in the top flat in there
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and that is the counting house.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34This is the counting house at Ferguslie Mills
0:04:34 > 0:04:38and this is where I started work when I was 15.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42The last time I would be in the counting house
0:04:42 > 0:04:49would probably be about 1973-ish.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Eleanor Clark worked in the mill for 39 years.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58Her jobs included personnel manager and editing the company newspaper.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03She began her career as an office junior in this building,
0:05:03 > 0:05:05which has been converted into flats.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06I can't believe this.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09You know, it's quite unrecognisable.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11So different.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16These buildings are amongst a very few that remain
0:05:16 > 0:05:20of what was once an enormous presence in the town.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Number eight - twisting.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25And the gatehouse.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29That was the main gatehouse, the north gatehouse.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32The day I arrived, I came down,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35I came through that arch and this girl came through
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and said she would take me. She brought me up here.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Oh, there's the chimney. There's the chimney there.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54From my office, I could see up to the top of the chimney
0:05:54 > 0:05:58and there was a hawk nested up there for years.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10MILL SIREN BLOWS
0:06:11 > 0:06:16The mills provided jobs for the people of Paisley, known as Buddies,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18for generations.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Everywhere you went, everybody you met,
0:06:20 > 0:06:21"Oh, aye, you work in the mill.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23"Oh, aye, I remember you. You work in the mill."
0:06:23 > 0:06:25I mean, everybody knew
0:06:25 > 0:06:26where you worked at that time.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33I started in 1956 in the mills.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34I was 15 years old
0:06:34 > 0:06:38and I started in a department called the turning shop.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41The turning shop made the wooden bobbin.
0:06:41 > 0:06:48There was possibly about 80 boys all between the ages of 15 to 20.
0:06:48 > 0:06:49You grew up quick there.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54I had been told by my mother to apply
0:06:54 > 0:06:56to get into Coats' office.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58That was the thing to do.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01It was my mum that put the idea into my head.
0:07:01 > 0:07:03She says, "Well, we've all worked in the mill.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05"What about you? Why not go into the mill?"
0:07:05 > 0:07:08When I got interviewed,
0:07:08 > 0:07:12I got sent for to say that as soon as I had left school,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14I could start on the Monday.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17So my mother said, "That's fine, you can start this Monday."
0:07:19 > 0:07:23I started off as a management trainee with Coats
0:07:23 > 0:07:25immediately after university
0:07:25 > 0:07:26and there was definitely a feeling
0:07:26 > 0:07:27that when you joined,
0:07:27 > 0:07:29you were joining for life.
0:07:30 > 0:07:33I remember a friend of my mum saying,
0:07:33 > 0:07:35"Oh, Jean," she said,
0:07:35 > 0:07:36"That's just set for life
0:07:36 > 0:07:38"when you're in the counting house in the mill."
0:07:39 > 0:07:44I joined Coats in 1974, straight out of university.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50I am the great-great-great-grandson of James Coats Sr,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52who was the original founder
0:07:52 > 0:07:53of the first factory,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56the father of J&P Coats.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02The Paisley thread mills would ultimately be run
0:08:02 > 0:08:05by one large company - J&P Coats.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08But their origins lay in a decades-long rivalry
0:08:08 > 0:08:12between two prominent Paisley families - the Coats and the Clarks.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18They were fierce rivals,
0:08:18 > 0:08:20one at one end of Paisley and one at the other end.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28Paisley had long been a textile town and the area's weavers had risen
0:08:28 > 0:08:31to prominence making intricate silk shawls
0:08:31 > 0:08:35with that unique pattern which came to bear the town's name.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Paisley pattern was the predominant motif on the Paisley shawls
0:08:38 > 0:08:42and the Paisley shawl was internationally famous.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45It was a very complex cloth,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49so it required a very high level of skill and Paisley,
0:08:49 > 0:08:53because it already had a well-established weaving industry,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56they were able to take on this industry.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01Both the Coats and the Clarks worked in the weaving trade
0:09:01 > 0:09:04and although ultimately it would be the Coats family
0:09:04 > 0:09:05who came out on top,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09in the early days, the Clarks were the innovators.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Many people tried to make a cotton sewing thread,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16but with no success for years and years and years and the Clarks,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19who were the brilliant family,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22although, as a Coats, I'm reluctant to say this, but it's true,
0:09:22 > 0:09:25they happened upon it
0:09:25 > 0:09:30because of Napoleon's blockade of the UK in 1806.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37The Napoleonic Wars had shut down trade between Britain and France,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39leaving the weavers of Paisley
0:09:39 > 0:09:42without their most crucial raw material - silk.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47The Clarks made their living providing silk twine to weavers.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49The blockade threatened their livelihood,
0:09:49 > 0:09:52but it also presented them with an opportunity.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56There was no way for them to continue providing this product
0:09:56 > 0:09:58cos it wasn't available anywhere within the UK.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01So they tried to make a substitute.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06It was the early days of the Industrial Revolution
0:10:06 > 0:10:11and the textile industry was reaping the benefits of new machinery.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15And the way of making cotton yarn had been revolutionised.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19So, then, a huge abundance of very fine cotton yarn
0:10:19 > 0:10:21became available to the weavers.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24In spite of the blockade,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28Britain was managing to import some raw cotton from the colonies.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34The Clarks realised that this was a solution to their problem.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39So they were able to happen upon a stronger, smoother product,
0:10:39 > 0:10:42no different, really, from sewing thread.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45So they logically started selling some cotton sewing thread
0:10:45 > 0:10:48just to what they called their more adventurous customers.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Within a decade of the Clarks
0:10:52 > 0:10:54creating the first cotton sewing thread,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58more than 20 thread-making companies had sprung up in the town.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02The thread had initially been a producer industry
0:11:02 > 0:11:04to be turned into something else.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08It became the end product, a consumer business.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13The invention of cotton sewing thread coincided with the arrival
0:11:13 > 0:11:16of one of the most significant domestic innovations
0:11:16 > 0:11:18of the 19th century.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Bingo, the sewing machine appears and, hallelujah,
0:11:25 > 0:11:28it's all time to get rich and happy and indeed,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31both the Clarks and the Coats prospered enormously
0:11:31 > 0:11:33from the invention of the sewing machine.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36The advent of the sewing machine
0:11:36 > 0:11:39meant the demand for thread was huge and growing.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42The thread business just got bigger and bigger
0:11:42 > 0:11:45and bigger and bigger and bigger.
