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This study began when Luckwell Primary School in Bristol worked
with electricdecember.
The Show of Strength Theatre Company season at the Tobacco Factory
was about to begin with a play based on the Wills factory girls, written
by Amanda Whittington.
The idea was to interview Wills girls in the area, for an exhibition
in the foyer of the theatre in the Tobacco Factory. Apart from the initial
meeting and emails electricdecember organised the project with
a group of Year 6 pupils.
W.D. & H.O. Wills was an important and well regarded employer in
Bristol at the turn of the twentieth century with several factories
producing tobacco based products in various locations around the city.
Many people who were employed by the company, mainly women, have vivid
memories of their working lives.
The Wills factories were impressive landmarks. After the factories
closed in 1988 some were demolished but others remain; adapted to new,
modern purposes. The Number 3 Factory on the corner of Raleigh Road
and North Street opened in 1906 and was designed by Sir Frank Wills.
It was a fairly plain building but had a distinctive style echoed in
other local buildings and held important memories for the local community.
A campaign was organised by George Ferguson which saved it from total
demolition. The rescued part of the factory is now known as the Tobacco
Factory and is a multi purpose building housing, restaurants, offices,
cafes, a theatre and apartments.
The three linked lesson plans; The
Factory Buildings; Interviewing
the Wills Girls; Interpreting
the Sources were originally for the year 6 class as part of their
topic Bio-Town and the school intranet.
The two resource sheets; Wills Girls
1967 and Wills Girls - extracts
from Wills Press show extracts from articles in Wills company newspapers.These
were researched in Bristol City Library
Many listed industrial buildings have been converted to be used for
new functions and could be studied in a similar manner. As Julia Christmas,
the year 6 teacher at Luckwell Primary, involved in the project, wrote;
'This idea can easily be adapted to any local building
and it really does bring history to life, especially when it is a building
of interest in the local area'.
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