The small town is Hebden Bridge, in West Yorkshire.

Politics doesn’t have a big part to play in this post. The focus is history, and a soon-to-be-published book that I’ve written. My aim has been to convey something of what life was like in a small industrial town, not all that long ago. We tend to think of our own world, our own time, as the only world, the only time that ever existed. We are wrapped up in our present – as they were then, in their own very powerful present, 150 years ago.

The book is entitled ‘A Place Apart: Hebden Bridge’, with the subtitle ‘as seen through the eyes of the Spencer family in the late nineteenth century’.

Hebden Bridge is well-known today for several very good reasons, but back then it won renown as the site of extraordinary growth, focused around the manufacture and sale of fustian, a kind of hardwearing cloth much used by miners and labourers. It became known as ‘Fustianopolis’. Out of this came many success stories as new mills and a wide variety of businesses flourished, and among them successful retailers such as my great grandfather, Joseph Spencer, a tailor and outfitter.

If your interested read further. What follows is the blurb on the back of the book. To order the book check out ‘A Place Apart: Hebden Bridge’ on Amazon. Or you should be able to order through a bookseller. The publication date is 1st March, so no copies available before then.

‘A Place Apart’ tells the story of the town through the experiences of three generations of the Spencer family. Mills dominated the landscape, along with the non-conformist chapels which gave a moral compass to people’s lives. Education was opened to everyone and, as working hours relaxed, people had time to relax and enjoy themselves.

‘The textile industry in the nineteenth century opened the Pennines to the world, and one small Yorkshire town which made its mark was Hebden Bridge. Sheltering below the moors, at a junction of two rivers, it excelled at making clothes for working men.

The book provides a valuable perspective on life and attitudes during the Victorian era, brought into an unfortunate focus in 1901 when the daughter of Joseph Spencer, a successful local tailor, found herself pregnant by a local lad. Reputations had to be preserved and the family left town. The business held on, but finally closed in 1907.

This wide-ranging portrait of the area’s social and industrial history is written by a descendant of the Spencer family, and features first-hand accounts, authoritative source material and contemporary illustrations. It provides an engaging, well-researched study of a town and its people at a time of immense change.’

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‘This book offers a vivid account of the life of a small entrepreneur in a textile town providing an insight into the lives of those who rarely receive the attention of historians.’

Alan Fowler, formerly Principal Lecturer of Economic and Social History, Manchester Metropolitan University

‘Brilliant piece of writing. Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. A really interesting story told in great detail and with passion and pride.’

Michael Peel, local Hebden Bridge historian

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