Thomas Harold Berry

There are numerous stories of accidents and tragic deaths involving workers at Berry’s chair works. But according to Ray Walker and others, the terrible drowning of Harold Berry in 1942 was a watershed moment in the history of the factory.

Found by John Edward Ellison.

Ray Walker –

If you went out of the door at the polish shop, and then you went over a bridge onto some spare land. Well, that’s what was called ‘Parson’s Garden’. So when we went home that night the brook, it was terrible. You could hear it big boulders rolling down. So us lads, we got the bus and went home. And when we came back in the morning, all the lads – Frank Cookson, Bill, Tommy, they were all coming back, dragging chains and hooks. They’d been dredging the river all night.

And they found him just Saturday morning just on the edge of the Hodder.

I reckon that was one of the main features about Berry’s in our time. In our time. Cause you’ve two brothers: one’s clerical work and John is grafting. The man dies – what happens? It’s all changed. Not a lot, but the things changed.