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Mrs Ivy Riley was one of the first of the Ready-Made employees and uses a sophisticated machine to help inspect the fabric for faults. For the past four years she has been a member of Queensgate Townwomen's guild with an interest in the social studies group.

From the fourth of an Express weekly industrial feature "We Can Make It" by Allan Halstead. The series outlines each firm's history and development and tells the story of ordinary people. It was linked with a competition "Unsung Hero '71" with a prize of a holiday in Ireland with a companion. To find all this series of articles search the website using the words - unsung hero.

Why should several hundred Burnley folk have a special "soft spot" for the hill-billies of Tennessee, USA? The answer is "Mrs Evans|" - one of the thrifty mothers of that poverty-stricken area, who indirectly sponsored the vast candlewick trade and gave industry the idea of tufted carpets. Some 160 people owe their daily bread to the candlewick trade, working for Sixsons and the nylon stretch loose covers company, Ready-Made which is associated with it. Sixsons executive John Wood went over to America in the early days of the introduction of the candlewick trade to Burnley and was told the story about Mrs. Evans. Mrs Evans was so poor that nothing was thrown away, even the string 'wick' of candles was used to patch textiles and create designs with the patching. One of her blankets was spotted by a tourist on the washing line who bought it and before long a sewing machine was adapted to speed up the stitching process. As demand grew the machine was improved and a Mr Joe Cobble developed a machine wide enough for a full double bedspread in one "stitching operation" (For more information about this development follow this link: https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=171571.)

As demand continued to grow it attracted John Wood, who in the 1950's was looking for a way to make a fortune. He went into partnership with Sixsons in 1960 and four years later launched the subsidiary Ready-Made, producing nylon stretch loose covers for the home and export markets. Sixsons, which began by hiring a small part of Brennand Mill, now owns the whole 95,000 sq. ft. factory where cotton is used for candlewick products and where Ready-Made make nylon stretch covers. Sixsons became part of the Viyella International textile empire in 1968 and Mr Wood is still running the Burnley enterprise for the even bigger combine, the Carrington-Viyella Group.

Three employees were interviewed, Mr Arthur Smith, Mrs Ivy Riley and Mr Mohamed Afzal Chaudry.