Lawrence Dixey

After completing his National Service in Egypt, Lawrence joined Smith and Philips' blanket firm as a weft man and then moved on to Early's after about a year in search of a higher wage. At that time he cycled in from his Bampton home every day at seven o'clock ready to start work at eight.

After working in Early's loom shed for a while, he became a perchman at Witney Mill, inspecting the blankets for defects. In the 1960s he moved down to Mount Mill and became a console operator on the Fiberweaving lines there. His wife Wendy worked as a weaver at Witney Mill where her three sisters and an aunt and uncle were also employed.

Lawrence remembers that while Early's was still a family run concern the workers and management were on good terms and operated as part of a team, but later when the firm was taken over he felt the workers were treated more as 'numbers' than people.

A recorded interview with Lawrence is available from Oxfordshire Studies - details are available on the Search the Collections page (search for his name).