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Posting this photo as it may be useful to someone in the future and there don't seem to be many images out there for this company .

It looks like it was the cutting department in Drewry & Edwards factory where my mother worked in about 1933 . Unfortunately I don't know which factory , as I seem to remember my Mother saying it was Colwick but my brother thinks it was in town , so Stoney Street ?

Not even sure how long Mother worked there but assume she had finished by 1939 .

There are a couple of examples of "Drewry and Edwards" underwear output pictured on-line . These go by the trade name of "Druid" . One here on the excellent Knitting Together site :

http://www.knittingtogether.org.uk/docEX9fb1.html?doc=13696&cat=743

Our Mum, Dorothy Hart as she was then, is right at the back of the first picture holding a roll of fabric .....unfortunately don't know any names of the rest .

There are two further pictures below , that may (or may not ) be members of the staff on outings . Our Mum is second on the right in the middle photo , again no idea of the rest .

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  • 4 months later...

My dad worked there for 35yrs. Drewery and Edwards was on Stamford street near broad marsh centre. The building is now used by Nelsons Solicitors. I think they had another factory on glaisdale Drive but I'm not 100% sure on that.

The factory on Stamford st closed in about 1985

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Welcome Gary83 and thanks for the contribution .

According to the news archives they also had a factory on Castle Gate in the late 1930s / 1940s .

WORKGIRLS WANTED, experienced Cutter for undies and Gents Underwear.-Apply Drewry and Edwards, Ltd., Castle-gate.

East Midlands, England
16/09/1937
Ad

There is this photo on P.O.P of the factory on Stanford Street .

Also a picture of the Drewry and Edwards yard in Woodshende Place Is this still Stanford Street ?

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Also a picture of the Drewry and Edwards yard in Woodshende Place. Is this still Stanford Street ?

I have a couple of documents which list the various 'Yards' and 'Places' in Nottingham, and Woodshende doesn't appear in either of them. Maybe it's a misprint by Pic the Past.

Unless anyone with knowledge of the company can remember where it is/was.

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Strangely enough I came across the building as I passed from the bus station (Broadmarsh) en route to Maid Marion Way. It is now a posh Solicitors Office. I last entered the building in 1956 with a school mate who`s dad worked there (Mr. Riley).Looked a bit different today.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The photo posted by DAVIDW is taken from the ottom of Stamford street near broadmarsh.

If you go up Stamford street it meets Castle Gate. The factory took the whole corner and access to the yard from Castle gate was through Woodshende Place. It was next to where Radio Trent used to be.

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Thanks Gary 83 .

Unless its changed since this streetview pic , looks like the gateway to Woodshende Place is still there on Castle Gate , except the proper name appears to be Wodeshende .

The name plaque is still there too above the gateway .

Can't see any connection to Nottingham with that name , all references seem to be in the Durham area for Wodeshende ?

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Strange that I was working up a sweat in the cellars of the Dungeon, in the same building that my mum had worked up a sweat ,machining underpants and vests above , some 30 years before !

I doubt she even knew where any of the clubs were in the 60s .

Also stupidly , only just noticed that on that plaque over the entrance to Wodeshende Place is a date . Looks like 1900 . I had seen the 19 on the left hand side and assumed it was a street number, only just noticed the 00 on the righthand side !

Can't see any people in Notts with that name on the nearby censuses so I wonder if it was something to do with the Boer War but nothing comes up in my search .

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  • 3 months later...

Hi.my mum worked at the factory on glaisdale drive bilborough for eight years.

I remember when she took us to portland junior school then she went to work.sometimes she watched us from burnside green island going to school.

This was about 1976-77ish.

The factory was where the milestone pub was which is now a gurka restuarant...next to smashing glass glazing....

This factory was used for making womens briefs.tee shirts and long johns.one side at the back had a cutting department.

Mrs parker used to be in charge.

The factory was set back i recall where the rear of the carpark is now...

I remember the pub being built when i was around 17....im 46 now...

I think it was knocked down around 1982ish

The factory in town was behind w h smith and boots broad marsh.

They also had a factory in giltbrook.

My mum also worked for foggs on stoney street.

She is nearly 70 now.

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  • 1 year later...

The pictures in DAVIDW's reply were taken looking up Stanford Street. Drewry and Edwards occupied the building ay the bottom. There were two floors of knitting machines, a canteen, stores and a cutting room in this part of the building. To the left around the corner and overlooking St Nicholas churchyard was the rest of the factory where there were at least two floors of machine rooms with about 40 machinists in each. The entrances were on Stanford Street and via the yard on Castle Gate. The offices were on the first and third floors of the building near the top of Stanford Street.

The other two factories were on Glaisdale Drive, Bilborough and Giltbrook.

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  • 1 month later...

i worked at this factory in the late 60s,it was on stamford street.We made y fronts and vests kids and mens,some were for littlewoods.There were 3 floors of rooms full of machinist,a cutting room below and a canteen.i earned good wages there ,but had to work very hard for it.,i used to spend some of my wages on new clothes from c and a ,the rest i had to give to my mam.i cant remember many of the workers names,i think there was a janet,sue,thelma,kath,there were 2 machanics there to repair machines ,an older man called alf and i think the younger one was john.

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  • 2 years later...

Our next door neighbour Muriel Cartman worked at Drewry and Edwards on piece work making ladies underwear, underskirts and pants. She told some horror stories about getting her finger in the sewing machine. There were some nasty wounds. Her stories made me very wary of electric sewing machines. When I went to BGS we had to do needlework in the first year. I hated it! The electric machines went far too fast. I used to take my time at the start of the lesson so I got a hand machine. Winding the handle was much better. I felt that I was in control and I still have the Singer hand sewing machine that my mum bought in 1969. Good for making curtains!  Our neighbour's experience at Drewry and Edwards influenced my opinion I think! Still hate sewing.

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We did very little needlework at The Manning but I, too, couldn't cope with the electric machines and used an old Singer. My maternal grandmother was a seamstress but I haven't inherited her ability!

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Thanks Jill. It is good to know that someone else shares my view of electric sewing machines! My paternal grandmother was a seamstress and my maternal grandfather's sister did beautiful dressmaking but I have not inherited this ability. Sewing skills are not in the genes! I wonder how many of those who worked in the clothing factories of that time actually enjoyed sewing. My guess is that many went into it as a source of income and employment.

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If you think sewing machines are bad, what about an overlocking machine - that has an extremely sharp scissor-like mechanism just behind the needle. So, if the needle didn't get you, the cutter almost certainly would.

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