Life of leisure looms for textile industry stalwart with 63 years at same mill

The 77-year old grandfather of nine, from Pudsey, has just retired as the longest-serving employee in the Leeds textile mill’s history after 63 years working on the weaving floor.

The firm has helped clothe Royalty, and its fabrics were used in Prince William’s wedding uniform.

“This was my first job and I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” Mr Allman said. “I’ve been happy here.”

Mr Allman started in the weaving shed as an apprentice warp twister in his early teens, after accompanying his uncle – who also worked there – to a social event and being spotted by the family firm’s then boss Charles Hainsworth.

“The looms flew across from one end to the other carrying the weft thread,” he recalled. “The noise was incredible. As the technology became more advanced, I worked on all types of automatic looms.”

“I got up early every day and jumped on the Leeds Tramway,” he added. “It was four pennies for a workman’s return ticket and took 45 minutes. My first weekly wage was 10 shillings and I felt like a rich man.”

He said one of his most treasured memories was in 1951, when the firm paid for him
and some colleagues to travel to the Festival of Britain in London.

Mr Allman started at the mill on a five year apprenticeship. He returned after doing his National Service, and a stint in the Army.

“I’ve loved working in the textile industry and I’m so proud that the fabrics I’ve helped to make have been sold all over the world,” he said.

“It’s quite humbling to know that something you’ve been involved in manufacturing has been worn by everyone from firefighters in Australia to the Queen’s Guards outside Buckingham Palace.”

Hainsworth’s managing director Tom Hainsworth said: “I very much doubt that Dennis’s record of 63 years of service will be beaten.”