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| The death of my father, Arthur Whitehead, aged 91, breaks one of the few remaining links with the era of family-run woollen mills, which were once so conspicuous in West Yorkshire. He was the last Whitehead living to have worked at Whiteheads’ worsted mill at Gildersome, a village between Leeds and Morley. | The death of my father, Arthur Whitehead, aged 91, breaks one of the few remaining links with the era of family-run woollen mills, which were once so conspicuous in West Yorkshire. He was the last Whitehead living to have worked at Whiteheads’ worsted mill at Gildersome, a village between Leeds and Morley. |
| His grandfather, Willie Whitehead, a loom tuner, established the mill. According to family folklore, he borrowed money from a distant relative who had inherited after accidentally giving her husband disinfectant to drink. In the 1920s, the mill moved to purpose-built premises in Gildersome. His father, Joe – a magistrate and chair of the local council – was part of the local millocracy. His mother, Ethel, also a JP, had been one of the first female maths graduates from Leeds University. | His grandfather, Willie Whitehead, a loom tuner, established the mill. According to family folklore, he borrowed money from a distant relative who had inherited after accidentally giving her husband disinfectant to drink. In the 1920s, the mill moved to purpose-built premises in Gildersome. His father, Joe – a magistrate and chair of the local council – was part of the local millocracy. His mother, Ethel, also a JP, had been one of the first female maths graduates from Leeds University. |
| Arthur took a two-year wartime degree at Leeds University’s textiles department. He then enlisted as a pilot – and was still training in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) when the war ended. He recalled his instructor saying: “If you are signing up with the air force, we’ll carry on the training – if not, just clear off.” | Arthur took a two-year wartime degree at Leeds University’s textiles department. He then enlisted as a pilot – and was still training in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) when the war ended. He recalled his instructor saying: “If you are signing up with the air force, we’ll carry on the training – if not, just clear off.” |
| After qualifying as an accountant, he joined the family mill, which specialised in making cloth for suits, much of it exported. He also served on Morley town council as a Liberal, when the party was at an even lower ebb nationally than now. | After qualifying as an accountant, he joined the family mill, which specialised in making cloth for suits, much of it exported. He also served on Morley town council as a Liberal, when the party was at an even lower ebb nationally than now. |
| When his father sold the business, Arthur went on to a career in the carpet industry, becoming managing director of Carpets International. At the end of his working life, as an investment adviser to a Midlands entrepreneur, he launched an against-the-odds rescue plan for Gildersome’s last working mill, which made cloth for army uniforms and billiard tables. It failed. When the heavy presses were dismantled, inscriptions found on the base suggested that they had been in use for 150 years. | When his father sold the business, Arthur went on to a career in the carpet industry, becoming managing director of Carpets International. At the end of his working life, as an investment adviser to a Midlands entrepreneur, he launched an against-the-odds rescue plan for Gildersome’s last working mill, which made cloth for army uniforms and billiard tables. It failed. When the heavy presses were dismantled, inscriptions found on the base suggested that they had been in use for 150 years. |
| All seven of Gildersome’s mills are not only long since shut, but demolished. There are some reminders of the mill era, not least the imposing Baptist church where my father married a Gildersome girl, Margaret Graham, in 1953. She died three years short of their golden wedding anniversary. | All seven of Gildersome’s mills are not only long since shut, but demolished. There are some reminders of the mill era, not least the imposing Baptist church where my father married a Gildersome girl, Margaret Graham, in 1953. She died three years short of their golden wedding anniversary. |
| In recent years, my father rekindled a childhood friendship with a distant cousin, Betty Richards, and they shared a house at Easingwold, near York. | In recent years, my father rekindled a childhood friendship with a distant cousin, Betty Richards, and they shared a house at Easingwold, near York. |
| My father is survived by Betty; my brother, Malcolm, and me; and four grandchildren. | My father is survived by Betty; my brother, Malcolm, and me; and four grandchildren. |