Heckmondwike Stories In A Suitcase: Haji Mohammad Siddiq recalls starting work in the Heavy Woollen District's mills in the 1960s

Now retired from factory work and living in Staincliffe, Dewsbury, Mr Siddiq was part of a large group of Indian and Pakistani nationals who were encouraged to come and work in our local mills throughout the post-war decades of the 1960s and 1970s.

These migrants came to Britain because of a severe labour shortage existing during that period across the whole country.

But what was it like for the men who first came over to the Heavy Woollen District all those years ago? What did they see? What were their feelings? How were they treated by the host white English population?

As someone who now belongs to a dwindling generation, Mr Siddiq is one of the men who has volunteered to be interviewed for the Kirklees Faith Network’s “Heckmondwike Stories In A Suitcase Project”.

This week's second feature is an account from Mr Siddiq on his first experiences during the 1960s of working in the local mills.

Speaking to the Reporter Series, he said: “I came to England at the age of 19 in December 1959. All I had in my hands was one small suitcase, along with just £5 in my pocket!

“It was the same situation for anyone who came from the Indian Sub-Continent to work in England during that era. We did not bring trolleys loaded with big luggage cases.

“We came from very poor families. Our forefathers had lived for centuries in the rural villages of Punjab and Kashmir. In fact, the vast majority of soldiers recruited into the British-Indian Army during the war years had come from these small countryside villages.

“My story of settling in the local Heavy Woollen District area was part of a much bigger picture.

“The British economy was facing a serious shortage of manual workers after the war. So, the Home Office in London needed men from the Indian Sub-Continent's cities and villages to come and work in the mills of Britain.

“The thought of inviting former soldiers from the old British-Indian Army was very appealing for the London government. The Whitehall establishment clearly remembered how disciplined these men had been during the war.

“They had fought bravely against the Germans in places like North Africa and against the Japanese in South-East Asia. The troops had shown a strong sense of respect even in wartime towards authority and the rule of law.

“But it was not only the old soldiers who were ready to work. There was also my generation born during or shortly after the war which could also prove very useful for the British economy.

“I can remember a lot of our old soldiers began arriving from the year 1962 onwards. The background to their arrival was a very interesting one.

“Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II had gone a year earlier on an official state visit to India and Pakistan.

“The President of Pakistan throughout the 1960s was Field-Marshal General Mohammad Ayub Khan. This talented man was fully aware British mills were desperate to recruit more workers.

“It was President Ayub Khan who decided to speak with the Queen about the millions of men like me who could help fill up the severe labour shortages in the empty mills of England. His advice to the Queen set everything in motion for men like me.”

Speaking about his own personal experience, Mr Siddiq said: “The weather surprised me when I first came to work in the Heavy Woollen District. It was so different compared to the Sub-Continent.

“I was used to plenty of sunshine and a hot climate back in Pakistan. Yet what I now saw was thick fog, dark grey clouds and heavy snowfalls.

“The winter months were especially bitter and cold, and the constant rainy downpours used to remind me of the 'Sa'wwan' rains or Monsoons back at 'home' in the Sub-Continent. There was very little sunlight or blue sky in those days!

“Instead of the sun, I saw lots of black smoke coming out of the long mill chimneys. Smoke also came from the chimneys of our terraced houses.

“All this smoke had polluted the sky. Dark soot was stuck on the walls of every stone building.

“The fact there was so much soot and smoke gave us an idea as to how much coal got used in that period.

“The soot and smoke were also a sign of how many factories existed in those years. Big mills, medium sized factories, as well as small workshops - they were everywhere.

“But I had not come to think about the weather. I quickly started work, moving around over the next few years from one mill to another.

“Most of the big local mills like Thomas Carr at Staincliffe, Thomas Burnley's at Gomersal, Ravens Ings at Ravensthorpe, Cook's Mill in Liversedge and the Flush Mill in Heckmondwike, were all eagerly recruiting workers.

“There were so many jobs available in those days that anyone could easily turn up outside the front entrance gates of a mill and quickly fill in a short application form. You could then begin working in just a matter of minutes.

“Our Pakistani ethnicity was never a problem when applying for jobs. The mill owners seemed happy to employ men like me as their workers as long we could understand basic instructions and safely operate any machinery.

“Our skin colour, or the different languages we spoke, did not matter to them. There was no prejudice or discrimination in those years.”