0:11:50 > 0:11:55The rival families were quick to establish their positions in town.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01To the east, the Clarks built their first mill in 1817, known as Anchor.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05The Coats family followed suit in 1826,
0:12:05 > 0:12:09constructing their first mill south-west of town at Ferguslie.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14At their height, both sites grew to more than 50 acres each.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17It looked like a whole town.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19I mean, Ferguslie Mill was massive.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22You'd probably get about ten football pitches in there.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24And I used to think,
0:12:24 > 0:12:27"It's massive, absolutely massive".
0:12:29 > 0:12:32You were a wee dot compared to all these people.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39Each site had multiple buildings with different functions,
0:12:39 > 0:12:41such as dyeing and spinning.
0:12:41 > 0:12:45In the largest mills, whole floors, or flats, as they were known,
0:12:45 > 0:12:50were dedicated to winding, twisting, packaging and polishing.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53And there was a healthy rivalry
0:12:53 > 0:12:55between the workers at either end of town.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Ferguslie started off with the bales of cotton,
0:13:01 > 0:13:04right through till the twisted thread,
0:13:04 > 0:13:06and then Anchor finished off.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10And the ladies in the Anchor used to think
0:13:10 > 0:13:14that they were a wee bit upper than the ladies from Ferguslie.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16They were the toffs in Anchor.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19We were the plebs.
0:13:19 > 0:13:20It's true, yes, it's true.
0:13:20 > 0:13:24- NEWSREEL:- This is now the biggest thread-making concern
0:13:24 > 0:13:26in the United Kingdom.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Over 4,000 people are employed in this Paisley mill.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32I'd never heard noise like it in my life.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37Smelly, dirty, oily, greasy.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42And it was, like, as if the whole war had started on the one building
0:13:42 > 0:13:44with the noise of these machines.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Really noisy, clackety-clack.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Just think of the clack, clack, clack clack, clack...
0:13:54 > 0:14:00THEY MIMIC LOUD INDUSTRIAL NOISES
0:14:03 > 0:14:05I think because of the noise,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07you were more inclined to watch people's mouths.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09They lip-read, you know?
0:14:10 > 0:14:13You were here with this thing going round like a windmill
0:14:13 > 0:14:16and the girl in front of you, she'd mouth...
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- SHE MOUTHS:- I'm going to the toilet.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22And they always talked with their back to the supervisor
0:14:22 > 0:14:25because some of them used to lip-read, too, you know?
0:14:25 > 0:14:29I was only in the job about a month and I heard a scream.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31And you could hear it above the machines.
0:14:31 > 0:14:36And it was this girl that had got her hair caught in the thing and...
0:14:36 > 0:14:38It took her scalp off the side.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41So all the machines stopped then.
0:14:42 > 0:14:43You didn't want to know about it
0:14:43 > 0:14:45because the next time, it could be you.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56- NEWSREEL:- People are not very conscious of thread.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58They think about fashion,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00but this is only one of the industries we serve
0:15:00 > 0:15:04and in any case, who notices the thread in a gorgeous dress?
0:15:05 > 0:15:08We often forget how important thread is
0:15:08 > 0:15:11because we don't see it.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14- NEWSREEL:- The fibres go through a number of processes.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17They're opened, carded, drawn and spun.
0:15:20 > 0:15:22People never think about thread.
0:15:22 > 0:15:23It just holds your clothes together.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25But, yes, there are special threads
0:15:25 > 0:15:27like the thread you put into baseballs,
0:15:27 > 0:15:31meat-tying thread, tampon thread, tea bag thread,
0:15:31 > 0:15:33things you never think about.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37- NEWSREEL:- Look! Eight fibres are drawn into this machine to make one
0:15:37 > 0:15:40and to even out differences between them.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43There was a great slogan that the Coats did at one time which was,
0:15:43 > 0:15:45"Imagine a world without thread".
0:15:45 > 0:15:46Now, look!
0:15:46 > 0:15:49- WOMAN SCREAMS - Oh, no, what's going on?
0:15:49 > 0:15:52My apron and tea towels just disappeared!
0:15:52 > 0:15:54Oh!
0:15:57 > 0:16:00Yes, it is an important product
0:16:00 > 0:16:01which everybody takes for granted.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05- NEWSREEL:- Modern spinning and winding machines
0:16:05 > 0:16:07are mostly looked after by girls.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12The Paisley mills were built and owned by eminent men,
0:16:12 > 0:16:14but from their very beginnings,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17they were powered by the women and girls of Paisley.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23At one time, the town was said to have seven women for every man.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25Well, initially,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29the people who produced and worked on the machines were all ladies,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and the men were, like, engineering associates like that, service men,
0:16:33 > 0:16:35as I was doing.
0:16:35 > 0:16:36You wouldn't have men spinning,
0:16:36 > 0:16:39for example. That was a woman's job.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41Children did the sort of ancillary services,
0:16:41 > 0:16:42the sort of support services,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45mending threads and things like that.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47But women were the main workforce by the early 20th century
0:16:47 > 0:16:51and the men primarily were overseers.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54The foreman was always a man, yeah,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56and that was basically it. The foreman was a man.
0:16:56 > 0:17:03It was kind of a macho company because women only got so far.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06But thread would not be made without women,
0:17:06 > 0:17:09because it was all women that made it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12MILL SIREN BLOWS
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18the sound of the mill siren would send thousands of mill girls
0:17:18 > 0:17:23onto the streets. Today, the last of them are long since retired.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Well, I actually started with the intention
0:17:27 > 0:17:31of only working for three months to buy a bigger caravan.
0:17:31 > 0:17:33LAUGHTER
0:17:33 > 0:17:39Joyce, Josephine, Gina and Ellen all worked together in Ferguslie Mills
0:17:39 > 0:17:41and have been friends for more than 40 years.
0:17:41 > 0:17:44It was the size of everything when I walked in to it.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48It was massive and I felt tiny.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52And I thought, "Gosh, am I to work in here? Will they find me again?"
0:17:53 > 0:17:57But this nice man came up and said to me, "Start here".
0:17:57 > 0:18:00And there I was and I felt as tall as they beams.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05- I felt great.- We made our own wages.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08We were doffers, so we were on piecework.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13A doffer's job was to remove the spools of thread from spindles
0:18:13 > 0:18:14once they were fully wound.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19Speed was essential, but so was your tension
0:18:19 > 0:18:21because if your tension wasn't accurate,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24then all the ends went up in the air and you were in trouble.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28This group of women worked the twilight shift.
