I. When did you start at the Powder Works then?
R. `Appen about '22, I was there in 1922. You see, I first went out to High Close. I left school at 13, I wasn't 14 till the following January and I know I finished at t'school, you know, breaking up for t'summer holidays and then I don't know, it must have all been arranged like with Mr Balme at High Close, you see my father died very suddenly - and I went up there, it were ten bob a week like, I never liked it - it were just a weed killer, many a time you were just pulling weeds, you know at that age you always wanted to be planting taties or summat, aye.
I. What wage would you start on at the quarry then when you started?
R. Wage would be seven bob a day, aye, and if you worked five and a half days you'd get six days' pay - 42?- a week like - Saturday - times were hard then.
I. This quarry was started by a chap called Huddleston wasn't it? You know Wakefield started most of the gunpowder quarries.
R. Aye, gunpowder works, Colonel Robinson, he was one that started it as you might says, Astley was another. Astley used to be where Smithy is now.
R. Was that at Elterwater Hall in those days?
R. Well, I don't know, to me its always been known as Eltermere.
I. Eltermere?
R. Elterwater Hall was where Hodges are, aye. That's right. `cause you see these different folk came into them and they change names.
I. What would your job be when you started in the gunpowder?
R. Me, I was running a wagon between press house and corning house.
I. The pressing, that came after they were mixed, after you got...
R. They went onto t'mills first, you'd charcoal and brimstone and saltpetre and nitrogen...whichever you were on you see, and then you went onto t'mills, there were four mills at t'top and ten mills at t'bottom and then that was run on and there was allus watered like, the more water you put in it run out, it made it strong, you see.
I. They used to use all sorts of things for the water didn't they? In the mixing, didn't they reckon that certain types of water were better than others?
R. Well they reckoned so, I don't know whether it was just fancy or not. But that's how it ended, it went onto the mills first, they'd run it probably two hours or two hours and a half, you see. There'll be a stone or two in there yet.
I. Yes, those great big things.
R. Aye - those drifts - old Jack Hodges used to drift them, Tommy Foster was labouring for him on that job, you know...aye...he was a queer old chap...was his father you know, down by Mrs Tyrer's, aye, there was some queer old customers there. I. Where did they get the water from?
R. Stickle.
I. Stickle?
R. Aye, that was reserve supply you know, like if it was a dry time we stopped off at dinnertime, Saturday morning, one on't chaps, he was a snuffer was Haddon, he used to ... doors like...
I. When you talk about a snuffer you mean one who takes snuff?
R. Aye.
I. And other ones chew do they?
R. And twist tobacco...there were a lot of chewers in t'powder works, you know, you couldn't, well it stands to reason, you couldn't take a pipe or a cigarette out and light them. And I used to go at Saturday morning to knock it off and then I'd go after tea-time at Sunday to put it on again.
I. Up to the tarn?
R. Aye, up to't tarn, you can see the outlet like they've lowered that bank quite a bit since then and they used to day how much have you let off today then....and it would take about six hours they reckon from letting that water out to get it down here. Night shift started at twelve o'clock Sunday night you see.
I. Where did it go to, the gunpowder that you made?
R. Oh, it went abroad a lot of it, there were different grades you know, a lot of it went to these mining areas `cause it was for blasting powder, there were that many grade of grain powder, some was bright as silver and a lot was like dust, straw powder, that was before they used fuses, now they use fuses, they used to fill these straws with powder and a bit of touch paper you know, soaked in, they used to soak it in nitrate you know and then it would just be however long you wanted it to be - slow to burn you see.
I. Didn't you make any for gun cartridges, did they?
R. No, I don't think they did, I think it was all, although it was called gunpowder but I think it was main of it for blasting cartridges and not shooting as you might say.
I. How was it packed when it went out?
R. In barrels, there was `20s, no `25s, a big barrel, had 100lbs and then there were halves and quarters, and for anybody local who wanted four or five pounds they wouldn't have storage for it.
I. Did they make the barrels locally?
R. Aye, they made `em down at t'....where Caley Barton lives now...
I. They call it Beech Tree Corner now, do they? By the Britannia?
R. Aye, by the Britannia, you know where George Brown used to live afore he came up here, well, that was t'office, next was cooper's shop, that's where all t'barrels were made.
I. Oh yes.
R. Aye, they'd five or six coppers on at one time you know.