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Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire: Bliss Tweed Mill

Just before war was declared, Chipping Norton had been a town in turmoil. Two thirds of workers from Bliss Tweed Mill - the largest employer in the town - had been involved in a bitter strike, including John Grantham's Aunt Nell. But the fortune of the strikers and the Mill changed when it was tasked to make khaki for soldiers’ uniforms during the Great War.

Nell - who'd been on strike – wasn’t initially taken back on at Bliss Mill and moved up north to Rochdale. She later came back to Chipping Norton to weave khaki and as well as giving her a job back, the war also led to a pay increase.

It's thought more than five thousand yards of khaki were woven at Bliss Mill in Chipping Norton. In total, hundreds of thousands of miles of cloth and flannel were ordered by the British government during the conflict.

Location: Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire OX7 5JR
Image: Bliss Mill strikers, courtesy of Chipping Norton Museum
Presented by Serena Martin

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