0:18:28 > 0:18:32What they earned was based solely on the amount of thread they processed.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Piecework was where, if your machines were running,
0:18:36 > 0:18:38so was your pay.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Women who were married that were on piecework
0:18:41 > 0:18:43because they could make more than their husbands
0:18:43 > 0:18:44in the jobs they were outside.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49In the past, women had to leave their jobs to marry,
0:18:49 > 0:18:52with only single women allowed to work in the mills,
0:18:52 > 0:18:54giving us the word spinster.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57It was only later that some jobs
0:18:57 > 0:18:59were deemed appropriate for married women.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Well, we know that, you know, just after the First World War,
0:19:02 > 0:19:07half of all women working in Paisley are working in textiles,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10which gives you a sense of how large an employer it was
0:19:10 > 0:19:14and how crucial it was to the economy of Paisley in that time.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17You would have had high unemployment among men
0:19:17 > 0:19:19and especially in the 1930s after the Depression.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22So, you know, women's employment was important
0:19:22 > 0:19:23in keeping families afloat.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26I enjoyed my independence,
0:19:26 > 0:19:27the mill gave me that.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32I was so excited at the thought that I could go out to work.
0:19:32 > 0:19:34And I loved the independence it gave me,
0:19:34 > 0:19:37of having my money instead of my husband's money in my hand.
0:19:37 > 0:19:40Your wage from the mill was a lifeline at times.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43- Aye, that's right.- Actually, your wages from the mill built Paisley.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46I mean, we got hospitals and we
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Look at the buildings that they built because...
0:19:48 > 0:19:50That was Coats, but Coats had nothing else but money.
0:19:50 > 0:19:54They earned money because we worked.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01In the 19th century, as the Paisley thread industry grew,
0:20:01 > 0:20:05so the rivalry between the two family businesses intensified.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10The Coatses, because they were managerially more adept
0:20:10 > 0:20:14and more dedicated to quality than the Clarks,
0:20:14 > 0:20:19simply took over and dominated the trade very quickly.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20So that by 1840,
0:20:20 > 0:20:25they were the largest manufacturer of cotton thread in Paisley.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Although successful, the Clark family were known
0:20:29 > 0:20:34to be a fractious bunch, giving the far more unified Coatses the edge.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37James and Peter, the J&P of the company name,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40looked after logistics and accounting respectively,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42but two of their younger brothers
0:20:42 > 0:20:44also took key roles within the company.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48Thomas, who was my great-great-grandfather,
0:20:48 > 0:20:53was an engineer and Andrew was an entrepreneur and a lawyer.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56He didn't really join the company business at all,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58but he was the engine that made it work.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Andrew Coats was absolutely indispensable.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Andrew Coats sailed to America in 1839 to seek his fortune.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11The family business had already begun selling
0:21:11 > 0:21:14to the American market, but it would be his intervention
0:21:14 > 0:21:18which would be the making of J&P Coats.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20There were people who tried to copy their product,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24pretending it was theirs and Andrew Coats fought these cases
0:21:24 > 0:21:27in the law courts of the United States.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31He took the company from a point
0:21:31 > 0:21:34where they were selling 45% of their product in the USA,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37which was with their agents, to ten years later,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40selling up to 85%.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48In the 1850s, the Americans introduced high import taxes.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52The time had come for Coats to begin making thread abroad.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Their Paisley rivals, the Clarks, beat them to it,
0:21:59 > 0:22:02building mills in New Jersey in 1866,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05but Coats weren't far behind and, soon after,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08established what would be the first of many foreign mills
0:22:08 > 0:22:11in the state of Rhode Island.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14MILL SIREN BLOWS
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Today, almost all of Coats' former mills
0:22:18 > 0:22:20in the town of Pawtucket are still standing.
0:22:22 > 0:22:24Oh, my goodness, me.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26This is huge.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30Brian Coats, the great-great-great-grandson
0:22:30 > 0:22:33of the company's founder, has never seen them before.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36On this side, we have the first phase,
0:22:36 > 0:22:39with mills two, three and four.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43Industrial historian Matt Kierstead has agreed to give him a tour.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48We are on about a 50 acre, yeah,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52I would call it a campus or even a small industrial city.
0:22:52 > 0:22:54That's... That's close to the size
0:22:54 > 0:22:57- of the original Ferguslie Mill in Scotland.- OK.- At its height.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00- Yeah, yeah.- Yeah. Erm, this is an illustrated brochure
0:23:00 > 0:23:02which I pulled out of the archives
0:23:02 > 0:23:05and I have got a map that they did...
0:23:05 > 0:23:06- Wow!- When they originally built it.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08So number one mill must have been
0:23:08 > 0:23:10where that extension has been built there,
0:23:10 > 0:23:12which must have been built at a later time.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17Although the American site quickly grew
0:23:17 > 0:23:19to be as large as the one at Ferguslie,
0:23:19 > 0:23:22production here started small,
0:23:22 > 0:23:25with just one building spooling thread imported from Paisley.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30And you can start to see now on the back side of these buildings,
0:23:30 > 0:23:33the attached engine room.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35The boilers and the steam engine would have been in there.
0:23:35 > 0:23:38And then in that little connecting building
0:23:38 > 0:23:40would have been belt drive or shafts.
0:23:40 > 0:23:43It is... I mean, I now see, this is...
0:23:43 > 0:23:45It's similar in size to Ferguslie.
0:23:48 > 0:23:50In those early years,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52these vast buildings were mostly staffed
0:23:52 > 0:23:54with skilled workers from the UK,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57with adverts placed in newspapers in Paisley,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00promising a new life in a new country.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07I mean, my first impression of this is that it is...
0:24:07 > 0:24:09It is a taller roof
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and it's lighter than anything I saw in Paisley.
0:24:13 > 0:24:18So each of these now empty bays would just be full of machines
0:24:18 > 0:24:20with little aisles for the operatives to...
0:24:20 > 0:24:22- Correct.- Service them and...
0:24:22 > 0:24:24- Yeah.- Yeah.- So these were roving frames
0:24:24 > 0:24:27and they would run in that direction
0:24:27 > 0:24:31and the shafts that drove them would be up,
0:24:31 > 0:24:32going that way across the roof.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34But that's what it would've looked like
0:24:34 > 0:24:36and it would be extremely noisy.
0:24:36 > 0:24:38- Yes.- Extremely noisy.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43MACHINERY WHIRS AND RATTLES LOUDLY
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Just got a glimpse of Ferguslie before it was all knocked down
0:24:50 > 0:24:54and I always wanted to go back and look at it with a little bit more
0:24:54 > 0:24:57of the wisdom of age, let's put it that way.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59It's nice to be able to see buildings that look...
