Factory Girls organically grew from the discussions we were having in the community groups about the importance of the local factories and the role they played in family life. In particular the role of women’s work in factories grew exponentially along side the mining industry. Families moved to the area for the mines and the women sought means to bring in income to their families around motherhood and homelife.
We wanted to explore local memories of those roles. The themes that rose from the first conversations started to bloom at our initial get together in February 2026 at the Ncafe session prompting further conversations.
It soon became clear that there were more stories to be dived into and we planned another NCafe session in the April, spreading the word wider with an advert in the Voice to reach more women.
At the Ncafe sessions we invited people to make notes on our prompt sheets or to chat to our oral history recording team. Some people brought in photos to share too.
Credit Kay Adkins
We started to gather themes:
* The names and Locations of the Factories
* The types of work, machines and roles
* Working mums – work shifts and raising children
* Social Life connected to the factories – Sports and Holiday trips
* Earning a wage and what that money meant to individuals and families.