Just over two years ago my interest in "Morphy's Mill", as D. Morphy's Blouse and Dress Manufactory was known, arose because of my curiosity about there once having been a major employer of females in Carnforth, where now there are few jobs.

I became even more enthusiastic when ex-employees spoke so very fondly of the place, their colleagues, and of the Morphys and I wanted to research it further.

The Westmorland Gazette ran a short article with pictures at that time, and I received many telephone calls from ladies who had worked there. I interviewed workers and David Morphy, grandson of the founder, who, sadly, has since passed away.

All these interviews left a very positive feeling and I wanted to dig just a little deeper. While still keeping the ladies in centre focus, there was a need for the history of the business to be rounded out and verified.

Kendal Library was enormously helpful, showing me how to look up old census returns, and city directories. In this way I found the original David Morphy's early career in Preston after he had emigrated from Ireland, and how he had probably bought Ramsey's entire clothing business in Carnforth and Kendal by 1914.

In that year he is listed in the trade directory as having a blouse manufactory at Aynam Mills and a warehouse on the new and smart Sandes Avenue at Kendal. The business was never listed in Carnforth directories under the Morphy name, but Ramsey's stopped being listed in 1913.

Local historian Marion Russell, whose mother was employed at Ramsey's and then Morphy's, suggests that it changed hands at about this date.

Initially there were two sites: 7, North Road in an old barn where Everson's bodyshop now operates, which had earth floors with duck boards, and Oxford Street. in the building where Travis Perkins, Builders' Merchants has its shop.

These early, rather stark pieces of information were fleshed out by notes that her aunt had made, which old David's grand-daughter lent to me.

The factory closed in 1985and yet the anecdotes of the ladies who worked there seemed to talk of another period altogether.

The camaraderie in the workplace, the personal relationship between employer and worker, the entire lack of cynicism, add up to something not many have the good fortune to experience nowadays.

I was enchanted that they sang "sets" of songs as they worked' that the employers would call at their homes to see if they were available for work, for instance after their children were in school, or if they had suffered an illness.

As employers they were very accommodating to mothers. One told me she would bring hers back to the factory after school where they would sit on the stair until she was done. Others would get their hours altered to accommodate home circumstances.

The ladies told many fond anecdotes of the Morphys, and also of their pleasure in each other. They valued their place of work because they had fun but also, crucially, learned a skill.

The Kendal factory closed in about 1929, but generally the business expanded, ultimately using outworkers in Blackburn and Bradford. It also developed a well-patronised shop. However, the influx of cheap foreign garments eventually made it unviable.

Many former workers are still around, however, and I had a wonderful time interviewing, and picking up stories informally from people and wanted to share what I had learned.

With my husband's IT skills and with added help from a Carnforth printer, a very short book was madeand to my great joy has been well received by the Morphy family and by the stitchers, the pressers, the cutters, and others who worked at the "mill".

Copies of the book are available from Carnforth Book Shop or from me directly; my number is 01524 732305, and e-mail sheilajones48@hotmail.com. If you phone and have a new anecdote, I would love to hear it.