0:24:59 > 0:25:01They're not the same, but they're similar
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and the scale is very similar.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06MILL SIREN BLOWS
0:25:06 > 0:25:09You start to imagine what it must've been like
0:25:09 > 0:25:12when there were people in them and the machines were all running
0:25:12 > 0:25:14and I would've enjoyed being a fly on the wall
0:25:14 > 0:25:16and just seeing what it looked like.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18So, yeah, it gives me kind of goose bumps.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Within 20 years of being built, Coats' American mills had become
0:25:26 > 0:25:29one of the largest manufacturing plants in the United States.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36Basically, the United States was a kind of cash register
0:25:36 > 0:25:38for the wider organisation.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41The success of the American enterprise
0:25:41 > 0:25:43was a huge turning point for the company.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Expansion into Europe came next and manufacturing abroad
0:25:47 > 0:25:51set them on the path to world domination.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55A lot of the money that was made in that way was invested in Paisley.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05The Coats and Clark families became very rich out of this,
0:26:05 > 0:26:07but they were also very public spirited.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10A lot of their money went into civic buildings
0:26:10 > 0:26:13and the community in Paisley.
0:26:14 > 0:26:15It was the making of the town.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37You just cannot deny the scale and scope of Coats' generosity.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40Everywhere you look in Paisley, it's there.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44It's there in the Clark Memorial Town Hall, it's in the mills,
0:26:44 > 0:26:49it's there in Coats Memorial Church.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53What a wonderful edifice that is to elevate the minds
0:26:53 > 0:26:57of the people of Paisley in the town in which they lived.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Sir Peter Coats, he built the Paisley Museum and the library.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05Thomas, his brother, my great-great-grandfather,
0:27:05 > 0:27:07built the observatory.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13The building we're sitting in, the observatory,
0:27:13 > 0:27:14which is the major feature
0:27:14 > 0:27:18of the skyline at Paisley coming from the north.
0:27:18 > 0:27:22The individual buildings are, at lowest, good-quality,
0:27:22 > 0:27:24at the best, of exceptional quality,
0:27:24 > 0:27:27and they're designed to fit in with each other.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The Coats and the Clarks were socially minded employers,
0:27:44 > 0:27:46known for their paternalism,
0:27:46 > 0:27:48and it wasn't just buildings they invested in -
0:27:48 > 0:27:50it was people, too.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54Way back, their welfare was incredible.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56They even had penny baths for people
0:27:56 > 0:28:00in the days when people wouldn't have baths in their house, you know?
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Both mills had first aid centres,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06which was very good for tea and sympathy
0:28:06 > 0:28:09and if you wanted to know the local news,
0:28:09 > 0:28:10you went to the first aid centre.
0:28:12 > 0:28:18I applied to join the auxiliary fire service that J&P Coats had
0:28:18 > 0:28:20and they supplied you with a house.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22So for a young 21-year-old
0:28:22 > 0:28:24like myself and my wife
0:28:24 > 0:28:25to get something like this
0:28:25 > 0:28:28for the princely sum of £5 a month rent...
0:28:28 > 0:28:33Both in Ferguslie and Anchor's, they had day sports grounds.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35I played hockey there.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37I played hockey until I was 37.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42They had very successful cricket teams, football teams.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47There were two thriving bowls clubs.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51They had sewing classes and they had keep fit classes.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53There was a thriving drama club.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56They put on a show every year.
0:28:56 > 0:28:57That was fun.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Every year, they would have an annual outing,
0:29:09 > 0:29:11which was a fantastic undertaking.
0:29:11 > 0:29:1210,000 people moving.
0:29:12 > 0:29:16They would hire whole trains to take people off to places like Braemar
0:29:16 > 0:29:18or Arbroath or wherever it might be.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26They had bands and there's a fabulous photograph of them all,
0:29:26 > 0:29:28you know, with their moustaches and whatnot.
0:29:32 > 0:29:38It was the central focus of Paisley social life.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41Well, your night outs, you know, we used to go to the Anchor Rec.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43That was a good place.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47The Anchor Recreation Club was the hub
0:29:47 > 0:29:50of the mill workers' social life.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52And they had dances every Saturday night
0:29:52 > 0:29:57and my brother and I started a band and called it Maverick,
0:29:57 > 0:29:58and we played over there.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01And the guys were talking about going to London
0:30:01 > 0:30:04to try and get famous, if you like,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07and... I stopped it and that,
0:30:07 > 0:30:11and a certain guy called Gerry Rafferty took my place.
0:30:12 > 0:30:13I personally didn't like him.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15I didn't think he was very good.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18Shows you how much I know!
0:30:26 > 0:30:28This is the Anchor Recreation Club.
0:30:28 > 0:30:30I met my wife-to-be here.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Her brothers and the rest of our friends always had to make her
0:30:35 > 0:30:38dance in the first half, and there were six of us,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41so she got 12 dances in a night, at least.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43And it was teetotal in those days,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45so as you go into the main reception,
0:30:45 > 0:30:46the bar was across there,
0:30:46 > 0:30:48and it was all fizzy drinks.
0:30:48 > 0:30:50You could get crisps later on at night,
0:30:50 > 0:30:52but not to start with at 7.30.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And then ten o'clock, you know, all out, the doors are shut.
0:30:56 > 0:30:58Great memories. Great place.
0:31:00 > 0:31:01Those were the days.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11Right from the start, the Coats family were known as good employers,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15who valued the wellbeing of their workers.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20In 1887, Coats built a school for their young female employees.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23It was known as the Half-Time School.
0:31:26 > 0:31:27Basically, what this was all about
0:31:27 > 0:31:29is if you've got a healthy workforce,
0:31:29 > 0:31:30they'll work harder.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33So it's couched in terms of, you know, employee...
0:31:33 > 0:31:35employee welfare,
0:31:35 > 0:31:38but, really, it's to improve the efficiency of the business.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42I mean, they were very clear that they were doing well
0:31:42 > 0:31:47because they had good people, and the more they looked after people,
0:31:47 > 0:31:51the more return they got for their businesses.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58At that time, young children who were working, 12, 13, 14-year-olds,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01had to spend time at school.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05Most of them would walk, and so rather than lose that time,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07Coats thought it would be a good idea to have a school
0:32:07 > 0:32:10on the premises where people could go and they had full-time teachers,
0:32:10 > 0:32:13they had nursing facilities.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19Today, the once magnificent Half-Time School building
0:32:19 > 0:32:23lies in ruins, but from the time it opened in 1887
0:32:23 > 0:32:27until the introduction of compulsory full-time education,
0:32:27 > 0:32:30thousands of young mill girls passed through its doors.
