Bamford & Norden October 2019
Bamford & Norden October 2019
Bamford & Norden October 2019
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usiness in Greenbooth. When Percy took<br />
himself off to London to pursue ventures<br />
new, Arthur married Florence and went<br />
on to have a daughter, Beryl. Both Arthur<br />
and Florence lent enormous support to the<br />
people of Greenbooth and <strong>Norden</strong>, Arthur<br />
following on from his father as president of<br />
<strong>Norden</strong> Cricket Club and was to remain in<br />
that role for the next 27 years from 1881<br />
to 1908.<br />
The mill at Greenbooth had been doing well<br />
under Arthurs stewardship but now in 1908<br />
it is up for sale and its closure in many ways<br />
was to signal the death knell for the village<br />
of Greenbooth and its inhabitants. It is a few<br />
years later before the cause of the downfall<br />
is totally revealed. Back in London, Percy<br />
had become reacquainted with a man called<br />
MacKenzie, a previous contact of his, and<br />
a somewhat dubious character. Despite<br />
his privileged and extensive education it<br />
failed to protect him from being led astray<br />
by MacKenzie, a corrupted forger. Meeting<br />
up with him again, at a point where he had<br />
got himself into financial difficulties with<br />
the Blackburn mill, he became caught up in<br />
some issue with the passing of fraudulent<br />
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75<br />
They whole heartedly supported not only<br />
the everyday working life of the village but<br />
contributed heavily to social functions, often<br />
hosting event at Tenterhouse and also allowing<br />
use of Greenbooth school rooms<br />
as a meeting place for social occasions.<br />
All this paints a picture of great affluence<br />
and yet we know that, due to financial<br />
difficulties, the Mill closed its doors in<br />
1908, so what was it that brought about<br />
this fall from grace? A newspaper article of<br />
1908 discussing the proposed sale, reveals<br />
that the current wage bill was now around<br />
£14,000 a year and that the Mill was the<br />
largest rate payer in the <strong>Norden</strong> district and<br />
therefore it was very much hoped that the<br />
business would continue. Obviously the<br />
closure of the mill would go on to have<br />
massive implications for the local population.