0:32:37 > 0:32:41Both Coats and Clarks had continued to expand,
0:32:41 > 0:32:46but the late 19th century was a time of great turmoil.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50Faced with strikes and recession, merger became inevitable.
0:32:52 > 0:32:55In 1896, the two great Paisley rivals
0:32:55 > 0:32:58finally agreed to join forces.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08The new company, now known as J&P Coats,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11was the largest thread manufacturer in the world.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14I would maintain that it is one
0:33:14 > 0:33:19of the very first industrial multinational companies.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21Yes, the East India Company and so on,
0:33:21 > 0:33:24which are essentially trading companies,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28but Coats was manufacturing overseas from a very early stage.
0:33:30 > 0:33:36By 1910, Paisley was home to the third-largest company on the planet,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40second only to US Steel and Standard Oil,
0:33:40 > 0:33:42with factories in around 40 countries.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50People travelled all over the world, literally, for Coats.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53They were dominant in Russia.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56They were becoming dominant in Europe.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58And by about the middle 1930s,
0:33:58 > 0:34:02they had 35,000 employees worldwide.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07When Coats started to manufacture overseas,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11what was done in Paisley was copied by everybody else,
0:34:11 > 0:34:15so that Paisley remained the engine that drove everything.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24With mills in locations as far-flung as El Salvador, Japan,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26India and Russia,
0:34:26 > 0:34:29Coats' employees were travelling far and wide
0:34:29 > 0:34:33to train foreign workers long before the advent of aviation.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39If you were wanting to see the world, the two quickest options,
0:34:39 > 0:34:42if you were a Paisley Buddy, were to join the army or join Coats.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45A large number of Paisley people went out there
0:34:45 > 0:34:47from the mills in Paisley,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49right down to mill girl level,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51because nobody had worked in a thread mill before.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54That changed their lives quite dramatically,
0:34:54 > 0:34:55I would think, you know?
0:34:55 > 0:34:58Because they saw a totally different world.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05We were, kind of, put in the sausage machine for being sent somewhere,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07and "somewhere" could be anywhere,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10and I was eventually sent to Brazil.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13Three and a half years after I started,
0:35:13 > 0:35:17I headed off to my first job, which was in Peru.
0:35:17 > 0:35:21My first real job was in Colombia, South America.
0:35:23 > 0:35:25I got sent to Personnel, and they said,
0:35:25 > 0:35:27"Would you like to go to Peru?"
0:35:28 > 0:35:30The biggest change was the food.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34You don't ask what it is - you just eat it and enjoy it.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37We arrived just at the start of the 1970 World Cup
0:35:37 > 0:35:41and we were billeted in a hotel downtown, and, of course,
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Brazil were sensational in that World Cup and won it,
0:35:44 > 0:35:48and the whole city erupted into a three-day carnival.
0:35:50 > 0:35:55You would go Glasgow-London, London-Madrid,...
0:35:55 > 0:35:59Madrid to Lisbon, Lisbon to Dakar...
0:35:59 > 0:36:01Caracas, Bogota...
0:36:01 > 0:36:03Cartagena to Quito.
0:36:03 > 0:36:06Quito-Guayaquil, Guayaquil-Lima.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10So that it was a real hoppity-hop kind of journey.
0:36:10 > 0:36:1134 and a half hours.
0:36:11 > 0:36:14Every time we landed, we were given a wee ticket
0:36:14 > 0:36:16to go and get a drink.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21It was an interesting culture,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24because they still spoke elements of Paisley
0:36:24 > 0:36:29on the mill floor, and words survived into the local argot,
0:36:29 > 0:36:35like "umnyaffee" turns out to be a foreman, as a wee nyaff.
0:36:40 > 0:36:41Working abroad,
0:36:41 > 0:36:46Coats employees often got caught up in life-changing world events.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49Working in South America was an interesting experience.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53In Venezuela, we had two military coups while we were there.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55I can remember the personnel manager
0:36:55 > 0:36:56calling me up at four o'clock in the morning
0:36:56 > 0:36:58and saying, "Don't be alarmed,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00"but there is a coup going on at the moment.
0:37:00 > 0:37:01"Stay at home and wait till I call you."
0:37:01 > 0:37:03My grandfather had worked in the mill.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05He was a foreman.
0:37:05 > 0:37:08At the turn of the century, he was actually sent to Russia.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11They were opening a mill there.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14My mother had an aunt, and she was a...
0:37:14 > 0:37:17what they called a mistress, but that's a teacher, you know?
0:37:17 > 0:37:19And she was in the Russian mills out there
0:37:19 > 0:37:22and she had to...
0:37:22 > 0:37:25They had all to pack very quickly when the revolution started.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31They lost the Russian mills in the revolution.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34They lost Poland, Estonia, Latvia,
0:37:34 > 0:37:40France, Germany, Italy, Spain because of the Civil War...
0:37:40 > 0:37:42During the war, they lost complete contact
0:37:42 > 0:37:46with all the mills in Eastern Europe and in Germany and Austria
0:37:46 > 0:37:48and a lot of them were actually converted
0:37:48 > 0:37:50to making product for the German army.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59Well, these are the prewar passports of my father,
0:37:59 > 0:38:03covering the year 1935 to 1948.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10Ken's father, William Matheson, worked for Coats all his life.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Starting as an office junior at the age of 13,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15he worked his way up through the ranks
0:38:15 > 0:38:19and ended up travelling the world as a cost accountant,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21visiting around 30 countries in his career.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25In those days, you went in or out of a country
0:38:25 > 0:38:26and you got your passport stamped.
0:38:26 > 0:38:28He was hardly in any one location
0:38:28 > 0:38:31or any one country for more than three weeks.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35In the mid-1930s,
0:38:35 > 0:38:39William Matheson was sent to install a standard costing system
0:38:39 > 0:38:40in the mills of Eastern Europe.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43My father was based near Vienna, where the Austrian mills were,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47and he was doing the installation of the system in Austria,
0:38:47 > 0:38:49Czechoslovakia, Bratislava...
0:38:49 > 0:38:52So my father was in and out of Germany a lot.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54So he saw life in...
0:38:54 > 0:38:56under the Nazis in Germany.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05On the 12th of March 1938, German tanks rolled into Vienna.
0:39:05 > 0:39:10The day that he was told to get out of Bratislava and Vienna
0:39:10 > 0:39:13and come home was the day that Hitler actually arrived in Vienna.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15- CHANTING:- Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
0:39:15 > 0:39:19Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
0:39:19 > 0:39:20Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
0:39:20 > 0:39:24My father got a taxi to the street where they lived,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27and it was a little cul-de-sac of flats,
0:39:27 > 0:39:32and there were swastika banners hanging off all of the balconies,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36except their flat, which was hanging with my brother's nappies.
0:39:36 > 0:39:41So it was, "Get those down right away and pack what you can get,"
0:39:41 > 0:39:43and they left everything else.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46- CHANTING:- Sieg Heil! Sieg Heil!
0:39:46 > 0:39:50They drove through the streets ahead of Hitler's procession
0:39:50 > 0:39:52and the streets were thronged with thousands,
0:39:52 > 0:39:54hundreds of thousands of people,
0:39:54 > 0:39:58and they were driving down the route of the motorcade
0:39:58 > 0:40:00just in time to get away with it.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06That's what they saw coming out of Austria that day.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Operating abroad was challenging,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14particularly during times of conflict,
0:40:14 > 0:40:16but Coats had been smart
0:40:16 > 0:40:19and, although they lost mills during the Second World War,
0:40:19 > 0:40:22they managed to get back on their feet pretty quickly.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24Coats had been really brilliant
0:40:24 > 0:40:28at looking after their proprietorial rights, you know,
0:40:28 > 0:40:32their trademarks, their patents, their title deeds,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34everything that proved their ownership of property
0:40:34 > 0:40:36in a particular country.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38By a lot of judicious hiding of things,
0:40:38 > 0:40:42they actually managed to get back up and running quite quickly.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45They got out of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, for instance,
0:40:45 > 0:40:48with all of their title deeds, all of their property things.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51They actually got themselves back in the game in a lot of countries
0:40:51 > 0:40:53where they had basically written it all off.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05That hour before you started was crucial,
0:41:05 > 0:41:08because the kids to be home prompt.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10They were changed out their school uniforms,
0:41:10 > 0:41:11their homework was started...
0:41:11 > 0:41:14Well, you had outside stairs to scrub as well
0:41:14 > 0:41:17and you had to put your chalk down the side of your close.
0:41:17 > 0:41:19What year was that, the year dot?
0:41:19 > 0:41:20She's older than us.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22# I am 16, going on... #
0:41:22 > 0:41:24Look, I'm 84. Come on, I...
0:41:24 > 0:41:27But there was a good social side to working in the mill
0:41:27 > 0:41:31because there was always somebody had a catalogue going,
0:41:31 > 0:41:33an Avon book...
0:41:33 > 0:41:35And menages, there was menages running.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38It was... It was quite a good social scene.
0:41:38 > 0:41:43In a strict working environment where men ruled the roost,
0:41:43 > 0:41:46there was one place where the women were in charge.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48On a Friday especially was a different day for the ladies,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52because that was the day, the weekend was looming,
0:41:52 > 0:41:54so they disappeared,
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and when I first started, I used to wonder where are they all went,
0:41:57 > 0:42:00but they were all in the toilets getting their hair done.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02The atmosphere in the place was brilliant.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05When it came to the weekend, we were all ready to go out,
0:42:05 > 0:42:07finish on a Friday.
0:42:07 > 0:42:08We went out into the cloakroom.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10We were getting our hair done.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13We were getting our eyebrows plucked already, and our rollers in,
0:42:13 > 0:42:15all ready for the weekend,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18the dancing and all that, I mean, it was great.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21You could get your hair cut in the toilet.
0:42:21 > 0:42:23There was this girl on this particular day, going out,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26everybody's shouting. The machines went off,
0:42:26 > 0:42:27and they went, "Good night, Willie!"
0:42:27 > 0:42:30And he said, "Aye, you forgot to get the rest of your hair cut."
0:42:30 > 0:42:33She'd forgot when she was walking out, she'd got the right side cut,
0:42:33 > 0:42:37which was into the machines, but when she came out, it was the...
0:42:37 > 0:42:39She'd forgot the opposite side.
0:42:41 > 0:42:43That's where we got our education.
0:42:43 > 0:42:46I couldn't believe the things that folks spoke about.
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51And these women that bravely walked into the toilets
0:42:51 > 0:42:53with a potato and a needle and got their ears pierced.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Oh, yes, their ears pierced.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03So you'd be in the toilets and you'd say,
0:43:03 > 0:43:04"Are you going to Barrowland this week?"
0:43:04 > 0:43:08"Yes, I am." "Do us a favour. Gonnae show us how to do the Creep?
0:43:10 > 0:43:14And this was, you did two steps to that side, two steps to that side,
0:43:14 > 0:43:16and then you dragged your right leg.
0:43:16 > 0:43:20So it looked as if you had a bad leg, so it was called the Creep.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21So this was you in the toilets,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24and you were dancing and showing them the new thing about the Creep,
0:43:24 > 0:43:27or else it was the Twist and whatever it was.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31They had such a lot of dance halls in Paisley,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34so it didn't matter where you went in Paisley,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36there was always a mill girl.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38The town was buzzing with all these people working
0:43:38 > 0:43:41and they had a lot of money to spend.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52- NEWSREEL:- Paisley has the second-lowest level
0:43:52 > 0:43:54of unemployment in Scotland.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Only oil and fish-rich Aberdeen can employ more of its people.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02In the 1960s, Paisley was thriving.
0:44:02 > 0:44:03As well as the thread mills,
0:44:03 > 0:44:07other big employers included the Hillman car factory at Linwood
0:44:07 > 0:44:10and food producers Brown & Paulson.
0:44:10 > 0:44:13Paisley was a good growing town at that time
0:44:13 > 0:44:15because there was a lot of money.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19Paisley girls were always well-dressed.
0:44:19 > 0:44:20Oh, Paisley was great.
0:44:20 > 0:44:24Paisley in the '60s and that was superb,
0:44:24 > 0:44:26and it was just a place to be.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30People would come on holiday Mondays from Glasgow to Paisley
0:44:30 > 0:44:32because it was such a good place to shop.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38Good-quality gents shops that a lot of my generation will remember.
0:44:38 > 0:44:39There was John Collier's.
0:44:39 > 0:44:40There was Hepworth's.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43There was Burton's. There was Jackson's.
0:44:43 > 0:44:45There'd be a furniture shop.
0:44:45 > 0:44:46Maybe bicycles or...
0:44:46 > 0:44:49There was that right along.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56Industry had allowed the town to flourish.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00But by the '70s, like the rest of industrial Scotland,
0:45:00 > 0:45:02Paisley was in decline.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06The car plant at Linwood had begun laying off thousands of workers
0:45:06 > 0:45:09and would eventually close.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12There were many more job losses on the horizon
0:45:12 > 0:45:15and the mills were not immune.
0:45:15 > 0:45:20Somewhere about the '50s into the '60s, there was a, kind of,
0:45:20 > 0:45:24a personnel edict that top-level management
0:45:24 > 0:45:26would be recruited from universities,
0:45:26 > 0:45:29rather than through the traditional mill pattern
0:45:29 > 0:45:32where the bright folk in the mill could actually progress.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36That stifled people who actually knew how to make thread
0:45:36 > 0:45:40from getting to the positions of managing a mill that makes thread.
0:45:40 > 0:45:45I don't know who the managers in the top brass were in Coats, you know,
0:45:45 > 0:45:46after a time.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Times had changed
0:45:49 > 0:45:53and the family were no longer the major shareholders in the company.
0:45:53 > 0:45:58Global capitalism had sent textiles in Britain into a downward spiral
0:45:58 > 0:46:01and Paisley would be hit hard.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06Through the '20s and '30s, Coats developed hugely in Europe.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Through the '50s and early '60s,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13Coats developed hugely in Latin America.
0:46:13 > 0:46:18So the potential for export from Paisley was being undermined.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23So the ethos of the company had completely changed
0:46:23 > 0:46:30from being about locations and loyalties, as well as profitability,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33to being about the maximisation of profit.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41Coats had been pioneers of globalised working,
0:46:41 > 0:46:44manufacturing abroad long before it was the norm.
0:46:44 > 0:46:46For their Paisley workforce,
0:46:46 > 0:46:50the years of exporting their skills overseas was about to backfire.
0:46:50 > 0:46:54That's just been the effects of, sort of, globalisation,
0:46:54 > 0:46:57in the sense that it became cheaper to move production abroad,
0:46:57 > 0:47:00and, I mean, the whole of Scotland suffered.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03I always felt that's what killed them off,
0:47:03 > 0:47:05because they were making it cheaper abroad.
0:47:05 > 0:47:07Well, this is what I was thinking.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10If they're taking the machines over to there,
0:47:10 > 0:47:13instead of sending their cotton stuff to us,
0:47:13 > 0:47:14we're not going to have a mill.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18Coats had begun buying up other textile companies,
0:47:18 > 0:47:22joining with familiar names such as Viyella and Patons,
0:47:22 > 0:47:26in an attempt to maximise profits and, at the same time,
0:47:26 > 0:47:30create work for the town which had made their fortune,
0:47:30 > 0:47:32but it was to be in vain.
0:47:32 > 0:47:37The actual mill buildings were 19th-century buildings.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42Fast forward 100 years, and they're kind of not fit for purpose.
0:47:42 > 0:47:48Because of the demise of the domestic business,
0:47:48 > 0:47:55it became clear that this huge Paisley engine couldn't be fed.
0:47:57 > 0:48:01It was imploding in on itself and it became obvious after a time
0:48:01 > 0:48:02that something had to be closed,
0:48:02 > 0:48:05and indeed Ferguslie was the first place to go.
0:48:08 > 0:48:14In December 1983, the vast Ferguslie mills were closed for good,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and the once 10,000-strong workforce
0:48:17 > 0:48:20had now shrunk to around a fifth of that size.
0:48:23 > 0:48:27The workers who kept their jobs were moved to the mills at Anchor.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31There was always a big meeting of the managers every year
0:48:31 > 0:48:33to see how the company was doing,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36and that was followed by a meeting of the assistant managers,
0:48:36 > 0:48:40and I think there was about 18 of us all went to a meeting,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43and this director, you know, "Good morning."
0:48:43 > 0:48:45Nothing was said.
0:48:45 > 0:48:47He went through all the figures.
0:48:47 > 0:48:49No questions. Then we just walked out
0:48:49 > 0:48:52and the following month, we got our redundancies.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55- INTERVIEWER:- How did you feel?
0:48:55 > 0:48:56Rotten.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01The worst moment of my life was the time when Ferguslie shut.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06Ferguslie, I kind of grew up there from when I was 15 till I was 40.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12And when we were told that the mill was closing down, I was crying.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14You think your life's over when it closes down, you know what I mean?
0:49:14 > 0:49:16You thought, "What am I going to do now?"
0:49:16 > 0:49:20I was told I would be made redundant in 18 months
0:49:20 > 0:49:25and I was literally kind of last in situ at Ferguslie Mills.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30I was 38 when I was made redundant
0:49:30 > 0:49:34and I felt demoralised, totally demoralised.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40I actually did hand over the cheques to a lot of them, you know.
0:49:40 > 0:49:42I mean, one day, I remember it was...
0:49:42 > 0:49:47I think it was about 40 men went out at a dyeworks
0:49:47 > 0:49:50and you knew a lot of them would never get a job for ages,
0:49:50 > 0:49:52if at all, you know?
0:49:52 > 0:49:55You went home and felt like hitting your head off the wall,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57you know. It really, really got to you.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00Everybody was a bag of nerves.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03What happened was you would get a phone call
0:50:03 > 0:50:07saying come in on a certain day and date and you'll know your fate.
0:50:07 > 0:50:11And they took us in one at a time like an execution,
0:50:11 > 0:50:14and they told us individually, "You've got a job.
0:50:14 > 0:50:16"You've no' got a job."
0:50:16 > 0:50:19And some took it really bad, kicking chairs and what have you,
0:50:19 > 0:50:24so when I got called in, I was told, luckily, I had a job, you know?
0:50:24 > 0:50:26Of course, they were asking me, and they're saying,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29"Congratulations," but probably saying, "Oh, that's one less."
0:50:29 > 0:50:32It was a sad, sad feeling.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34I remember when I was leaving where I was
0:50:34 > 0:50:38with some of the people that I worked with, it was quite emotional.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44And I remember the last day I was there, I got to the top
0:50:44 > 0:50:47and I opened the door and I stood and I looked back and I went away
0:50:47 > 0:50:50and that was it, the beginning of the end.
0:50:50 > 0:50:52MACHINERY WHIRS AND RATTLES LOUDLY
0:51:00 > 0:51:05Those of us who were involved in the organisation of it, I think,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08would say we did as much as we could.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11I suppose they held on to hope that Anchor would still survive
0:51:11 > 0:51:13and it always rang in my ears when we were told
0:51:13 > 0:51:15we were getting a job in Anchor.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19The guys in Ferguslie were saying, "Oh, you'll no' last ten years."
0:51:19 > 0:51:22And that's exactly how long it did last, ten years.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Ferguslie's closure was to be a portent of things to come.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33Ultimately, the decision had to be taken, you know, really,
0:51:33 > 0:51:36there isn't a long-term future for Paisley.
0:51:39 > 0:51:41Redundancies had continued,
0:51:41 > 0:51:45and by the early 1990s, the workforce left at Anchor
0:51:45 > 0:51:48had dwindled to just a few hundred people.
0:51:48 > 0:51:51The decision was finally made
0:51:51 > 0:51:55to close the last of the Paisley thread mills.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01From being a 15-year-old coming out of school
0:52:01 > 0:52:06and not really knowing what work was all about,
0:52:06 > 0:52:12I ended up more or less putting out the lights in Anchor Mills.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18It was such a big operation in Paisley.
0:52:18 > 0:52:23The whole town, at that time, was kind of largely dependent on Coats.
0:52:24 > 0:52:27A lot of the wee bleachworks and dyeworks up the road,
0:52:27 > 0:52:28they all closed.
0:52:30 > 0:52:35On a Friday, one of the girls would buy cream cookies,
0:52:35 > 0:52:38and that was your Friday treat, so that wee...
0:52:38 > 0:52:41They wee Williams bakers all shut.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43I mean, Coats' name wasn't good then.
0:52:50 > 0:52:56Today, Coats PLC is still the world's largest thread manufacturer
0:52:56 > 0:53:02with huge, modern factories all over the world, but none in the UK.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05The area of Ferguslie in Paisley,
0:53:05 > 0:53:09once the engine that drove the world's third-largest company,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11is now the poorest in Scotland.
0:53:14 > 0:53:19The first demolition I ever saw in the mills was in Anchor
0:53:19 > 0:53:21and it went down in the early '70s.
0:53:21 > 0:53:25That was terrible because, at one point, I happened to pass this,
0:53:25 > 0:53:30you know, when half of it was down, and it was just so sad.
0:53:30 > 0:53:35As the organisation had shrunk, one by one, buildings had disappeared.
0:53:36 > 0:53:40In 1982, the most iconic of them all,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43the No 1 Spinning Mill at Ferguslie,
0:53:43 > 0:53:46was scheduled for demolition.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49Ferguslie Mill, to me, was absolutely stunning.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51A stunning building.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53We'll never see the likes of that again.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18Ferguslie Mills, where I worked,
0:54:18 > 0:54:21you're walking through there now and all you see is houses.
0:54:21 > 0:54:22Now that's...
0:54:22 > 0:54:25That a place where 3,000-4,000 people used to work -
0:54:25 > 0:54:293,000-4,000 families that depended on the income.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47Everybody was standing crying.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49With it all getting pulled down,
0:54:49 > 0:54:51I think Paisley people felt pulled down.
0:54:51 > 0:54:55And I remember standing there and my dad said, "Well, that's it.
0:54:55 > 0:54:58"Life in Paisley is starting to go downhill."
0:55:11 > 0:55:13I'd been coming to Paisley for nearly 30 years to work
0:55:13 > 0:55:20and I get a very intense feeling of something old,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23venerable and useful having gone.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28I'm a Paisley person and I always will be, but I...
0:55:28 > 0:55:31I can't say I'm proud of what the town has become.
0:55:33 > 0:55:35But you just felt it was part of Paisley that had gone
0:55:35 > 0:55:38and it had gone forever and it was never going to come back.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Well, you take it... Oh, look at how they've built all they houses
0:55:52 > 0:55:54- where the mill used to be. - Aye.- I know.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56They did abandon us, because I thought when my lassies grew up,
0:55:56 > 0:55:59my lassies would be into the mill, and by the time they had grown up,
0:55:59 > 0:56:01Ferguslie Mills was shut.
0:56:01 > 0:56:03They should have kept that building.
0:56:03 > 0:56:04They should have...
0:56:04 > 0:56:08- Hi, Davie! How are you?- Budge up.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11- Hiya.- You're kind of late.- Budge up.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13No' changed that much, have I?
0:56:13 > 0:56:14I've not criticised you at all.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17You've not? It's good to see you all.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22David was a very popular mill foreman at Ferguslie for 25 years
0:56:22 > 0:56:25and is remembered fondly by these workers.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Everybody got on great and we had our differences, of course,
0:56:28 > 0:56:30you know, but you had your social life.
0:56:30 > 0:56:32I get people sometimes come up to me
0:56:32 > 0:56:35and say, "You played at my wedding."
0:56:35 > 0:56:36I says, "Oh, did I?"
0:56:36 > 0:56:38That's right. You played at my pal's.
0:56:38 > 0:56:39"Did you no' remember me?"
0:56:39 > 0:56:42I says, "Oh, aye, you were the one with the white dress, weren't you?"
0:56:42 > 0:56:45But you had so many laughs and it was a way of life.
0:56:45 > 0:56:49And I... I appreciate the fact that it was built in Paisley,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53and gave us all work, and all sorts of jobs for lots of people,
0:56:53 > 0:56:56cos, gosh, we miss them now.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Here, this is a cheery meeting today, isn't it(?)
0:56:59 > 0:57:01You should have came down earlier!
0:57:01 > 0:57:04You should have came down earlier and heard us talking about...
0:57:09 > 0:57:12I was lucky. I stayed on in the mills
0:57:12 > 0:57:14and I've had a great life in the mills
0:57:14 > 0:57:16and I met a lot of great people in the mills.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22It was very much a family sort of feel.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25I've got friends still that I, you know,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28I worked beside all these years ago.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30I enjoyed the mill.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33I had a good living from it and the mill was good to me.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38The people in Paisley are still great descendants
0:57:38 > 0:57:40of these mill workers and Coats people.
0:57:42 > 0:57:45Paisley was the mills. It still is.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48I wouldn't leave it.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56- NEWSREEL:- It's as well to remember our history, even the murkier bits.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00Maybe it's not the stuff of kings and wars and high affairs of state.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03Maybe it has more to do with bobbins and mill girls
0:58:03 > 0:58:05and men standing for what they believed in.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09And there can be pride in that, too,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12for it is the history of the people of Paisley,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15the people who made Paisley the town that it is -
0:58:15 > 0:58:19one of the most uniquely independent and successful towns Scotland
0:58:19 > 0:58:23has ever produced, the place to keep your eye on.